New Fulbright scholar seeks to accelerate EV for the resources industry

A distinguished American engineer will collaborate with Curtin renewable energy experts to develop a model for electric vehicle charging stations, with a particular focus on the resources sector.

Professor Iqbal Husain, the Director of the Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management (FREEDM) and the National Science Foundation Engineering Center; and Professor from the State Carolina University, has secured a prestigious Fulbright Future Scholarship funded by the Kinghorn Foundation.

Curtin University Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne said she was delighted to welcome Professor Husain to Curtin to undertake fundamental and applied research on the integration of electric transportation and renewable energy.

“Electric cars are the future of transport, especially in the United States, and we are seeing more and more environmentally conscious motorists in Australia,” Professor Hayne said.

“To have electric transportation, we need to have reliable charging stations. Professor Husain boasts an impressive portfolio in the engineering space, and I look forward to seeing the real-world impacts of this exciting collaboration.”

Previously, Professor Husain has been awarded the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Vincent Bendix Automotive Electronics Engineering Award; the College of Engineering Outstanding Researcher Award; the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Third Millennium Medal and the IEEE- Industry Applications Society (IAS) Outstanding Young Member award.

Working with Curtin researchers from the WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering and the School of Electrical Engineering, Computing and Mathematical Sciences, Professor Husain said he would focus on electrically driven mining infrastructure such as mining trucks, excavators, and loaders.

 “In addition to the production and storage of renewable energy, finding optimal ways to recharge batteries will be the answer to rolling out electric infrastructure across the remote resources sector,” Professor Husain said.

“I’m particularly excited about this collaboration because Curtin’s extensive renewable energy expertise will complement my knowledge of electric transportation.”

Fulbright Australia Executive Director Professor James Arvanitakis said he was proud to name Professor Husain among the 2022 cohort of Fulbright Future Scholars.

“His project at Curtin University will have wide-ranging benefits for renewable energy systems both here, and in the United States. We look forward to seeing the impacts of his research take shape over the coming year.”

Professor Husain has designed, built and tested solid state transformer-based power electronic converters for grid applications and wide bandgap device-based electric motor drives for electric vehicles.

He has also developed graduate and undergraduate courses on electric and hybrid vehicles and published the textbook Electric and Hybrid Vehicles: Design Fundamentals. Professor Husain became an IEEE Fellow in 2009 and was also the Distinguished Lecturer of IEEE IAS for 2012-13 and past Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Electrification Magazine.

The Fulbright Program was established in Australia in 1949 through a binational treaty between the Australian and US Governments. About 100 Australian-American Fulbright Scholarships are awarded each year.

The Fulbright Future Scholarship seeks to enhance research collaboration, cultural understanding and the exchange of ideas.

For more information about the Fulbright scholarships, click here.