While Batarseh has plenty of reasons to focus on what he alone has achieved, he doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 see success as a singular effort.

麻豆精品 S淭he quality of the people who have passed through my labs at UCF is extraordinary, 麻豆精品 S� he says of a long list that includes 45 doctoral students. 麻豆精品 S淭heir work is making a lasting impact. 麻豆精品 S�

For Bararseh, that lasting impact among Knights began 35 years ago from a corner on campus where he began to pursue his bold (some call them 麻豆精品 S渃razy 麻豆精品 S�) ideas.

Is it true your first lab at UCF wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 really a lab at all?
There was no research space available when I arrived in 1991. So, I set up a bench in a corner of the senior design lab to stay out of the way of students coming and going. After a couple of years of progress, I moved into a 200-square-foot space. When the dean came to inspect it, he saw students busy with active hardware and said, 麻豆精品 S淵es, Issa deserves this lab. 麻豆精品 S� Over the years I moved into larger spaces and eventually built the Florida Power Electronics Center, but that first lab is a reminder of why it 麻豆精品 S檚 essential to focus on genuine work and real results, no matter where you 麻豆精品 S檙e working.

The dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science, Michael Georgiopolous, once said you 麻豆精品 S檝e done things that people thought were impossible.
I believe he 麻豆精品 S檚 referring to our development of the microinverter 20 years ago. My team and I proposed placing a small inverter on each solar panel rather than using large string inverters. Skeptics said our idea would be too expensive, too complex, and that the market would never support it. Today, hundreds of millions of microinverters have been sold worldwide.

If you were to show us the impact of your research, where would you take us?
I just took my kids to New York City for the new year. On the way to the airport in Newark, New Jersey, I saw some of the 200,000 panels that Petra Solar 麻豆精品 S� a company our team at UCF co-founded 麻豆精品 S� installed on utility poles. My kids have heard me mention the panels, which we call photovoltaic (PV) modules with microinverters, but for the first time they were able to directly connect my research and entrepreneurship activities to real-world impact.

I 麻豆精品 S檓 deeply passionate about renewable energy technology. My students and postdocs amplify that passion, which is why I truly owe my success to them. Our shared creativity and collective dedication turn what others call 麻豆精品 S渃razy ideas 麻豆精品 S� into something useful and real.

What about impact around Central Florida?
Start in our lab. You see generations of products and prototypes my students have helped design over the years. I see those prototypes as timestamps of their technical growth from academia to industry. Next, I 麻豆精品 S檇 show you the solar chargers at the FAIRWINDS Alumni Center carports and the PV system on top of the L3Harris Engineering Center. Several of my doctoral and master 麻豆精品 S檚 students have founded companies in the Central Florida area, generating millions of dollars in revenue and many jobs 麻豆精品 S� a result of the work we 麻豆精品 S檝e done at UCF and because of the constant support from the Florida High Tech Corridor. From here, our impact extends to multi-megawatt solar projects across the U.S. and abroad.

Why are you able to see solutions where others see impossibilities?
I 麻豆精品 S檓 deeply passionate about renewable energy technology. My students and postdocs amplify that passion, which is why I truly owe my success to them. Our shared creativity and collective dedication turn what others call 麻豆精品 S渃razy ideas 麻豆精品 S� into something useful and real.

Were you a budding inventor as a kid growing up in Jordan?
Believe it or not, I didn 麻豆精品 S檛 do many hands-on projects. I didn 麻豆精品 S檛 fix things either. But I did enjoy the problem-solving of math and science. My parents encouraged me to pursue higher education, and their support played a major role in motivating me.

Most people hadn 麻豆精品 S檛 even heard of renewable energy when you came to UCF. Why did you come here to pursue breakthroughs?

I saw UCF as a university open to innovation, hungry for growth. Renewable energy wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 yet a mainstream research area, so I proposed to work on it through power electronics. Student interest grew rapidly as we pioneered a new field.

I 麻豆精品 S檝e had opportunities in the private sector, but I love teaching and working with students. Seeing their curiosity ignite and watching them succeed is something no financial reward can replace.

