Columbia Engineering Launches Center of Advanced Electrification

Columbia Engineering announced today the establishment of a new center -- the Center of Advanced Electrification -- through a collaboration with Tau Motors, Inc. which includes more than $6 million of support across the initiative. A growth-stage advanced technology company that designs and develops next-generation products for electrification, Tau has been working closely with Matthias Preindl, Associate Professor of electrical engineering at Columbia, over the past six years to create efficient power conversion systems for a more sustainable future. Preindl will serve as the Center’s founding director.

“I am very grateful to Tau Motors for their generous support,” said Shih-Fu Chang, Dean of Columbia Engineering. “This is a natural fit, bringing together leading technologists from industry and our innovative researchers at the University to develop new approaches to how we can electrify our world more sustainably. I’m excited to see where this will lead.”

Columbia and Tau have been longtime partners. The two have collaborated through Preindl, a leader in designing next-generation power converters, and his Motor Drives and Power Electronics Laboratory (MPlab) to design modern power electronic converters and motor drive solutions that are not only high-performance, but also scalable. 

Their groundbreaking collaborative work has been recognized across academia and industry for pioneering the field of software-defined power conversion, dating back in part to Preindl’s NSF CAREER Award. The collaboration has been celebrated through a number of awards including Autotech Breakthrough’s V2X and V2I Innovation of the Year Awards, Fast Company World Changing Ideas recognition, and Fast Company’s Best Workplace for Innovators (2023, 2024). The Center provides a platform to further advance their work together at a new scale. 

“Our vision is to ‘electrify humanity,’” Preindl said. “Our Center will build advanced energy conversion technologies that enable electrification of energy systems and scale electrification at unprecedented levels.”

Focus of the Center

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The Center will focus on research in electric energy conversion and leverage advanced power electronics, novel topologies for power converters, modern and distributed control, and machine learning/artificial intelligence to enable reliable and resilient solutions that facilitate a circular economy. In doing so, researchers are also actively working to limit the use of materials adversely affecting the environment, such as rare earth elements or critical minerals.

The Center will engineer solutions for sustainable electric transportation and energy systems. Target applications include electric drivetrains, propulsion systems, and electric supply infrastructure; distributed energy resources such as renewable energy and battery storage for the electric grid; and emerging electric loads including data centers and heating electrification.

The Center also intends to support the translation of outcomes to industrial applications to maximize the impact through strategic technology development and transfer. 

Finally, the Center plans to support the training of highly qualified engineers and scientists in the field and provide mentorship and career development for students and researchers engaging with the Center. 

“We are excited to deepen our partnership with both Columbia and Dr. Preindl through the founding of the Center alongside Tau,” said Wesley Pennington, Tau’s founder and CEO. “We have an established and celebrated history of leading research and innovation together with the university and look forward to deepening our collaboration to further accelerate the electrification of the world. The Center of Advanced Electrification in collaboration with Tau Motors will provide a larger platform to continue to invent, develop, translate, and deploy technologies that accelerate the energy transition, as well as train and build future leaders to extend our mission as we solve some of the world’s most pressing challenges.”

Future Center activities

The Center team is already planning a broad range of activities rooted in scientific innovation and technical advancement of the field. In addition to research and innovation activities, the Center is developing programs including the organization of an annual symposium to foster technical discussions and interactions between faculty and industry. They are also developing a seminar series with invited external speakers, as well as student activities, such as recruiting events.