More Stuff to Know

Abstract

For one to be a good power electronics engineer one must know a lot about a lot. Power electronics engineers obviously have to know about power conversion circuits and topologies. But, we must also have a basic understanding of semiconductor physics to truly understand how our power switching devices work and how to make best use of them. We must have a deep understanding of magnetics and magnetics devices. We have to know about all different types of capacitor technologies, the characteristics of each, and where each fits in our power converter designs. We must know analog and digital circuit design to create not just analog controllers but all sorts of monitoring and protection circuitry. We have to know a fair amount about control theory to properly design our controllers. We have to know product safety standards and practice. We have to know EMI standards and how to control unwanted electromagnetic emissions both by design and by mitigation after the fact. We have to understand heat transfer and thermal management. I believe that good power electronics engineers must have a greater breadth and depth in more technical areas than some other engineering specialties.