Among all of your patents and honors, what do you consider your hallmark?
My hallmark isn 麻豆精品 S檛 any single patent or award. It 麻豆精品 S檚 three areas of long-term impact. First are the people who have trained in my labs. Second are the technical solutions that have helped advance renewable energy, including resonant converters and the microinverter. And third is our entrepreneurial impact. Many of my students have launched private companies, which contributes to economic growth, globally. It 麻豆精品 S檚 all incredibly fulfilling.

You could have done well for yourself as an inventor based in industry. Why stay in academia?
UCF has given me the freedom to pursue ideas and build meaningful research programs around them. I 麻豆精品 S檝e had opportunities in the private sector, but I love teaching and working with students. Seeing their curiosity ignite and watching them succeed is something no financial reward can replace. The true measure of academic success lies in the lives you influence and the lasting contributions you leave behind. I wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 change a thing.

Find out more about Batarseh 麻豆精品 S檚 lab at fpec.ucf.edu.

At a glance, you would never guess what is happening in the lab where Batarseh works with electrical engineering students. Inside the lab 麻豆精品 S檚 four walls are hard drives, cables and equipment you don 麻豆精品 S檛 dare touch. But that 麻豆精品 S檚 a nearsighted view of what 麻豆精品 S檚 going on here. Batarseh has been at the forefront of energy conversion and innovations for nearly 30 years.

The next time you 麻豆精品 S檙e in a UCF parking lot, look up. See those small solar PV panels on the light poles? Batarseh and his team invented the low-cost high-efficient micro-inverters that made those possible. They 麻豆精品 S檙e merely a hint of the revolutionary smart energy systems he envisions worldwide 麻豆精品 S� and with the work he and other researchers are doing as part of UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 renewable energy faculty cluster, we 麻豆精品 S檙e closer than you think.

Start with your credentials 麻豆精品 S� 29 patents and too many titles and accolades to list in this space. Which ones mean the most to you?
Emotionally, it would be the recognition from the King of Jordan last fall for my work in the field of electrical engineering. My parents were there for the ceremony at the Dead Sea in Jordan, so that was special. The most influential recognition would be from the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame in 2017 麻豆精品 S� it means a lot to make significant contributions in my home state with such an important application like solar energy conversion.

In simple terms, what exactly are you doing?
Trying to improve lives around the world, long into the future. Just like we once had an industrial generation, I see this as an energy generation. So I work with a team of talented students and colleagues to make solar energy more efficient, accessible and affordable.

How close are we to seeing widespread application of solar energy?
The tipping point is no longer 20 or 50 years ahead. It 麻豆精品 S檚 right now. We are living the smart solar energy revolution.

What are you working on that could tip everything forward?
The integration of solar harvesting and electric battery storage is the key. If we can harvest solar energy and store it for later use, and process it better, then in the long run we wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 even need a grid. Energy would be delivered the way Uber delivers 麻豆精品 S� whenever and wherever you need it.

Is that really possible?
Think about it. We 麻豆精品 S檒l have 1 trillion sensors in the world by 2020. If we can integrate that kind of intelligence with energy storage and solar distribution, everyone in the world would have stable and available clean energy 24/7. It wouldn 麻豆精品 S檛 be bulky or expensive or complex.

It sounds futuristic.
Nikola Tesla was the inventor who is very much responsible for today 麻豆精品 S檚 electric power grid. But he also had the vision for the smartphone, back in 1926. He wrote about humans communicating with anyone on the globe, with a device you could fit in your pocket.

Why do so many innovations never see the light of day?
Several reasons: Technology readiness, market demand, and the fact that companies can be too protective. Universities can be self-driven, too. I came to the realization nearly 20 years ago that I could not do this work on solar-energy conversion alone, that I needed experts from various fields, even from the private sector.

Tell us about your own team.
I 麻豆精品 S檝e been very lucky when it comes to attracting top students worldwide. I have graduated 35 Ph.D. 麻豆精品 S檚, 44 masters and 15 honors in the major undergraduate students. We recruit people who have not only the intelligence, but who are able to address real-life applications and communicate them with others.

When did you first envision this idea of solar conversion?
I was working in Chicago in 1985 when Zenith asked for a way to improve the power electronics in their TVs. They wanted to make the energy conversion components smaller. I thought, 麻豆精品 S淚f it 麻豆精品 S檚 so important for televisions, why not push for better energy conversion for other applications? 麻豆精品 S�

What was your first big step?
When I was hired at UCF in 1991, I asked about building a lab to study power electronics for energy conversion. There wasn 麻豆精品 S檛 much budget back then, and there were a lot of questions, but eventually we built the lab through federal funding. By the time renewable energy and clean environment became major topics a decade later, we were ahead of the research.

