[gravatar email=”raczkowski@pcka.com” class=”alignleft” size=”96″ default=”https://pcka.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/gravatar.jpg”]Brian Raczkowski received the BSEE, MSEE and PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2003, 2005, and 2009, respectively. He is currently a Senior Engineer with PCKA. His projects have entailed advanced aircraft systems including improving modeling and simulation efforts, developing streamlined data analysis processes and analyzing multiple aircraft units. He received the Grainger Outstanding Power Student Award three times. His research interests include modeling, simulation and analysis of power systems, machines, and power electronics. Selected Publications 1. B. Raczkowski and P. W. Sauer, “Identification of Critical Cutsets for Static Collapse Analysis,” Proceedings Bulk Power System Dynamics and Control – iREP Symposium, August 2007, pp 1-8. 2. B. Raczkowski and P. W. Sauer, “Review of Wind Energy Conversion Systems,” Proceedings of the Electrical Manufacturing Technical Conference, September 2006, pp. 1-8. 3. B. Raczkowski and P. W. Sauer, “Doubly-fed Induction Machine Analysis for Power Flow Control,” Proceedings of the Electrical Insulation Conference, October 2005, pp....
Read MoreGrant Pitel
[gravatar email=”pitel@pcka.com” class=”alignleft” size=”96″ default=”https://pcka.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/gravatar.jpg”]Grant Pitel received a BSEE from Cornell University at Ithaca, NY in 2003, and received a MSEE and PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 2005 and 2008, respectively. He was a finalist in the 2002 Cornell Big Red Venture Business Idea Competition, received the IEEE IAS Myron Zucker Student design award in 2003, a 2004 Energy Star Efficiency Challenge winner, and received the 2005 Grainger award. He has worked part-time for Magna-Power Electronics Inc. in Flemington, NJ from 1994-2002 as an assembler and later as a technician. He also interned as a platforms engineer for Google Inc. in Mountain View, CA in 2007. Currently he is a Senior Engineer at PCKA, where he has developed an automated graphical tool that validates simulated and lab measured data to power requirements (such as MIL-STD-46) and that auto generates reports. His professional interests include embedded systems; data-acquisition; power electronics design, analysis, simulation, and control; and web application development and hosting. Selected Publications G. Pitel, “Minimum-Time Transient Recovery using Raster Control Surfaces,” Transactions on Power Electronics, Vol. 24, Iss. 12, 2692 – 2703, December 2009. G. Pitel, “Fast Power Converters and Rapid Digital Design,” UILU-ENG-2008-2509, CEME-TR-2008-02, December 2008. G. Pitel, P. T. Krein, “Minimum-Time Digital Control with Raster Surfaces,” Proceedings IEEE Workshops on Computers in Power Electronics, Zurich, Switzerland, August 2008, pp. 1-8. G. Pitel, P. T. Krein, “Real-Time System Identification for Load Monitoring and Transient Handling of dc-dc Supplies,” Proceedings IEEE Power Electronics Specialist Conference, Rhodes, Greece, June 2008, pp. 3807-3813. G. Pitel, P. T. Krein, “Transient Reduction of dc-dc Converters via Augmentation and Geometric Control,” Proceedings IEEE Power Electronics Specialists Conference, Orlando, FL, June 2007, pp. 1652-1657. G. Pitel, P. T. Krein, “Trajectory Paths for dc-dc Converters and Limits to Performance” Proceedings IEEE Workshops on Computers in Power Electronics, Troy, NY, July 2006, pp. 40-47. B. T. Kuhn, G. Pitel, P. T. Krein, “Electrical Properties and Equalization of Lithium-ion Cells in Automotive Applications,” 2005 IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference, September...
Read MoreDavida Parks
[gravatar email=”parks@pcka.com” class=”alignleft” size=”96″ default=”https://pcka.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/gravatar.jpg”]Davida Parks received a BS in Accounting from the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University in 1997. She is currently Business Manager at PCKA where she utilizes her prior experience as Assistant Director of the Business and Industrial Development Center (BIDC) at Purdue University. At BIDC she was responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations of the department including staff, budget and outreach programs. As part of the outreach, she was also a Small Business Development Center counselor and assisted companies with marketing, financing, establishing their accounting programs, and preparation of business plans. She has assisted in the start-up of over fifty businesses. In addition, she has worked with Indiana companies pursuing grants through the federal Small Business Innovation Research program since the program’s inception in 1983. As a grant writer, she has been successful in obtaining funding for programs at Purdue University and Indiana...
