This presentation will discuss public information related to John Deere project funded by the US DOE-PowerAmerica. Through PowerAmerica, John Deere has formed a collaboration with researchers from the US Department of Energy National Renewable Energy Laboratory to develop a 200 kW 1050 VDC silicon carbide (SiC) dual-inverter. The SiC inverter converts vehicle engine power into electrical power needed for the permanent-magnet-motor based powertrain used in heavy-duty construction and mining vehicles. The presentation will cover development and test verification of various technologies deployed in the successful realization of a power-dense high-temperature high-efficiency SiC dual-inverter. In April 2017, John Deere successfully demonstrated the SiC inverter in a JD 644K Hybrid Loader, using the engine radiator fluid to cool the SiC power electronics. The DOE-PowerAmerica funding has greatly supported John Deere’s aspirations to accelerate the development of SiC inverter technology including realization of key commercialization objectives.

Guest Speakers

Speaker: Dr. Brij N. Singh, Ph.D., IEEE Fellow
John Deere Region 4 Manager External Relationships, John Deere Fellow - Power Electronics Engineering, IEEE PELS Distinguished Lecturer 2021-2022, North Dakota State University

Dr. Brij N. Singh has earned BE from Madan Mohan Malviya Technical University, Gorakhpur, ME from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, and Ph.D. from Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, all in India and in the Electrical Engineering.

In 1996, Dr. Singh joined the École de Technology Supérieure, Montreal, Canada, as a Post-Doctoral Fellow. In 1999, he joined Concordia University, Montreal as a Research Fellow. In 2000, Dr. Singh joined the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, as an Assistant Professor.

In 2007, Dr. Singh joined John Deere as a Staff Engineer to lead and support silicon IGBT inverter development projects for the JD 644K and JD 944K Hybrid Loaders. In 2011, he joined Advanced Technology as Senior Staff Engineer to lead John Deere’s WBG power electronics projects.

In September 2020, Dr. Singh was named as the Region 4 Manager External Relationships with responsibilities to develop emerging technologies to support technology needs for the John Deere Tech Stack, Production Systems, Product Lifecycle Systems, Construction & Road Building operations.

Dr. Singh has published over 90 research articles including papers in IEEE Transactions and IET Journals. He has 28 approved US patents, one trade secret, and over a dozen pending patents.

In Tulane, Dr. Singh received four IEEE-Eta-Kappa-Nu teaching awards for outstanding instructions in electrical engineering. In John Deere, Dr. Singh has received three innovation and one collaboration awards for product and technology development projects. Dr. Singh is the winner of the 2020 IEEE Power Electronics Emerging Technology Award. In 2020, Dr. Singh was awarded the “Title of John Deere Fellow” for exemplary knowledge leadership and significant contributions to the power electronics engineering. In 2021, Dr. Singh was elevated to IEEE Fellow grade. He lives with his family in West Fargo, ND, USA.