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[School of Electrical Engineering Incoming Faculty] Power Conversion System Domain, Assistant Professor Sangwhee Lee
관리자 2026.07.05 Views 19
▲ Incoming Assistant Professor Sangwhee Lee
Q. Please briefly introduce yourself.
My name is Sangwhee Lee, and I joined the School of Electrical Engineering at Korea University in the Spring 2026 semester. I studied electrical and electronic engineering at Korea University and later conducted my doctoral research on power electronics and power conversion systems at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I then worked as a power electronics researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where I conducted research on the design and control of high-efficiency power conversion systems for electric vehicles, data centers, and power grids.
My research areas include wide-bandgap (WBG)-based power conversion circuits, electromagnetic interference (EMI) mitigation, high-frequency magnetic components, and AI-assisted design and control of power conversion systems. In particular, I am interested in developing high-efficiency, high-power-density, and highly reliable power conversion technologies for practical industrial systems by jointly considering power semiconductor devices, circuit topologies, control and modulation techniques, magnetic components, and electric machinery systems.
Q. What research will you pursue at Korea University?
At Korea University, I plan to conduct research centered on next-generation power conversion systems. The role of power conversion systems is rapidly expanding across a wide range of applications, including data centers, power grids, electric vehicles, and electric aircraft. In these applications, it is no longer sufficient to design a single high-efficiency converter. Instead, circuits, control, EMI, insulation, thermal management, magnetic components, and reliability must be considered in an integrated manner under high-voltage, high-power, and high-frequency operating conditions.
Building on my research experience at ORNL, I am particularly interested in high-efficiency power conversion technologies for applications with rapidly growing power demand, such as data centers. In data center power systems, not only high efficiency and power density but also scalability, modularity, reliability, and maintainability are essential. To address these needs, I plan to study modular and scalable power conversion systems, high-voltage DC distribution, energy storage, and next-generation power conversion systems such as solid-state transformers (SSTs).
I also plan to conduct research on high-efficiency power converters using WBG power semiconductors, topology synthesis based on duality, EMI reduction techniques, grid-connected power conversion systems, high-frequency transformer and inductor design, and AI-based design automation and control optimization. I place strong emphasis on hardware implementation and experimental validation, and my goal is to develop research outcomes that are not only theoretically sound but also practically viable in real systems.
Q. What motivated you to pursue this research field, and what is your outlook for the field?
Power electronics and power conversion systems are technologies that convert and control electrical energy into the desired form. At first glance, they may appear to be a single circuit or control algorithm, but in practice they are highly system-oriented fields that connect semiconductor devices, magnetic components, electric machines, control, thermal management, EMI, insulation, and reliability. I believe this complexity is one of the most attractive aspects of power electronics.
Recent advances in WBG power semiconductors have significantly improved the switching speed and power density of power conversion circuits. At the same time, however, new challenges have become increasingly important, including voltage overshoot, EMI, insulation stress, magnetic component losses, and motor winding stress caused by high-speed switching. In particular, in high-frequency power conversion systems, the design of magnetic components such as transformers and inductors becomes a key factor that determines the overall system efficiency, power density, insulation performance, and thermal performance.
I believe that future power electronics research cannot rely solely on switching faster or making converters smaller. The field must move toward integrated design approaches that simultaneously consider power semiconductor devices, circuit architectures, control, magnetic components, insulation, thermal management, and system architecture in order to satisfy efficiency, reliability, cost, and scalability requirements. In applications such as data centers, power grids, and large-scale mobility systems, system-level design that enables multiple modules to be connected and scaled reliably will become increasingly important, in addition to the performance of individual power converters.
AI and data-driven methods can also become powerful new tools for power electronics design. However, because physical laws, stability, protection mechanisms, and hardware constraints are critical in power electronics, it is important to use AI in combination with domain knowledge rather than as a simple black box. My goal is to develop faster and more reliable design methodologies for power conversion systems by combining physics-based design with AI-based optimization.
Q. Do you have any advice for students?
In engineering, I believe what matters is not only the ability to quickly find a predetermined answer. In real research and industry, problems are often not clearly defined. It is important to identify what the real problem is and to find the most appropriate solution among many competing constraints.
Power conversion systems are an interdisciplinary field where circuit theory, electromagnetics, control, semiconductors, electric machines, magnetic components, thermal management, and reliability come together. At first, the field may seem complex, but as students gradually connect these areas, they will see that it is a highly practical discipline that can directly shape the future of energy, mobility, data centers, and power grids.
I hope students will have opportunities to implement what they learn in classes and in the laboratory as real hardware and systems, and to experience the process of failure and improvement. Beyond simply memorizing answers, I hope they grow into engineers who can define problems on their own, validate their ideas, and propose new power conversion technologies.