Read MoreTim O’Connell
[gravatar email=”oconnell@pcka.com” class=”alignleft” size=”96″ default=”https://pcka.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/gravatar.jpg”]Tim O’Connell received a BA, summa cum laude, in Physics from Carleton College in Northfield, MN in 2003 and MSEE and PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), in 2005 and 2008, respectively. He is presently a Senior Engineer with PCKA, where he is the lead engineer in charge of adaptive power and thermal management system (APTMS) model integration for the Air Force Integrated Vehicle and Energy Technology (INVENT) next generation fighter aircraft program. Previously at PCKA, he has modeled and simulated bidirectional power converter architectures for use in aircraft electrical accumulator units (EAU). His research interests include electromagnetic simulation, and the design, modeling, simulation and control of electric machinery and drive systems. At UIUC, he won the Grainger Outstanding Power Student Award in 2005, held the Sargent and Lundy Distinguished Power Student Fellowship in 2005-06, and was named on the List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent in 2007 for his teaching assistant duties for the electrical machinery course. Selected Publications T. C. O’Connell, P. T. Krein, M. Yilmaz, A. Friedl, “On the Feasibility of Using Large-Scale Numerical Electric Machine Field Analysis Software in Complex Electric Drive System Design Tools,” 11th IEEE Workshop on Control and Modeling for Power Electronics (COMPEL ’08), Zurich, Switzerland, August 18-20, 2008. T. C. O’Connell and P. T. Krein, “Calculating the Induced Currents in Induction Machines Using Schwarz-Christoffel Mapping,” Electrical Insulation Conference, October 2007, Nashville, TN. T. C. O’Connell, P. T. Krein, “The Schwarz-Christoffel Analytical Method Applied to Electric Machine Slot Shape Optimization,” Proceedings IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives Conference (IEMDC ’07), May 2007, pp. 341-346. T. C. O’Connell, P. T. Krein, “A Preliminary Investigation of Computer-Aided Schwarz-Christoffel Transformation for Electric Machine Design and Analysis,” 10th IEEE Workshop on Computers in Power Electronics (COMPEL ’06), July 2006, pp. 166-172. T. C. O’Connell, P. T. Krein, “Development of a First-Principles Design Method for Electromechanical Systems and a Linear Induction Machine,” Proceedings IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives Conference (IEMDC ’05), May 2005, pp. 474-480. T. C. O’Connell, P. T. Krein, J. T. Mossoba, “Symbolic Analysis with Mathematica in Power Electronics and Electromechanical Systems,” 9th IEEE Workshop on Computers in Power Electronics (COMPEL ’04), August 2004, pp....
Read MoreKevin McCarthy
[gravatar email=”mccarthy@pcka.com” class=”alignleft” size=”96″ default=”https://pcka.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/gravatar.jpg”]K. McCarthy received the BS in Physics from Washington University in 2005 and MSECE from Purdue University in 2007. He is an Engineer at PCKA. His research interests include modeling and simulation of electromechanical systems, and aircraft thermal management systems. He is the primary developer of a Simulink toolset capable of performing dynamic analysis of aircraft thermal management systems that he has implemented to study fuel thermal management systems for current/next generation aircraft. Additional modeling activities have included arc-fault analysis of an H60 helicopter generator, dynamic generator/engine response to advanced weaponry loading, and electromechanical actuator performance for next generation aircraft. In 2004, he received the Delos Fellowship for summer research for work in the Washington University Physics Department and in 2007 was the recipient of the Grainger Outstanding Power Engineering Student award. Selected Publications K. McCarthy, B. P. Loop, Charles Singer, “Arc Fault Protection Modeling and Analysis,” Propulsion – Safety and Affordable Readiness (P-SAR) Conference, March 24-26, 2009, Myrtle Beach, SC. K. McCarthy, E. A. Walters, A. Heltzel, et. al., “Dynamic Thermal Management System Modeling of a More Electric Aircraft,” 2008 SAE Power Systems Conference, November 11-13, 2008, Bellevue, WA. K. McCarthy, M. Bash, S. Pekarek, “Design of an Air-Core Linear Generator Drive for Energy Harvest Applications,” 2008 Applied Power Electronics Conference and Exposition, February 24-28, 2008, pp....
