Power electronics at Advanced Electric Machines
admin
22.02.2023
Power electronics at Advanced Electric Machines
Advanced Electric Machines’ Power Electronics Director, Dr Mark Johnson, sheds some light on what a career in the company’s power electronics department could offer you.
My career has spanned more than 30 years now, so I’d consider myself to be a somewhat experienced head. During this time, I’ve taken on numerous roles and had my fair share of experiences, and of course I am now the Power Electronics Director at Advanced Electric Machines (AEM).
For me personally, working at AEM has provided me with a unique opportunity to put the knowledge and experience that I have gained across my career into something tangible. I’ve particularly enjoyed applying my skills to the very interesting scenario that we are faced with, which is getting electrical machines to perform in the way we want them to.
A career at Advanced Electric Machines
I could go on about my own personal journey, but I would prefer to discuss the opportunities that await those who decide to join AEM. Having been established in 2017, the company is still growing at a rapid pace. Don’t let that trick you though – we are well on our way to achieving our goal of designing and building the most sustainable electric motors on the planet. What’s more, there are multiple advantages to working for an emerging business.
For one, members of our team are granted the creative license to really build a project from scratch. Rather than being pigeonholed into working on a small aspect of a particular assignment, which can often be the case at a large business, our power electronics team can work on a broad spectrum of activities, calling upon a wide range of skills. Essentially, this means they take a prominent role in their projects, providing a fresh perspective and introducing new concepts. Although this is certainly challenging, it means our team takes on an array of responsibilities, including the chance to work in a deeply technical capacity.
Being a young company, we’re still building, and this means that our team must be flexible and responsive.. This gives everybody involved an excellent chance to grow with the business. Having been part of both small and large teams myself, I am an advocate of having a compact but collaborative working environment where everyone is involved in the big picture. For this to work, everybody in our team must enjoy a challenge and want to understand a project in its entirety, rather than just a small aspect of it. In this, there is both a challenge and a great opportunity – although it’s certainly not the easy route, it represents a target to work towards, which is an excellent development tool for everyone involved.
Nevertheless, as the company does continue to grow, we can use this to the advantage of the entire team. People at AEM can develop their careers at great pace, moving relatively quickly through different positions within the business as it expands.
So, I hope it is now pretty clear that AEM is an excellent place for power electronics talent – both newly qualified and experienced – to work. If you’re just beginning your career, we offer a supportive environment in which you can develop and progress through the business. For those with a bit more experience, Advanced Electric Machines is a company that prides itself on doing things a little differently. Our sustainable electric motor technology is unique, and the power electronics required for it to function have their own challenges and solutions. What we’re looking for are people that want to face this challenge head on – people that want to be creative and explore solutions, rather than to just be a number within an organisation.
The challenge
I’ve mentioned the challenge that our team faces, and this is a challenge that is unique to Advanced Electric Machines. Our magnet free machine technology is different from any other company, so we need to make sure we’ve got the right power electronics solution. For example, we have had to understand how best to minimise the amount of material that we’re using. We place a great deal of importance on sustainability, and so the less material we’re using to build our solutions, the less resources we’re consuming, and the less material we’ve either got to get rid of, recycle, or reuse at the end of life. With our magnet free electric motor, a conventional approach doesn’t work, so it is a matter of finding new and creative solutions.
What’s available right now?
From the get go, we’re looking at two roles in particular – a Lead Power Electronics Development Engineer and a Power Electronics Development Engineer. The former will be tasked with leading and growing the company’s power electronics department and will be responsible for the technical development and optimisation of power electronic drives for current and future products. For the latter, we are looking for somebody that can provide technical input to the engineering process through the application of analysis methods and development of product designs. This individual will also be responsible for developing prototype hardware and testing procedures to ensure that product attributes are achieved.
Does this apply to you? If so, fantastic! The applications to these roles can be found here.
If these don’t seem like the right opportunities for you at this moment, but you would like to be made aware of anything that comes up at Advanced Electric Machines in the future, please email our Head of HR, Chloe Hopper, to find out more: chloe.hopper@advancedelectricmachines.com.