Johann W. Kolar

Johann W. Kolar (F´10) received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degree (summa cum laude / promotio sub auspiciis praesidentis rei publicae) from the Vienna University of Technology, Austria.  Since 1984 he has been working as an independent international consultant in close collaboration with the Vienna University of Technology, in the fields of power electronics, industrial electronics and high performance drives. He has proposed numerous novel converter topologies and modulation/control concepts, e.g., the Vienna Rectifier, the Swiss Rectifier, and the three-phase AC-AC Sparse Matrix Converter. Dr. Kolar has published over 400 scientific papers in international journals and conference proceedings and has filed more than 80 patents. He was appointed Professor and Head of the Power Electronic Systems Laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zurich on Feb. 1, 2001.

The focus of his current research is on AC-AC and AC-DC converter topologies with low effects on the mains, e.g. for data centers, More-Electric-Aircraft and distributed renewable energy systems, and on Solid-State Transformers for Smart Microgrid Systems. Further main research areas are the realization of ultra-compact and ultra-efficient converter modules employing latest power semiconductor technology (SiC and GaN), micro power electronics and/or Power Supply on Chip Systems, multi-domain/scale modeling/simulation and multi-objective optimization, physical model-based lifetime prediction, pulsed power, and ultra-high speed and bearingless motors.

Dr. Kolar is a Fellow of the IEEE and received numerous Best Paper Awards of IEEE Transactions and IEEE Conferences and initiated and/or is the founder/co-founder of 4 ETH Spin-off companies. He is a Member of the Steering Committees of several leading international conferences in the field and serves as Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, the Journal of Power Electronics of the Korean Institute of Power Electronics and as a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the IEEJ Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

Available Talks

- The Essence of Three-Phase PFC Rectifier Systems

- The Essence of Three-Phase AC-AC Converter Systems

- Pareto-Optimal Design of Airborne Wind Turbine Power Electronics

- Performance Trends and Limitations of Power Electronics Systems

- Exploring the Pareto-Front of Multi-Objective PWM Converter Design Optimization

Contact Information

Johann W. Kolar

Director, Power Electronic Systems Laboratory
Department of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (D-ITET)

Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
ETH Zentrum
Physikstrasse 3, ETL H23
CH-8092 Zurich
Switzerland

Tel.: ++41-44-632-2834
Fax.: ++41-44-632-1212
e-mail: kolar@lem.ee.ethz.ch
www.pes.ee.ethz.ch, www.ee.ethz.ch/