
Professor Bernard Stark
M.A.(E.T.H.Zurich), Ph.D.(Cantab.)
Current positions
Professor of Electrical Engineering
School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
Contact
Press and media
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Research interests
I am a member of the Electrical Energy Management Research Group and the Digital Health Engineering Group. I am interested in exploiting new energy sources and the efficient management of power from these sources. My research lies at the interface of power electronics, microelectronics, and radiofrequency engineering. Current projects include power electronics using emerging GaN and SiC power devices, where high-speed active gate driving of these has been shown to increase efficiency and reduce electromagnetic emissions (EMI), and where advances in sensing are required. Micro-renewables and wireless power transfer to medical sensors present interesting challenges for power electronics due to the variability in the power and in some cases the ultra low power levels. We have developed sensor-driven electronics, nanopower computing circuits, and power electronics with sub-µW loss.
I have worked on many collaborations with industry and other universities and am keen to continue these and to establish new links.
Current Research Projects
- 2018 - 2022: SiC and GaN power electronics, and the electromagetic quietening of power waveforms. This work is supported by this EPSRC grant.
- 2017 -2020: Reliability, Condition Monitoring and Health Management Technologies for WBG Power Modules. This work is supported by this EPSRC grant.
- 2013 - 2018: SPHERE: A Sensor Platform for Healthcare in a Residential Environment. This work is supported by this EPSRC grant.
Past Research Projects
- 2013 - 2018: High-speed active gate driving. This work was supported by these EPSRC grants: PQ, CPE.
- 2016 - 2017: Commercialisation of an ultra-low-power detector IC. This was funded through an EPSRC Impact Acceleration Award.
- 2013 - 2017: Electronics that stays alive in variable, intermittent, low-power environments. This work was supported by this EPSRC grant.
- 2013 - 2014: Scaling up of low-head pico hydropower generation system. This work was funded through an EPSRC Acceleration Award.
- 2010 - 2013: Intelligent connectivity, scalability and modularity of remote pico hydropower plant. PhD student: Sam Williamson. This work was supported by Renishaw.
- 2010 - 2013: Next Generation Energy-Harvesting Electronics - holistic approach, see project website. PhD student: Plamen Proynov. This work was supported by this EPSRC grant.
- 2009 - 2012: Miniature energy harvesting in extreme environments. PhD student: Gyorgy Szarka. This work was funded by Schlumberger and GWR.
- 2009 - 2012: Design of inverters for energy conversion, research into the relationship between design and radiation (EMI). PhD student: Niall Oswald. This work was funded by EPSRC and Control Techniques Ltd.
- 2009 - 2010: Modelling and design of a low-head axial flow turbine generation system.
- 2007 - 2008: Design and scaling of remote multi-source renewable generation plant. This work was funded by EPSRC and Power Oasis.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
High-bandwidth sensing for wide-bandgap power conversion
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Department of Electrical & Electronic EngineeringDates
01/05/2022 to 30/04/2027
High-bandwidth sensing for wide-bandgap power conversion
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Department of Electrical & Electronic EngineeringDates
01/05/2022 to 30/04/2027
High-bandwidth sensing for wide-bandgap power conversion
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical EngineeringDates
01/05/2022 to 30/04/2027
8031 Quietening ultra-low-loss SiC & GaN waveforms
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
Department of Electrical & Electronic EngineeringDates
17/06/2018 to 16/06/2023
8461 Quietening ultra-low-loss SiC & GaN waveforms
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical EngineeringDates
17/06/2018 to 16/06/2023
Thesis supervisions
Alleviating oscillations in GaN power circuits through active gate drive control and evolutionary multi-objective optimization
Supervisors
Sub-ns Shaping of Switching Transients in GaN HEMT Bridge-legs
Supervisors
Reliability analysis of planar and symmetrical & asymmetrical trench discrete SiC Power MOSFETs
Supervisors
Publications
Recent publications
29/08/2024Accelerated Power Cycling of GaN HEMTs using Switching Loss and Fast Temperature Measurement
PCIM Europe 2024
‘Infinity Gate Sensor’: a Differential Magnetic Field Sensor for Measuring Gate Current of SiC Power Transistors
PCIM Europe 2024; International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management
Instrumentation Requirements for Fast 130+ V/ns Switching of 1700 V, 35 mΩ SiC MOSFETs
PCIM Europe 2024; International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management
Suppression of Oscillations in a SiC Bridge-Leg using a Custom Single-Chip Digital Active Gate Driver with 2×255 Strength Levels
PCIM Europe 2024; International Exhibition and Conference for Power Electronics, Intelligent Motion, Renewable Energy and Energy Management
Design Considerations and Experimental Testing of a Wide-Area Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) System for Body-Worn Electronics
Energies
Teaching
The unit content is less than in some other units, and this is provided in the form of 80 videos across my units. These videos are not narrated power points! They contain practical demonstrations, quizzes, example problems, tips and solutions, so you can pause and work on the problems for as long as you wish. All solutions are provided, and there are tips to help you progress without having to consult the solutions. There is a printed workbook into which you can write the solutions, with pre-drawn graphs and all the video content. In some units, there are also computer simulation exercises to help with modelling work that you will likely need to carry out for your research projects.
There a lots of options for feedback, e.g. direct feedback in the weekly classes, where instructors sit next to you so you can check your progress, to question sessions, and a forum that is actively used for any questions that might arrise between classes. My average response time is only a few hours on this.