MISSION AND VISION STATEMENT

The mission of the proposed Centre for Urban and Renewable Electrical Energy (CUREe) as a university recognized Research Center is to focus on electric vehicles and renewable energy as applied to the urban environment and to provide a platform through which fundamental and applied research will be conducted, relevant to Québec and Canada. The research will focus on design and prototyping of electric machines using novel materials and manufacturing techniques; performance optimized design of electric machines; hardware-in-the-loop emulation of electric machines; power electronic drives and systems for electric vehicles; design and prototyping of renewable energy generator systems; design of microgrids and nanogrids using renewable energy generators; novel core-loss testing methods; wireless charging and power electronic topologies for more electric aircraft and marine applications; optimization of charging systems for electric vehicles; novel DC-DC and AC-DC power converter topologies and control; novel techniques of renewable energy generation such as photosynthesis using organic cells.
The CUREe as a university recognized Infrastructure Platform will function as a state-of-the-art industry-level facility for testing and research in electrical machines for electric vehicles, micro-grids and other renewable energy and industrial applications. The facility will serve as a hardware laboratory for students for prototyping and testing of research projects. The knowledge, skill and hands-on experience gained by the research students while using these setups have resulted in many HQPs qualified for immediate absorption to the industries worldwide. The facility consists of several electric machine test-benches; advanced test and measurement equipment; programmable DC and AC power supplies of various power ratings; different types of electric machines; electric machine spare parts; electric machine variable frequency drive units; real-time controller hardware; tools for electrical, electronic and mechanical works; inventory of commonly used electrical and electronic circuit components; licensed software for electric machine design and power electronics circuit simulation; safety equipment; storage racks and cabinets; heavy equipment moving and lifting machinery; etc. A test setup in the PEER group that requires a special mention is the 200 hp dynamometer test setup. This setup was built by transferring an electric machine test-bench and associated equipment from a decommissioned Hydro-Québec test facility in Shawinigan. This facility is capable of performing electric machine testing according to Hydro-Québec, IEEE, IEC and Canadian Standards Association (CSA) industry standards. The ultimate aim is to elevate this setup to a National Certified Laboratory at Concordia University for the testing of electric machines for Hydro-Québec, the Canadian Standards Association and any other Canadian industries. The test facility has been used to support a Quebec network on smart energy (RQEI: Réseau québécois sur l'énergie intelligente) and being used as a match for an FQRNT network application.