Rahul Iyer and Yicheng Zhu win PELS Ph.D. Thesis Talk Award

Dr. Rahul Iyer and Dr. Yicheng Zhu, members of EECS Professor Robert Pilawa Podgurski’s research group, have received the PELS Ph.D. Thesis Talk Award for their outstanding doctoral research and presentations at the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS) conference.

The PELS Ph.D. Thesis Talk Award recognizes excellence in doctoral research in power electronics and highlights work that pushes the boundaries of innovation in the field. The award is presented annually to recognize young researchers whose work offers significant contributions to the theory, development, and application of power electronic systems, and whose findings open new opportunities for technological advancement and scientific discovery.

Iyer and Zhu conduct research in power electronics, exploring hybrid switched-capacitor design strategies that enable improved system efficiency and size reduction. Their work contributes to new approaches for power delivery in high-performance AI computing systems through innovations in circuit topology, magnetic design, integration, packaging, control, and electrothermal co-optimization.

Prior recipients of this award include EECS Professor Jessica Boles in 2023 and alumnus Zichao Ye in 2021.