Andrew Steinmann

University: Binghamton University
Major: Electrical Engineering
Gradation Date: May 2010
Hometown: Douglaston, NY


Project:  A test-bed has been developed as part of the advancement of 10 kV, 100 A half-bridge silicon carbide power modules. The purpose of the test-bed is to stress the dielectric needed for high voltage isolation which is necessary for systems using the silicon carbide modules. Primarily, the test-bed will be used to determine the voltage breakdown of isolation transformers that are needed for the module gate drive. The test-bed is designed to apply a DC voltage from 0-40 kV and a 5 kV square wave operating at 20 kHz with a 200 ns rise-time and fall-time in order to emulate real world applications.

The goal of my project is to develop software to control instruments that apply specific voltages and measure required parameters using LabWindows/CVI. The software provides the user with the ability to sweep a range of DC voltages, set the sample time, and control the AC sequence. The program also enables the user to create several trials to execute consecutively providing a simple way to perform and document long-term experiments.