Two University of Arkansas electrical engineering doctoral students received awards at the Ceramic Interconnect and Ceramic Microsystems Technologies conference in Denver, Colorado, on April 19-21.

Atanu Dutta tied for second place for the presentation of his paper, "Design of a Low Inductance Power Module Based on Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic."  Dutta's paper came out of the work he has been performing for his dissertation research under the supervision of Simon Ang, professor of electrical engineering and director of the U of A's High Density Electronic Center (HiDEC).

Sayan Seal won first place for presentation of his paper, "The Design and Evaluation of an Integrated Wirebond-less Power Module (IWPM) using a Low Temperature Co-fired Ceramic Interposer." Seal's paper is based on research he has completed with his mentor, Alan Mantooth, Distinguished Professor of Electrical Engineering and holder of the Twenty-First Century Research Leadership Chair.

Both Dutta and Seal are researching new designs for power modules. Their designs use ceramic material and new design approaches to eliminate the need for longer wires in power modules. By shortening these wires, the modules that can operate faster and more reliably. Dutta used the unique capabilities at HiDEC to fabricate his module, and Seal tested his design through electro-thermal-mechanical simulations and has started fabrication of key components at HiDEC.

"I'm very proud of these students," said Michael Glover, research assistant professor of electrical engineering and director of the ceramic integration laboratory at HiDEC. Glover served as a session chair at the conference. "I encouraged both students to submit to the conference, and I am extremely glad that they were rewarded for their efforts."

Dutta's research is supported by the Grid-Connected Advanced Power Systems (GRAPES), a National Science Foundation Industry/University Cooperative Research Center and Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems (POETS), a National Science Foundation Engineering Research Center, and Seal's research is supported by POETS.