Mr. Ignacio Galiano Zurbriggen has recently become Dr. Galiano! 🎉

Congratulations Nacho!

Last month, Nacho defended his Ph.D. thesis at The University of British Columbia, concluding an extremely fruitful stage in his career. We are thrilled with his attainment and are honored to have him continue working with us at MartinOrdonezLab.

His achievements include:

• Over 20 peer-reviewed IEEE publications, 9 IEEE presentations, and an IEEE seminar
• Industrial collaborations with Alpha Technologies on Solar, Wind, Telecom, and multilevel converters
• Research exchange: GREP - Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya
• Instructor of Applied Electronics and Electromechanics at UBC, and renewable energy and digital tech. courses for UBC's VSP
• Mentor for UBC Sustaingineering and 20+ undergraduate co-ops

Awards:

• Go Global - 2017
• Killam GTA - 2016/17
• APSC Research Excellence - 2013 to 2016
• IEEE APEC Outstanding Presentation - 2013/14

We thank Chair Madjid Mohseni; Supervisory Committee: Martin Ordonez, Jose Marti, Bill Dunford; University Examiners: John Madden, Ryozo Nagamune; and External Examiner Yan-Fei Liu for their participation.

Abstract for Ignacio Galiano Zurbriggen’s PhD Thesis

Title:
“Large-signal Transient Control in Power Electronics: an Average-Geometric Framework”

Abstract

Switch-mode power converters are a fundamental component of modern power systems. They are ubiquitous in renewable energy applications, electric vehicles, battery chargers, and power supplies. Controllers are essential in power converters to improve dynamic behavior during transients and in steady-state operation.

For decades, the power electronics industry has preferred controllers based on small-signal analysis due to their low implementation requirements, despite limitations in dynamic performance and global stability. Non-linear boundary controllers based on state-plane analysis offer excellent dynamic response and global stability but come with higher implementation requirements.

This thesis focuses on improving the dynamic performance of power converters by incorporating state-plane concepts while maintaining low implementation requirements to facilitate large-scale adoption.

By combining traditional averaging modeling tools with state-plane analysis, the unified Average Natural Trajectories (ANTs) are obtained to accurately model the large-signal dynamic behavior of fundamental topologies (buck, boost, and buck-boost).

The proposed framework lays the foundation for several dynamic performance improvement efforts introduced in this thesis. Using ANTs as a large-signal model, the theoretical limits of dynamic performance are defined, providing a powerful benchmarking tool for design engineers. Furthermore, a unified controller based on the ANTs model is developed for the fundamental topologies, offering predictable large-signal response and outstanding dynamic performance with low implementation requirements.

The ANTs modeling approach is extended to photovoltaic applications, developing an extremely fast maximum power point tracking (MPPT) method for scenarios with rapidly changing environmental conditions.

Finally, the concept of dual-loop geometric control is introduced, combining state-plane analysis with an industry-standard dual-loop control structure, bridging the gap between industrial applications and state-plane controllers.

The concepts introduced in this thesis are supported by thorough mathematical analysis and validated by extensive simulation and experimental results. This thesis significantly contributes to the advancement of the field of modeling and control for power electronics.