The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID,-funded is hosting an Energy Sustainability and Transportation Electrification Workshop at Ain Shams University. Ayman M. El-Refaie, a professor of electrical engineering and Thomas H. and Suzanne M. Werner Endowed Chair in Secure and Renewable Energy Systems at Marquette University, will lead this workshop focusing on the global shift toward electrification and energy sustainability.

Transitioning to clean energy is arguably one of the most critical challenges for a sustainable future. With predictions showing eventual scarcity and a higher degree of extraction difficulty for traditional sources of energy like coal, oil and natural gas, the shift to sustainable, clean sources of energy is a must. The increasingly detrimental environmental impact of using fossil fuels makes the transition even more crucial.

Over the last few decades, there have been intense efforts to replace mechanical and hydraulic systems with electrical ones. This effort also includes replacing fixed-speed and old electrical drives with higher performance variable-speed drives.  is mainly due to the higher reliability, efficiency and robustness of electrical systems.

The push for the use of modern electrification technology poses many challenges to develop electrical systems that meet various applications’ variety of demanding requirements, including the ability to sustain use in harsh environments, high power density, high efficiency and robust fault tolerance in safety-critical applications. At the heart of the electrification effort is the development of advanced electrical machines and drives.

The workshop will provide an overview of the various applications of electrification in the transportation sector. It will focus on electrical machines and drives, current industry trends and potential areas of research. This trend spans fields such as transportation, aerospace, mining, oil and gas and the industrial sector     .

Feb. 24, 2025, 9:30 a.m.    –    4:30 p.m.  Cairo time

Ain Shams University  Faculty of Engineering, Seminar Hall in the Library Building        

This workshop will cover recent trends, enabling technologies and research areas related to energy sustainability and transportation electrification. Attendees will gain insights into challenges such as rare earth material dependence and fault tolerance in permanent magnet drives. Discussions will emphasize practical solutions for advancing sustainable energy systems through innovations in electrical machines and drives.

Learning Outcomes:

• Understand various aspects of energy sustainability, including examples of electrification and ongoing research activities.
• Be able to provide an overview of transportation electrification, including electrical machines, drives and energy storage.
• Examine the challenges of rare earth materials and the global efforts to reduce or eliminate these materials in electrical machines while maintaining required performance levels.
• Explore fault tolerance in permanent magnet drives, related challenges and various approaches to mitigate different types of faults, especially in safety-critical applications.