My name is Sangwhee Lee, and I joined the School of Electrical Engineering at Korea University in the Spring 2026 semester. I studied electrical and electronic engineering at Korea University and later conducted my doctoral research on power electronics and power conversion systems at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. I then worked as a power electronics researcher at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), where I conducted research on the design and control of high-efficiency power conversion systems for electric vehicles, data centers, and power grids.
My research areas include wide-bandgap (WBG)-based power conversion circuits, electromagnetic interference (EMI) mitigation, high-frequency magnetic components, and AI-assisted design and control of power conversion systems. In particular, I am interested in developing high-efficiency, high-power-density, and highly reliable power conversion technologies for practical industrial systems by jointly considering power semiconductor devices, circuit topologies, control and modulation techniques, magnetic components, and electric machinery systems.
Q. What research will you pursue at Korea University?
At Korea University, I plan to conduct research centered on next-generation power conversion systems. The role of power conversion systems is rapidly expanding across a wide range of applications, including data centers, power grids, electric vehicles, and electric aircraft. In these applications, it is no longer sufficient to design a single high-efficiency converter. Instead, circuits, control, EMI, insulation, thermal management, magnetic components, and reliability must be considered in an integrated manner under high-voltage, high-power, and high-frequency operating conditions.
Building on my research experience at ORNL, I am particularly interested in high-efficiency power conversion technologies for applications with rapidly growing power demand, such as data centers. In data center power systems, not only high efficiency and power density but also scalability, modularity, reliability, and maintainability are essential. To address these needs, I plan to study modular and scalable power conversion systems, high-voltage DC distribution, energy storage, and next-generation power conversion systems such as solid-state transformers (SSTs).
I also plan to conduct research on high-efficiency power converters using WBG power semiconductors, topology synthesis based on duality, EMI reduction techniques, grid-connected power conversion systems, high-frequency transformer and inductor design, and AI-based design automation and control optimization. I place strong emphasis on hardware implementation and experimental validation, and my goal is to develop research outcomes that are not only theoretically sound but also practically viable in real systems.
Q. What motivated you to pursue this research field, and what is your outlook for the field?
Power electronics and power conversion systems are technologies that convert and control electrical energy into the desired form. At first glance, they may appear to be a single circuit or control algorithm, but in practice they are highly system-oriented fields that connect semiconductor devices, magnetic components, electric machines, control, thermal management, EMI, insulation, and reliability. I believe this complexity is one of the most attractive aspects of power electronics.
Recent advances in WBG power semiconductors have significantly improved the switching speed and power density of power conversion circuits. At the same time, however, new challenges have become increasingly important, including voltage overshoot, EMI, insulation stress, magnetic component losses, and motor winding stress caused by high-speed switching. In particular, in high-frequency power conversion systems, the design of magnetic components such as transformers and inductors becomes a key factor that determines the overall system efficiency, power density, insulation performance, and thermal performance.
I believe that future power electronics research cannot rely solely on switching faster or making converters smaller. The field must move toward integrated design approaches that simultaneously consider power semiconductor devices, circuit architectures, control, magnetic components, insulation, thermal management, and system architecture in order to satisfy efficiency, reliability, cost, and scalability requirements. In applications such as data centers, power grids, and large-scale mobility systems, system-level design that enables multiple modules to be connected and scaled reliably will become increasingly important, in addition to the performance of individual power converters.
AI and data-driven methods can also become powerful new tools for power electronics design. However, because physical laws, stability, protection mechanisms, and hardware constraints are critical in power electronics, it is important to use AI in combination with domain knowledge rather than as a simple black box. My goal is to develop faster and more reliable design methodologies for power conversion systems by combining physics-based design with AI-based optimization.
Q. Do you have any advice for students?
In engineering, I believe what matters is not only the ability to quickly find a predetermined answer. In real research and industry, problems are often not clearly defined. It is important to identify what the real problem is and to find the most appropriate solution among many competing constraints.
Power conversion systems are an interdisciplinary field where circuit theory, electromagnetics, control, semiconductors, electric machines, magnetic components, thermal management, and reliability come together. At first, the field may seem complex, but as students gradually connect these areas, they will see that it is a highly practical discipline that can directly shape the future of energy, mobility, data centers, and power grids.
I hope students will have opportunities to implement what they learn in classes and in the laboratory as real hardware and systems, and to experience the process of failure and improvement. Beyond simply memorizing answers, I hope they grow into engineers who can define problems on their own, validate their ideas, and propose new power conversion technologies.
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