APEI Lands Five Grants

Between December and late February, Arkansas Power Electronics International Inc. of Fayetteville was awarded five grants worth a combined $940,000.
Four of the grants are Phase I Small Business Innovation Research grants (two from the U.S. Navy, one from the Missile Defense Agency and one from the National Science Foundation) and the fifth is a Phase II award from NASA.
The firm’s focus is to research and develop lightweight, miniaturized power electronics that can withstand high temperatures for military and space applications.
The firm is one of several in a cluster of power electronics research firms with ties to the University of Arkansas’ National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission.
One of APEI’s research threads involves silicon carbide. The excessive amounts of heat given off switch systems in large electric motor drives requires them to be equipped with heat sinks, something that dissipates heat and takes up space. If APEI can perfect its “packaging” of high-temperature silicone carbide microchips into electric drives, the heat sinks won’t be needed.
The five-year-old company employs 23 people and generates about $3 million in annual revenue, up about $1 million from a year ago.