November 20, 2008: “Linear Technology Ltspice SPICE: Modeling Tool for Designing SMPS’s” by Mike Engelhardt, Linear Technology Corp.

Abstract: The presentation will highlight the use of LTspice, Linear’s free SPICE modeling tool for designing Switch Mode Power Supplies.

Demonstrations and an overview of the theory that was used to implement the simulator will be presented.

The presentation materials will be the same as those used at the half day seminars that were delivered last year in North America, Europe, China, India, and the Middle East.

Attendees are welcome to be interactive in the choice and depth of the specific topics covered in the alloted time. LTspice currently has a following of more than 10,000 users.

Bio: Mike Engelhardt has been writing physical simulators for 33 years. He is the author of LTspice and has been developing that program for the last 10 years. It is his third circuit simulator.

October 16, 2008: “TESLA MOTORS – OVERVIEW AND ADVANCED ELECTRIC POWERTRAIN” by Dr. Peng Zhou, Director of Research and Development of Tesla Motors

Abstract:Tesla Motors, Inc. pioneers in the state-of-the art, pure electric, zero emission and high performance vehicles. This presentation provides an overview of Tesla Motors and its advanced electric powertrain. This presentation also highlights how simulation driven design enables valuable trade-off studies for vehicle profile definition. Tesla Motors, Inc. has developed proprietary vehicle models that are specifically tailored towards pure-electric drive-train. Simulation driven design reduces the number of physical prototypes and change orders throughout the product development process. Hence simulation driven design yields significant time and cost benefits.

Bio: Dr. Peng Zhou joined Tesla Motors, Inc. in Jan 2007. He leads Tesla Motors’ Advanced Projects group and is also responsible for the newly developed 1.5 powertrain for Tesla Roadster. Before joining Tesla Motors, Inc., Dr. Zhou served in various start-ups including High Speed Solutions, Inc. (acquired by Intel Corp.) and Cooligy, Inc. (acquired by Emerson Electric). At Cooligy, Dr. Zhou led the technology development of a mass-produced micro-channel liquid cooling systems for high-end workstation. Dr. Zhou received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University and MS and BS degree from University of Science and Technology in China.

September 18, 2008: “L-Cell Energy Storage from Deeya” by Saroj Sahu, Founder & Izak Bencuya, Executive Director of Deeya

Abstract: Deeya Energy is a technology start-up focused on developing and manufacturing Electrical Energy Storage Systems based on its proprietary technology called L-Cell. The systems are based on a novel battery technology that allows a new level of cost and performance metrics to be reached in the energy industry.

Deeya’s products are focused on peak-off-peak Load Shifting, a market estimated to be worth $10B for electricity consumers and worth $160B for electricity producers and distributors. They are also for commercial energy storage in Renewable Energy and UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) industries, presently estimated at $5B, and inadequately served mostly by Lead-Acid batteries and diesel generators.

Deeya L-Cells are suitable and economic replacements for Lead-Acid batteries and diesel generators for applications requiring 2-50kVA of power and 4-24 hours of backup. The lifetime of a Deeya L-Cell is 7 years, after which it can be refurbished with minimal cost to run for another 7 years, ad infinitum. The L-Cells require minimal or no maintenance during this period. They are temperature independent and can be placed in an outside environment. Most importantly, they can be charged very fast. A 4-hour system can be charged in about 2 hours.

The system represents a Clean Energy Technology, with no poisonous or expensive metals or fume release. L-Cells are effectively 3 times cheaper than Lead-Acid batteries, and 10-20 times cheaper than NiMH, Li-Ion and Fuel Cell options.

Bio:

Dr. Izak Bencuya: executive director of Deeya, recently resigned from his position as the Executive Vice President of Fairchild Semiconductor and the General Manager of the Functional Power Products Group in San Jose. He has over 25 years of industry experience. He began his career at Yale University where he researched ultra thin oxide MOS devices. Dr. Bencuya later worked at GTE Laboratories and Siliconix in various research and management roles to develop and market leading edge Power Devices, such as MOSFETs, IGBTs and SITs. He joined Fairchild in 1994 to start the Low Voltage MOSFET business. The Functional Power Products Group, at $950M annual revenue, mainly supplies Power Semiconductor devices for power supply applications in the computing, communications, industrial, consumer and automotive markets. He has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Bogazici University in Istanbul, Turkey, an M.S. and Ph.D. in Engineering and Applied Science from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the University of California-Berkeley. He is a member of the IEEE Electron Device Society. Dr. Bencuya holds 22 patents and has published extensively in the electronics field.

Dr. Saroj Sahu: Founder & Chief Technology Officer, holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Physics. Some of his best academic works include determination of structure of photon and particle detectors for b-quark physics. He has worked in technology leadership positions at Raychem/Tyco Electronics, Jasmine Networks, and Santec Corp, prior to founding Deeya Energy. He has been a Visiting Scholar (Monbusho Fellow) at the Japanese National Accelerator Physics Lab (KEK) invited by the Japanese Ministry of Education, and a Researcher at University of Hawaii (Honolulu), and National Taiwan University (Taipei). He has over 60 publications in international journals, 1 published book and 1 US patent, with several pending.