Prof. Keyue Ma Smedley
IEEE Fellow, Co-founder of One-Cycle Control (OCC), Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Director, UCI Power Electronics Laboratory
University of California, Irvine
Irvine, California USA
Prof. Keyue Ma Smedley received her B.S. and M.S. degrees in EE from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China, and an M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in EE from Caltech, Pasadena, CA.
Dr. Smedley was a high-power converter designer for all accelerator rings at the Superconducting Super Collider from 1990 to 1992. She is currently a Professor in the Department of EECS at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) and the Director of the UCI Power Electronics Laboratory. She is also a co-founder of One-Cycle Control, Inc.
Dr. Smedley is the inventor of the One-Cycle Control (OCC) method for high switching power conversion. In 1997, the UCI Power Electronics Laboratory demonstrated a high-fidelity OCC class-D amplifier that achieved <0.07% THD under 15% DC power ripple, resulting in a 7X reduction of size and weight. In 2003, Dr. Smedley’s team realized OCC universal 3-phase 4-quadrant controller that combines PFC, APF, inverter, VAR in one with unmatched dynamic speed to serve modern grid applications. In 2007, Dr. Smedley’s team invented the Hexagram converter, the first multilevel converter with constant power flow to each power module leading to minimum capacitor requirement and high fault tolerance for motor drive applications. In 2010, Dr. Smedley led a consortium of academic, utility, and industries to complete a one-year field demonstration of 15kV 2,000A (20,000A fault) class fault current limiter in the commercial power grid, which was the first time in the US history. In 2020, Dr. Smedley’s team demonstrated a general full-range regulation method for most resonant switched capacitor converters that opens the door for dramatically reduce or eliminate the magnetics.
Dr. Smedley’s work resulted in more than 200 technical publications, more than ten US/international patents, two start-up companies, and numerous commercial applications. Dr. Smedley is a recipient of the UCI Innovation Award 2005. She was selected as IEEE Fellow in 2008 for her contribution in high-performance switching power conversion. Her work with One-Cycle Control, Inc. won the Department of Army Achievement Award in Pentagon in 2010.
Keynote Speech: Stabilizing Power Grids with High Renewable Penetration
Abstract: Due to their rapidly transient and low inertia, high penetration of renewable sources places significant stress on the power grid, resulting in compromised stability and even grid failures. As a response, some states in the U.S. have chosen to slow down the deployment of renewables, while others ban solar back-feeding the grid. Dr. Smedley, Professor of the University of California, IEEE Fellow, and IEEE Power Electronics Society Distinguished Lecturer, will discuss the challenges of renewables and explore potential solutions.