IEEE Power Electronics Society University Laboratory Kit
Lowering barriers, inspiring curiosity, and building a global community of learners and educators.
Power electronics lies at the heart of today’s most pressing global challenges: renewable energy integration, electrified transportation, efficient computing, and sustainable decarbonized power systems. Yet for many institutions—particularly those under-resourced—hands-on education remains out of reach. Building and maintaining conventional laboratories demands expensive infrastructure and dedicated staff, placing opportunities beyond the reach of countless students worldwide. To bridge this gap, the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) launched the University Lab Kit Initiative—a modern, affordable, and flexible platform for experiential learning in power electronics.
Vision
A central vision has guided the development of the PELS University Lab Kits: to democratize access to cost-effective, industry-relevant hands-on training in power electronics. Imagine a future where we can have a kit that evolves into a universal, open-source standard, bringing hands-on power-electronics education within reach of every student, accelerating industry readiness, and fostering a truly global community of learners and educators.
Why this kit?
- Hands-On Learning: Students directly observe real switching waveforms, current ripple, and control dynamics using actual hardware rather than purely simulation.
- Modular Architecture: The kit supports multiple experiments ranging from basic PWM generation and topology exploration to closed-loop converter control and application-specific demonstrations, all implemented on a unified hardware platform.
- Low Cost & Scalable: Designed to be affordable for universities worldwide, enabling deployment in teaching laboratories without large capital investments. The team is currently exploring ways make it more affordable. Stay tuned for more specific cost numbers.
- Open and Extensible: Hardware, firmware, and experiments will be openly documented, allowing instructors to customize the platform for their courses.
Acknowledgments
We gratefully acknowledge the contributions of the IEEE Power Electronics Society University Educational Kit Committee, including Prof. Sandun Kuruppu (Western Michigan University), Prof. Katherine Kim (National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan), Prof. Brad Lehman (Northeastern University), Prof. Ariya Sangwongwanich (Aalborg University), Prof. Debranjan Mukherjee (IIT Kharagpur), Dr. Joao Pinto (Oak Ridge National Laboratory), Prof. Mario Pacas (University of Siegen), Ms. Marissa Jadrosich (IEEE Power Electronics Society), and Mr. Mike Kelly (IEEE Power Electronics Society).
Special thanks to Dr. Ulas Coskun, Dr. Anuj Maheshwari, Dr. Dipanjan Das, Prof. Debranjan Mukherjee, Mr. Sean Li, Dr. Natasha Mamaril, Dr. Casey Smith, and Ms. Elisa Krause for their invaluable efforts in developing this laboratory kit. We are also sincerely grateful to the many undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, whose feedback and insights have played a critical role in refining and improving the kit.
On a personal note, I am deeply thankful to the teachers who introduced me to the world of power electronics and electric machine drives. Their mentorship and passion for education have shaped my journey and inspired this work. I would especially like to recognize Prof. Sukumar Malick, Prof. Mainak Sengupta, and Prof. Biswarup Basak (Indian Institute of Engineering, Science, and Technology, Shibpur); Prof. Gautam Poddar, Prof. Souvik Chattopadhyay, and Prof. Dinkar Prasad (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur); and Prof. Steven B. Leeb, Prof. David J. Perreault, Prof. Jeffrey H. Lang, and Prof. James L. Kirtley (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge). This kit is dedicated to them and to the spirit of education without boundaries.
The generous support of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Grainger College of Engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the IEEE Power Electronics Society, and the Grainger Foundation has been instrumental in bringing this initiative to life and sustaining its growth.
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