Brandon M. Grainger, PhD

Assistant Professor

Associate Director, Electric Power Systems Laboratory Affiliate, Energy GRID Institute

802 Benedum Hall | 3700 O’Hara Street | Pittsburgh, PA 15261 P: 412-383-8148 C: 412-915-1816

bmg10@pitt.edu

Dr. Brandon Grainger holds a PhD in electrical engineering concentrating in kW / MW scale power electronics and controls, microgrids, and medium voltage DC systems. Dr. Grainger has a master’s degree in electrical engineering with a concentration in electric power engineering and bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He was also one of the first endowed R.K. Mellon graduate student fellows through the Center for Energy at the University of Pittsburgh. His research concentrations and interests are in electric power conversion. This includes medium to high voltage power electronics (380Vdc and higher). Power semiconductor evaluation (SiC and GaN), DC/DC converter and inverter topology design, advanced controller design, high power density design, military power systems, DC system design and protection, HVDC/FACTS, and other genres. He is a member of the IEEE Power Electronics Society, Industrial Electronics Society and has 50+ articles published in leading IEEE journals and conference proceedings to date. He is also the former chair of the award winning IEEE Pittsburgh PELS chapter.

“Presently 30% of all electric power generated uses power electronics technologies somewhere between the point of generation and end-use. By 2030, 80% of all electric power will flow through power electronics.” – Dept. of Energy

Power Electronic R&D Efforts in Modern Grid Architectures

Research and development needs are centered upon operational inverter improvements (harsh environment design, robust operation during fault conditions, improved overload, volume and weight reduction) and improved system yields. Dr. Grainger takes a bottom-up approach to solving global electric power issues. With colleagues and students, he is designing power electronic system solutions that help to resolve system level problems.

Pulse Power Architecture (left) and Power Electronic Based Microgrid (right)

High Power Density Inverter Design

Goal is to achieve power densities of 50W/in3 and handle 2 kVA.

3.8 inch x 2.54 inch x 2.08 inch layout

Power Electronic Circuit Reliability

The tradeoff of grid voltage support (grid resiliency enhanced by advanced inverter capability) and the reliability of the power semiconductors (handling added stress) is under study.

Shipboard Power Conversion

Modular approaches are being designed to integrate energy storage on ships, reduce ship weight, equipment footprint, and improve system resiliency.

Direct Current System Design

Novel methods for determining faulted segments of DC architectures and microgrids are patent pending. DC circuit interruption using power electronics is a key enabler for DC grids being studied.