The USAID-funded Center of Excellence for Energy is hosting an in-person Energy Sustainability and Transportation Electrification workshop at Ain Shams University. Professor of Electrical Engineering and Thomas and Suzanne M. Werner Endowed Chair for Energy Sustainability at Marquette University Ayman M. El-Refaie will lead this workshop focusing on the global shift toward electrification and energy sustainability. Energy sustainability is arguably one of the most critical challenges for a sustainable future. With predictions showing future scarcity and/or higher degree of extraction difficulty of traditional sources of energy like coal, oil and natural gas, the shift to sustainable clean sources of energy is a must. Another key reason is the increasing detrimental impact of using fossil fuels. Over the last few decades, there have been serious efforts to replace mechanical and hydraulic systems with electrical systems. This effort also includes replacing fixed-speed and old electrical drives with higher performance variable-speed drives. This is mainly due to the higher reliability, efficiency and robustness of electrical systems. This push for electrification posed a lot of challenges to develop electrical systems that meet the demanding requirements of the various applications including harsh environments, high power density, high efficiency and 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 applications such as transportation, aerospace, mining, oil and gas, and industrial sectors. However, advancing electrification requires developing high-performance electrical machines and drives to meet stringent demands.

February 24, 2025, 9:30 am – 4:30 pm (Cairo time) 

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

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: 

• Understanding various aspects of energy sustainability including examples of electrification and ongoing research activities.
• Overview of transportation electrification including electrical machines, drives and energy storage.
• Examining the challenges of rare-earth materials and the global efforts to reduce/eliminate these materials in electrical machines while maintaining the required performance.
• Exploring fault-tolerance in permanent magnet drives, its challenges, and the various approaches to mitigate different types of faults especially in safety-critical applications.