It was not the three-piece rock band from the Netherlands that made a guest appearance at Infineon Technologies on 7 February, but the equally energetic research cooperative of the same name, PowerizeD. It has set itself the goal of developing intelligent and sustainable power electronics across Europe.
More than 100 representatives from 39 companies and 23 research institutes came to the kick-off meeting at the 'Infineon Campeon' in Neubiberg near Munich. Together, they want to decarbonize society and protect the climate.
PowerizeD aims to raise the sustainability and resilience of energy chains from generation to application to a new level and thus strengthen Europe's technological sovereignty. The 62 research partners from 13 European countries are part of a major project with a total volume of €72 million. PowerizeD addresses a new technology level and focuses on digitalization in the power sector. Infineon initiated the project and is responsible for overall coordination. According to Infineon COO Rutger Wijburg, power electronics are key to the energy transition. The wide range in which it is used also requires that progress can be made across company and organizational boundaries and that Europe is strengthened as a driver of innovation.
The project partners are focusing on applications in the fields of energy and mobility. In 17 demonstration paths, the focus is on improving drives in the rail and manufacturing industries, automotive charging systems and liquid batteries for the energy industry. Topics such as modeling, digital twins, federated learning, reliability and sustainability are included.
The research cooperative's immediate project goals include reducing converter power loss by 25%, extending the service life of devices by 30%, reducing chip sizes by at least 10% and shortening development times by 50%
Technologically, PowerizeD is intended to increase the mechanical and electrical integration of control, driver and switching functionality in components and drive their optimization independently of the semiconductor material. New switching topologies are intended to improve efficient, robust and reliable operation.
