UA Electrical Engineering Helps Arkansas Businesses Compete

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — When Baldor Electric needed a reliable workforce, a centralized location and a business-friendly environment, it located in Ft. Smith, Arkansas. And when Baldor needed expertise to help it compete with industry giants like General Electric, Toshiba and Asea Brown Boveri (ABB), it turned to the electrical engineering department at the University of Arkansas.

"The University is a great resource for Arkansas companies," explains Juan Balda, professor of electrical engineering. "A company like ABB has a $2.5 billion annual research budget, while Baldor has only $650 million in total sales. Access to cost-effective R&D is essential if Baldor is to be successful."

Balda, who specializes in power electronics, has worked with Baldor for more than five years. Currently his team and Baldor engineers are working on reducing the acoustic noise typical of motor drives that use power electronics. Other electrical engineering faculty members are studying over-voltage and common-mode current problems and line impedance digital meters.

Working with the University allows companies more flexibility, according to Balda. The relationship allows companies to move faster to respond to short-term R&D needs. Rather than equipping labs and hiring professionals for a project, a company can simply turn to experts with labs already up and ready to go.

"Sometimes that’s the difference in an Arkansas company’s ability to compete," said Balda. "It allows Arkansas industries to be more competitive, even though they do not have huge research and development (R&D) budgets. Doing research through the University is often far more economical than people realize."

Working through contracts with engineering faculty allows Baldor to get a greater return on its research investment. By establishing research contracts with the University, Baldor can call on a variety of experts for a fraction of the cost of establishing and maintaining a research division.

Balda’s research is not limited to Arkansas companies. He is also currently working to improve the efficiency of electric cars on a contract with the U.S. Navy. Although it may seem strange for the Navy to be building an electric car, it is part of a move by the Navy toward total electric propulsion in all ships.

"The electric car is being built to prove the concepts," explained Balda. "Once the systems are fully optimized, they can be scaled up to work just as well on a battleship.

Researchers know that electric cars are more efficient and do not produce as many pollutants as cars having internal combustion engines. However, their range is limited by the size of their batteries. Increasing the efficiency of the motor helps some, but not enough. To enhance battery utilization, Balda’s team has developed an innovative technique that optimizes the selection of the random switching frequencies throughout the speed range typical of adjustable speed drives.

"Electric propulsion has the potential for greater power densities," said Balda. "It will result in volume and size reduction of motors and could significantly change the design of Navy vessels."