RecentI

nvent
ionsi
ntheEl
ect
ri
cal
Engi
neer
ingI
ndust
ry

Electri
calengineersareatthef or
efrontofsomeoft oday’smosti mpor t
antinnovati
ons.
Whet herworkingf orthepri
v at
esector,government,ormaj orresearchinsti
tutes,el
ect
ri
cal
engineersareal wayspushingt heboundar i
esofthepossi ble.Recently
,they
’vecontri
butedto
hugest ri
desinener gyeffi
ciency,mobil
et echnol
ogy, accessibi
li
ty,tr
ansport
ation,
telecommuni cation,andmuchmor e.Let’
st akealookatsomeoft hemostexci ti
ngnewi deasi
n
thef i
eld.

 Hi ghEffi
ciencyPhot ovol
taicCel l
s
Oneoft heendur i
ngchal l
engesofmoder nelectr
icalengi
neeringistof i
ndanimplement at
ionof
photovolt
aictechnologythatisefficient,ef
fecti
veunderv aryi
ngoperat i
ngcondit
ions,andhighl
y
resi
stanttodamage–whi lenotbei ngcost-prohibi
ti
ve.Diff
erentengineeri
ngapproacheshav e
beenusedt oraisecollecti
onanddi str
ibuti
onef f
ici
ency,thoughperov ski
te-
basedcell
shav e
recentl
ycapturedthemostat t
entionatmaj orresearchfacil
i
ties.

 Gr eenEnergyElectr
icalPowerConv er
ter
Oncey oucoll
ectenergy,
conv erti
ngitforuseint heelectri
calsystem i
sanessent i
alnextstep.A
newpowerconv er
terdevel
opedi ntheDepar t
mentofEl ectri
calEngi
neeri
ngatt heUniversi
tyof
Arkansaswillnowmakei teasierforusersofr enewableener gytoshuntexcessenergyi nt
othe
powergrid.Thishasthepotentialtomaker ooftopsolariniti
ati
vesmucheasi erandtof urt
her
i
ncentivi
zehomeowner stopur sueener gyeff
icientt
echnol ogy.

 Smar tEl
ectr
icalGri
ds
Asener gysystemsbecomemor ecompl exandenergysour cesbecomemor edi verse,
smart
gridsaregrowinginimportancewor ldwide.Smartgridsi
ntegrateinnovat
iveelectri
cal
technologyatmulti
plelevelstoimpr ov
ef l
owcont r
ol,det
ectmal functi
ons,andaut omateser
vice
deliv
ery.Withend-t
o-endcommuni cati
onbet weenpowerpl ants,di
str
ibuti
onsites,andtheend
user’select
ri
calpoi
nt-of-
presence,itbecomespossi blet
oraiseef f
ici
encyandr educecosts.

 Vi rtualReali
ty
Vir
tualreali
tydrawsonmul t
ipl
ediscipl
i
nes, buti
nt er
msofpr ovidingasensor yexper
iencethat
mapsef fectiv
elyto“real
li
fe,
”electr
icalengi
neeringiscr uci
al.Theear li
estVRtechnologi
es
consist
edofaheadsetwi thglovesasani nputdevice,renderingtheusermost l
ystat
ionar
y.
Posit
ionaltracki
ngisnowmaki ngVRmor einter
active,
butt hemar kethasyettodevelopa
sol
utionusi ngacompl et
ear r
ayofsensor s.
  Ey eTracki
ngTechnol ogy
Asmanyconsumer sdevelopanadv ersari
alrelati
onshiptoconventi
onaldigi
taladver tisi
ng,
eye
tr
ackingbecomesessent ial–notonl ytodelivercommer ci
almessages,buttobet ter
understandwhatinfor
mat ionisofgr eatestinterest.Asithasmatured,eyetr
acki ngt echnol
ogy
hasgr ownint
oani mportantf r
ontierinaccessi bil
i
tyforthedisabl
ed,al
lowingtechnol ogy
accesst hr
ougheyemov ement .Sensitiv
eelectronicsensorsarethebasisofv i
rtuallyal l
eye
tr
acking.

 Wi relessWear abl
eTech
Theideaoft he“ Per
sonalAreaNetwork”hasbeenar oundincomput i
ngsci encef
oralongtime,
butit
’sonlynowbecomi ngapracti
calreali
ty.Devi
cescannowoper ateonasmal lerscal
ethan
everandinterfaceseamlesslywi
ththewi derenvi
ronment.Wearabledeviceshavebeen
devel
opedt oaut hent
icat
eaccesstov ehi
clesandmachi ner
y,i
mpr overeadingcomprehensi
on
whil
eengagedi nexerci
se,andprovi
decommuni cati
onsinf
ormati
onwi thouttheuseofaphone.

 I onThrust
erEner
gy
NASAandot hershavebeenwor ki
ngontheprot
otypeionengi
nefory ears,envi
sioni
ngawayto
carr
ylargeamountsofsuppli
esandequipmentthr
oughspace.Itusessol arpowerasa
chargi
ngmechanism andexpelsxenongas.El
ectr
onsf r
om t
hesol arpanelwil
lbet r
appedi
na
magneticfi
eldandthenusedtoioniz
ethexenonpropell
antf
ortotalthr
ustof13kW.

 Per sonalFlyi
ngCar s
Tocr eateacommer ci
all
yv i
abledual-usevehicle,Terrafugiahashadtocombinebestpractices
i
naut omot i
vetechnologyandaer onaut i
cs.Thisincludesanumberofi nnovat
ionsofkeen
i
nteresttoelectri
calengineers,
includi
nganengi nethatsuccessfull
ypowersboththerear
wheel sandthepr opel
lerusingunleadedgasol i
ne.Ital soincor
porat
esadvancedcarbonfiber
constructi
on.

 40GBWi -
Fi
Backin2013,t
heKarlsruheInst
it
uteofTechnol
ogyinGermanybr okethespeedli
mi tf
orWi-
Fi
bydeli
ver
ing40gigabytesofdatapersecondoveradist
anceofmor ethanhalfami l
e.Thekey
i
nnovati
onwasanewsetofchi pscapableofpr
ocessi
ngsi gnal
sathigher
-t
han-usual
fr
equenci
es.Theshorterthewavelengt
h,themorepowerfulWi-
Ficantheor
eti
call
ybe.

Name:
Ramanpr
eetSi
ngh

Cl
ass:B.
E.3r
dsemest
er