Workshop: Current Challenges for Wireless Power Transfer

August 27, 2014

Space solar power satellite (credit: SpaceWorks Engineering, Inc./Spaceworks Commercial)

This workshop provides a forum for researchers and developers working on Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) to facilitate and highlight developing WPT technologies, to determine and advance the state of the art, to discuss supporting and related technical issues in this area, and take necessary action to improve implementations.

It investigates WPT applications in Space-to-Ground (Space Solar Power), Space-to-Space, Ground-to-Space and Ground-to-Ground power transfer. Study of multi-layer power transfer (e.g., air-to-water, air-to-body), policies, and economics of WPT will also be considered.

Program

Session WPT 1 (9:00 am)Welcome, Introduction & Peter Glaser Memorial Keynotes 
Welcome and Introduction Seyed (Reza) Zekavat (Michigan Technological University, USA), and Darel Preble (Space Solar Power Institute); 
Peter Glaser Memorial Address Hiroshi Matsumoto-san (Kyoto University President, Japan)
Keynote: Solar Power Satellite Frequency Selection James McSpadden (Raytheon, USA)
Harvesting Wireless Power: Survey of Energy-Harvester Conversion Efficiency in Far-Field, Wireless Power Transfer Systems Christopher Valenta (Georgia Tech Research Institute & Electro-optical Systems Laboratory, USA); Gregory Durgin (Georgia Tech, USA)

10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break
  
Session WPT 2 (11:00)Antenna Theory & Practice for Power and Information Transfer

Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer with Co-Channel Interference Lansheng Hu; Chao Zhang; Jing Xu (all with Xi’an Jiaotong University, P.R. China)
Antenna Theory, Design, and Demonstrations of the Role of Antennas in Wireless Power Transfer Application Timothy Cash (Optimal Solutions and Technologies, USA)
Using a Pico-satellite Paradigm to Verify and Validate SSP at a Low cost to first power James Woods (Silver High Energy, USA)
Panel Discussion on WPT and Antenna Design Timothy Cash (Optimal Solutions and Technologies, USA); James Woods (Silver High Energy, USA), and James McSpadden (Raytheon, USA); Christopher Valenta (Georgia Tech Research Institute & Electro-optical Systems Laboratory, USA)

12:40 – 2:00 Lunch break:

Session WPT 3 (2:00)New Answers to Old Challenges for Space Solar Power

Over the Horizon Wireless Power Transmission, a Low-Cost Precursor for Space Solar PowerStephen J Blank (New York Institute of Technology, USA); Paul Jaffe (NRL, USA); Tanwin Chang (Deep Phase Labs, USA)
Energy Efficiency Optimization of Simultaneous Wireless Information and Power Transfer System with Power Splitting Receiver Chengcheng Zhang; Hui Zhao  Wenfang Li; Kan Zheng; Juwo Yang (Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), P.R. China)
Challenges of Wireless Power Transfer for Prolonging User Equipment (UE) Lifetime in Wireless Networks Melike Erol-Kantarci; Hussein Mouftah (University of Ottawa, Canada)
Panel Discussion on System Optimization for WPT lifetime optimization Melike Erol-Kantarci (University of Ottawa, Canada); Tanwin Chang (Deep Phase Labs, USA); Chengcheng Zhang (Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications, P.R. China)

3:40 – 4:10 Coffee break

Session WPT 4 (4:10) Solar Energy for Today and Tomorrow

Space Solar Power – Energy, Economy and Environmental Issues for Today and Tomorrow Darel Preble (Space Solar Power Institute, USA)
Keynote: NSF Investments in Solar Energy Gregory Rorrer (National Science Foundation, USA)
Panel Discussion on Sustainable Solar Energy Policy and Investment in Renewable Energy Policy Darel Preble (Space Solar Power Institute, USA); Seyed (Reza) Zekavat (Michigan Tech.); Gregory Rorrer (National Science Foundation, USA); Gail Tverberg (Space Solar Power Institute, USA); James McSpadden (Raytheon, USA)