APEI Gearing up to Manufacture

Arkansas Power Electronics International Inc. is the perfect example of the phrase “Big things come in small packages.”

The company, a start-up of about 31 employees, is developing power electronics systems and motor drives for military combat vehicles and fighter jets in “packages” about the size of a tablet PC, and smaller.

APEI started as a research and development firm with just three employees and about 100 SF of space in the University of Arkansas Research & Technology Park.

Almost ten years later, the company – now with nearly 20,000 SF of office, laboratory and manufacturing space – has developed advanced technology for power electronics systems and is ready to begin manufacturing products for military and commercial applications.

Last November, the company began construction on its new manufacturing facilities, located in the Enterprise Center, just across the street from its headquarters in the Innovation Center, both located in Fayetteville’s Research & Technology Park. The first phase of construction was recently completed and provides 8,000 SF for the processing and assembly of power electronics.

Alex Lostetter, APEI’s president and CEO, said the company will ultimately have about 25,000 SF of manufacturing space.

Sharmila Mounce, business operations manager at APEI and one of the company’s first employees, said APEI started with revenue of $14,000 from a University of Arkansas Innovation Incubator grant in 2002 and now has revenue of $5 million.

A big portion of the company’s funding in the beginning, Mounce said, came from Small Business Innovation Research grants. That included a $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation.

AEPI was established in the late 1990s as a consulting firm by University of Arkansas professor Kraig Olejniczak. Lostetter was studying under Olejniczak as a PhD candidate in microelectronics.

In 2002, Lostetter graduated and took over the company, taking it from a consulting firm to a company that would develop and commercialize the technology he had been working on in his dissertation.

APEI’s main field is in power electronics for advanced applications, such as computer systems for the military and motor drives for hybrid electric vehicles.

“What we focus on is making those systems smaller, lighter, capable of delivering more power and more energy efficient,” Lostetter said. “We have a specific technology called silicon carbide that does that and that’s what our business is all about in a nutshell.”

Silicon carbide technology allows for improved high temperature, harsh environment, high voltage and high power density performance.

Silicon carbide-based electronics have the potential to operate at temperatures in excess of 600 degrees Celsius (1,112 degrees Fahrenheit), Lostetter said, making them ideal for applications where temperature is a factor, such as vehicles and aircrafts.

In 2009, R&D Magazine named APEI a recipient of the R&D 100 Award, an international award for the top 100 new technology breakthroughs of the year, for its high-temperature silicon carbide power module.

The silicon carbide power module will be the first product manufactured by APEI. The company will produce 100 modules for the U.S. Army to test in hybrid combat vehicles.

The power electronics systems process and deliver power to the onboard computers, electronics and communications systems, weapons systems and electric motor traction drives. The technology developed by APEI is intended to make Army combat vehicles stronger, more effective and capable of carrying larger loads.

APEI was awarded $3 million in contracts from the Army to develop the first round of test modules and begin research and development on the next generation of power modules.

The same technology can be used in automotive applications, which APEI is working on for Toyota and Rohm.

APEI, along with the University of Arkansas’ National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Cree Inc. and Toyota, was recently awarded a $3.9 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a compact silicon carbide charger for hybrid electric vehicles.

The technology has a wide range of applications, Lostetter said, including renewable energy applications.

The power modules are about 1/10th the size of traditional power systems, and about 90 percent more energy efficient, making them attractive to the military, the automotive industry and industrial manufacturers.

“The Department of Energy is also really interested in this type of technology,” Lostetter said.

APEI also is working on silicon carbide power modules for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, funded with a $3 million grant from the state.

Lostetter said the Air Force is moving away from the hydraulic systems previously used in aircrafts and replacing them with electric motors. The electric systems are lightweight and better performing, whereas the hydraulic systems are bulky, messy and expensive to maintain, he said.

Also being researched and developed at APEI is technology to be used by Siemens in power turbines.

Gas turbines operate much like jet engines, Lostetter said, with blades that spin and create very high temperature environments.

Siemens is putting sensors on the blades so that as soon as something starts going wrong with one component, they can shut the system down and potentially prevent a catastrophic failure.

APEI is working on an electronic system that mounts on the base of a blade, analyzes data such as temperature, vibration, strain and pressure, and wirelessly transmits a signal from the engine.

The systems can operate at very high temperatures, while spinning at high speeds.

While most electronics will only operate up to 200 F, Lostetter said, this technology will operate at temperatures of 750 F and up.

The technology is also being developed for use in jet turbines.

It’s a health monitoring system for the engine, Lostetter said. It can detect if something goes wrong and shut down that engine while the aircraft can continue flying.

The technology is intended to cut down on scheduled engine maintenance by providing real-time detection and diagnosis of problems.

Another application for APEI’s technology is down-hole drilling and oil exploration, where instruments must be able to withstand high temperatures as they’re sent several hundred feet below the earth’s surface.

Lostetter said he plans to keep APEI headquartered in Arkansas

“The state has been very helpful in helping our business grow,” he said. “When we go after research and development contracts, the state has a tax matching program.

“That provides some incentive and makes it worthwhile for the federal government to award us contracts because there is additional money matched to it.”

The Research & Technology Park has been critical in fostering the company’s growth, Lostetter said.

When starting out, the company needed expensive facilities and equipment. By having access to the university’s facilities, the company was able to save on a lot of those costs.

“We have a good relationship with the U of A; we do a lot of joint work,” Lostetter said. “The research park in particular has been extremely supportive. They go out of their way to help us.”