Daniel Costinett, the new Grainger Chair for Power Electronics Professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says over the last half century, electrical engineers have made huge strides in generating, transporting, converting and storing electricity—from massive continent-spanning electricity grids to the tiny converters on integrated circuits.
But that doesn’t mean the work is done. Even minor improvements in efficiency and performance can add up to major energy and cost savings and improve miniaturization. That’s why Costinett focuses on designing energy converters tiny enough to fit on computer chips to increase their speed and power. Over his career, however, he’s also worked on grid-scale projects, electric vehicles, generators and everything electrical in between. “No matter the size, these all use converters,” he says. “I look at how to make them perform better, control them faster and design them more efficiently.”
Costinett earned his PhD at the University of Colorado at Boulder, studying power supplies for data centers. After a year as an instructor at Utah State University, he joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where he remained for 13 years.
There, his research received numerous accolades, including a National Science Foundation-funded CAREER Award, the 2022 IEEE Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award, and the 2015 IEEE IAS William M. Portnoy Award. UT Knoxville recognized him with the 2022 Moses E. and Mayme Brooks Distinguished Professor Award, 2015 ECE Faculty of the Year Award, 2020 Chancellor’s Award for Professional Promise in Research, and 2023 Gonzalez Family Outstanding Researcher Award. He also served as associate department head and co-director of education for CURENT, a major National Science Foundation-funded power electronics research center.
Costinett’s primary work focuses on the small stuff, including power supplies, microelectronics, low-power applications and detailed circuit design. His most recent projects incorporate better analysis into the circuit design process, including a framework and open-source tools that aid in the development of next-generation GPUs—the processing units most critical in AI, which demand unprecedented levels of power and require more robust converters.
At UW-Madison, Costinett will continue that work as a member of the Wisconsin Electric Machines and Power Electronics Consortium (WEMPEC). He hopes to collaborate with his colleagues on large-scale projects, bringing his expertise to the group. “I’m kind of the guy who fills out the microelectronics and circuit design end of things,” he says. “I think my role at WEMPEC will be somewhat comparable.”
While Costinett is excited to join broader research efforts at UW-Madison, he’s equally interested in WEMPEC’s historic relationship with industry. He hopes to engage more deeply with colleagues in the electrical engineering field and get involved with training the next generation of power electronics engineers. “I’m really hoping to continue the legacy of WEMPEC and that close collaboration with industry, seeing what its needs are and seeing how we can help them address those needs,” he says. “And I’d like to make sure we’re still generating strong students who serve the needs of industry and serve the needs of the state.”