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What RFID Can Teach Us About the Fundamental Limits of Energy-Harvesting

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In this paper, the history of RFID energy-harvesting is tracked and compared against the theoretical thermodynamic limits of an RF-to-DC converter. Although RFID harvesting technology has reached a plateau, this is only due to it being “trapped” within the paradigm of Si-CMOS devices. There are tremendous gains to be had by looking at more specialized devices, particularly those that transform energy into non-electrical, intermediate forms. Thermal intermediary (TI) devices, are particularly promising.  Browse What RFID Can Teach Us…

Note: This paper was a companion to an invented talk at the IEEE WPTC 2018 conference, which did not appear in the proceedings.

Emily Backer Wins 2019 William C. Brown Fellowship in Wireless Power Transfer

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Emily Backer has been named the 2019 winner of the William Brown Fellowship for her work on wireless power transfer. Emily is currently working on a holographic reflect array that focuses energy from a high-powered source, like a magnetron, and concentrates a beam to a target at distance. Emily’s current work is contributing to a large microwave power transfer demonstration using ultra-lightweight and thin antenna structures that can be deployed in space economically. Emily received her BSEE in Spring 2018, having also participated in the opportunity research scholars program as an undergraduate. She is expecting to complete her MS thesis in wireless power reflect arrays in Spring 2019 and then join ViaSat’s antenna team in Duluth, GA. Congratulations, Emily!

The William Brown Fellowship was established in 2013 at Georgia Tech by friends and family of William Brown, the father of wireless power transfer. This year, a generous grant from the Space Solar Power Institute is being used with the fellowship to fund a full graduate research assistantship dedicated to wireless power transfer work.

The Private Journals of Willam C. Brown, vol 1

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We at the GTPG are happy to announce the availability of volume 1 of the Private Journals of William C. Brown, the godfather of microwave power transfer. This project has been in the making for several years, championed by Darel Preble of the Space Solar Power Institute and the Brown family. Proceeds of the sales go to the William C. Brown Fellowship at Georgia Tech, which supports superlative students at Georgia Tech who are making contributions to the field of wireless power transfer.

The cover of volume 1 depicts the Apollo moon landing, which not only suits the upcoming 50th anniversary, but commemorates Bill Brown’s involvement in the engineering of the spacecraft communications link.  Order this volume at the following places:  [BookLogix][Amazon]