PhD Students
Derek Jackson joined the group as an M.S./Ph.D. student in September 2019. He attended Oregon State University and received his B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. In 2021, he completed his M.S. in Electrical Engineering with Dr. Cao. His research interests include power electronics, motor drives, energy storage, and power system design and optimization for transportation electrification and microgrids. Derek received the IEEE ECCE Conference Student Travel Award in 2020 and DOE ARPA-E SUMMIT Fellowship in 2023. He participated in the MECOP dual internship program at Daimler Trucks North America (subsidiary of Daimler-Mercedes) and Blount International (now Oregon Tool), both in Portland, Oregon. In Summer 2023, he interns with DOE National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) in Denver, Colorado.
Md. Tariquzzaman joined the group as a PhD student in Fall 2021. He received B.S. and M.S. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) from Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET), Khulna, Bangladesh, in 2016 and 2019, respectively. He joined as a Lecturer in the Department of EEE at Jashore University of Science and Technology (JUST) in 2017 and subsequently as an Assistant Professor, having participated in two government-funded projects. His research interests include power electronics converter control, motor drives, and renewable energy integration. During his undergraduate studies, he received merit-based scholarships as well as achieved three times Dean’s List Award. He likes to travel, play cricket and badminton in spare time.
Inyong
Kim (co-advised
with Dr. Brekken) received Bachelor’s in Konkuk
University, Seoul, South Korea, majoring in Mechanical
Engineering. His current research interest lies in power
electronics, motor drive systems, electrical propulsion,
and renewable energy. He spends free time playing acoustic
guitar, video games, and scuba diving.
Peidong Li joined the group as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2022. He received B.S. in Electric Engineering from Wuhan University, China, 2022, as a top 5 in graduating class. In 2021, he worked as an undergraduate RA at Center for Grid Power Electronics at Wuhan University where he worked on a high frequency high power density converter. His research interest includes power electronics, motor drives, renewable energy, and power systems. He enjoys cycling, hiking, and video games in his spare time.
Sam Barton joined the group as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2022. He graduated from OSU in Spring 2022 with a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering and focused primarily on Power Electronics. His previous experiences include working alongside the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences in creating a system for measuring ocean swell characteristics, developing a prototype power distribution board for the HyperRail project through the OPEnS lab at OSU, and an internship at a local electric utility. His research interests include power electronics, renewable energy, and power systems. Outside of school he enjoys surfing, snowboarding, skateboarding, and camping.
Shuvankar Podder joined the group as a Ph.D. student in Fall 2023. He graduated in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), Dhaka, in 2014. He was a lecturer at Stamford University Bangladesh from 2014 to September 2015. Later, he joined Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB) as an Assistant Engineer and was promoted to Sub-Divisional Engineer in 2019. He enrolled in M.Sc. at BUET and completed all theory courses. His research interest includes power electronics and its applications to energy storage systems, electric vehicles, renewable energy integration, and smart grid. During his undergraduate studies, he received merit scholarships four times and secured his name in the Dean’s List award two times. Shuvankar is fond of reading novels and enjoys playing cricket.
Adrian Gibson joined the group as a PhD student in Fall 2023. They received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut, US. Their primary interest is in the development of sustainable energy technology and infrastructure. As an undergraduate student, they participated in research relating to modeling PV panel health, and additionally received two summer REU awards to study hydropower energy storage and three-phase power modeling, respectively. Their other research interests include grid integration of renewable sources, distributed generation, and power electronics. In their free time, they enjoy reading, archery, martial arts, and drawing.
MS Students
Vinson Guov joined the group in December 2020 after obtaining BSEE at OSU. As an undergraduate at OSU, he participated in the MECOP internship program at Vestas Americas and Blount International (now Oregon Tool), both in Portland, Oregon, where he gained experience working with wind turbines and battery-powered landscaping tools. His areas of interest are electric vehicles and power electronics. He had an internship with Microsemi/Microchip in Bend, Oregon, in 2020, where he gained experience in characterizing SiC MOSFETs.
Trevor Murphy joined the group in January 2022. He received B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Oregon State University in December 2021. His current areas of interest include electric propulsion, energy generation, energy storage, and robotics. He had an internship with Collins Aerospace in Wilsonville, Oregon, in Summer 2021, where he worked on a power distribution board for an aircraft mounted radar system. Additionally, he has worked with CEOAS at OSU to develop a robotic control system platform, used for mapping small and large scale ocean mixing systems. In Summer 2023, he interns with Daimler Truck in Portland, Oregon. During his free time, he is a part of the OSU Robotics Club Mars Rover team, where he is an electrical project lead, developing more robust motor controllers for the drive system. Outside of engineering, he enjoys hiking, driving, video games, and movies.
BS Students
Parker Choc joined the group as an undergraduate in June 2023. His areas of interest include power electronics, electric vehicles, and integrated electronics. He completed a MECOP internship at Evergreen Engineering in Eugene, Oregon, where he worked on industrial power distribution systems and protective device coordination. Additionally he has worked as an electrical engineer at Tanguay zebrafish research laboratory at OSU where he designed and built test equipment to facilitate zebrafish toxicology studies. Outside of engineering, Parker enjoys rock music, camping, and board games.
Connor Moyce joined the group as an undergraduate in Winter 2024. His interests include power electronics, embedded systems, and signal processing. He has previously worked to develop agricultural sensors at OSU’s Openly Published Environmental Sensing Laboratory. He has also interned at Tektronix in Beaverton, Oregon, in the Component Engineering group. Outside of his academic pursuits, Connor enjoys photography and playing music.
Kenneth Tang joined the group as an undergraduate in Winter 2024. He is interested in renewable energy generation and management, automation, and microcontrollers. After earning his Associates in 2020, he worked as a fiber optic technician before attending OSU in 2021. In 2023, he had an internship with Daimler Truck North America as a Product Validation Engineer where he worked with high voltage vehicles, created automated hardware-in-the-loop tests, and modeled vehicle components for simulated testing. In his spare time, he enjoys cooking, learning, and reading.
Visiting Scholars
Feel free to inquire.