Electrical engineering

Introduction

The electrical engineers of the E&I group are responsible for the electronic equipment for the research programmes and projects. The equipment is either selected from commercial suppliers or designed and built in-house. This includes a variety of analog, digital, high voltage, and power electronics. Designs are typically built in small numbers, ranging from a single unit to (in special cases) a few dozen units.

Expertise

The expertise of the electrical engineers in the E&I group covers a number of different electronics technologies, and includes market knowledge, design, simulation, manufacturing, installation and testing.

Design of analog and digital circuits

Typical analog designs are amplifiers and signal generators. More and more designs mix analog and digital techniques, and include VHDL code running on FPGA's, microcontrollers, and components such as integrated Ethernet controllers. The expertise includes custom optical communication links, integrated user interfaces, and computer interfaces.

Design of high-power electronics

Another expertise is the design of high-power electronics, for handling applications up to the range of kilo Amperes, Mega Watts, and/or Mega Volts. Aspects such as grounding, isolation, shielding, mechanical design, thermal design and safety are included in the design process.

Design of high-frequency electronics

The expertise in high-frequency electronics design includes shielding and grounding, and ranges from low-power RF-amplifiers to fast switching of high voltages and/or currents.

Simulation of magnetic fields

A recently acquired expertise is the simulation of magnetic fields, for example for designing magnetic shielding to meet requirements for stray magnetic fields for human safety and reliable machine operation.