Read MoreCharles Eric Lucas
[gravatar email=”lucas@pcka.com” class=”alignleft” size=”96″ default=”https://pcka.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/gravatar.jpg”]C. E. Lucas received the BSEE, MSEE, and PhD from Purdue University in 1991, 1997, and 2003, respectively. His research interests include distributed computing and parallel/multi-rate integration techniques as applied to the simulation of electromechanical power systems. Since joining PCKA, he has served as the principal investigator on several SBIR and STTR Phase I and II efforts as well as other contracts encompassing several branches of the Department of Defense. He is a co-inventor of Distributed Heterogeneous Simulation (DHS) and has authored or co-authored over 20 technical papers. He joined PCKA as an Engineer in 1997 and is currently a Senior Engineer and Director of Computer and Networking Services. Selected Publications B. P. Loop, C. E. Lucas, E. A. Walters, M. Hasan, S. Field, N. Kumbar, “Improvements in the Distributed Heterogeneous Simulation of Aircraft Electric Power Systems,” Proceedings 2006 SAE Power Systems Conference, November 7-9, 2006, New Orleans, LA. E. A. Walters, M. Hasan, C. E. Lucas, O. Wasynczuk, P. T. Lamm, “Variable Communication Rates in a Distributed Simulation,” Proceedings 3rd International Energy Conversion Engineering Conference, August 2005, San Francisco, CA. C. E. Lucas, E. A. Walters, O. Wasynczuk, P. T. Lamm, “An Algorithm for the Optimal Allocation of Subsystem Simulations within a Distributed Heterogeneous Simulation,” SAE Transactions Journal of Aerospace, July 2005, pp. xxxxxxxx, Paper # 2004-01-3183. C. E. Lucas, E. A. Walters, O. Wasynczuk, P. T. Lamm, “Cross-Platform Distributed Heterogeneous Simulation of a MEA Power System,” Proceedings SPIE Defense and Security Symposium, March 2005. S. Graham, I. Wong, W. Chen, A. Lazarevic, K. Cleek, E. A. Walters, C. E. Lucas, O. Wasynczuk, P. Lamm, “Distributed Simulation,” Aerospace Engineering, November 2004, pp. 24–27. S. D. Pekarek, O. Wasynczuk, E. A. Walters, J. V. Jatskevich, C. E. Lucas, N. Wu, P. T. Lamm, “An Efficient Multi-Rate Simulation Technique for Power Electronic-Based Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 19, no. 1, February 2004, pp. xxxxx. C. E. Lucas, E. A. Walters, J. Jatskevich, “Distributed Heterogeneous Simulation of Naval Integrated Power System,” American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE), Electric Machine Technology Symposium (EMTS) 2004, January 27-29, 2004, Philadelphia, PA. C. E. Lucas, E. A. Walters, J. Jatskevich, O. Wasynczuk, E. L. Zivi, “Distributed Heterogeneous Simulation of Large-Scale Dynamical Systems,” 13th Ship Control Systems Symposium, April 2003, Orlando, FL. C. E. Lucas, E. A. Walters, J. Jatskevich, O. Wasynczuk, P. T. Lamm “A Distributed Heterogeneous Simulation of a Representative Aircraft Power System,” 2002 SAE Power Systems Conference, October 29-31, 2002, Coral Springs, FL. Paper #2002-01-3189. 10. E. A. Walters, O. Wasynczuk, J. V. Jatskevich, C. E. Lucas, “An Observer-Based Automated Averaging Technique for Power Electronic Circuits,” SAE Transactions Journal of Aerospace, sec. 1, set 3, Month 2000, pp....
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