And you 麻豆精品 S檙e still ahead of the research.
That 麻豆精品 S檚 where we always want to be. We 麻豆精品 S檝e had at least five students start their own companies in the field. We 麻豆精品 S檙e competing with top universities in the U.S., Europe and China, right here at UCF. Country after country is moving completely to solar energy, and they 麻豆精品 S檙e using technology that we helped developed.

Looking even further ahead, what 麻豆精品 S檚 your ultimate goal?
We 麻豆精品 S檙e doing all of this to make a difference in people 麻豆精品 S檚 lives, and to help improve the world in a small but important way.

麻豆精品 S淕reetings from the Dead Sea, Jordan, 麻豆精品 S� Issa Batarseh, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and director of the Florida Solar Energy Center 麻豆精品 S檚 Energy System Integration Division, wrote in acceptance remarks for the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame induction gala.

The gala, originally scheduled Sept. 8, was postponed because of Hurricane Irma and was rescheduled for Nov. 6 when Batarseh was already committed to travel to Jordan for the Royal Scientific Society event.

Batarseh was one of eight 2017 inductees to the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame.聽 Inductees are required to have at least one U.S. patent and a connection to Florida. A selection committee, comprised of distinguished leaders in research and innovation from throughout Florida, select the inductees after an open nomination process.

Batarseh, who has been at UCF since 1991, holds 28 U.S. patents for technologies focused on the development of advanced systems for solar-energy conversion to improve cost, power density, efficiency and performance.

He joins two other UCF researchers in the hall: Shin-Tson Wu, a professor of optics, who was inducted into the inaugural class in 2014, and M.J. Soileau, professor emeritus of optics, who was named last year.

The Royal Scientific Society of Jordan recognition similarly focused on Batarseh 麻豆精品 S檚 contributions to power electronics and specifically the influence he has had on that country 麻豆精品 S檚 scientific accomplishments and impact on making science part of the nation 麻豆精品 S檚 identity. Batarseh is one of 14 scientists around the world selected for that honor and recognized by the King of Jordan.

Batarseh was born in Jordan and served as president of Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Amman, Jordan, from 2010 to 2014 while on professional development leave from UCF. He also served as a Fulbright visiting associate professor at the university in 1997.

He said he knew he wanted to study engineering technology in the early 1980s at the birth of the computer and electronics revolution when microprocessors and personal computers were the news of the day.

麻豆精品 S淚 am inspired by working with highly talented and energetic students and the realization that my work produces new innovations that help our planet become greener and our environment cleaner, 麻豆精品 S� he said.

He is the co-founder of Petra Solar (now Petra Systems), formed in 2006 by licensing Batarseh 麻豆精品 S檚 technology to distribute and control solar power from panels and feed it directly into the grid. Shortly after formation, the company received $14 million in venture capital funding for product development and global market expansion. The company established its research and development activities in the Central Florida Research Park and hired UCF graduates, many trained by Batarseh. In 2011, Petra System raised an additional $40 million in venture funding. One of the company 麻豆精品 S檚 successes was supplying New Jersey with more than 200,000 utility pole-mounted solar units.

Batarseh and his students also founded Advanced Power Electronic Corp. in Central Florida Research Park. The company, which completed the UCF Business Incubation Program, is still run by UCF graduates. The company specializes in solar energy conversion and integration technologies, and is a leading designer of solar chargers for military applications.

To see an overview of Issa Batarseh 麻豆精品 S檚 work as presented at the Florida Inventors Hall of Fame

Issa Batarseh, who has made significant technical contributions in the field of power electronics, and Guifang Li, a professor of optics and photonics who specializes in optical fiber communications, are UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 eighth and ninth members of the select academy.

Election to NAI Fellow status is a high professional distinction given to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development, and the welfare of society.

The class of 168 Fellows named today brings the total number of NAI Fellows to 582, representing more than 190 research universities and governmental and non-profit research institutions. The 2015 Fellows account for more than 5,300 issued U.S. patents, bringing the collective patents held by all NAI Fellows to more than 20,000. These academic luminaries have made a significant impact to the economy through innovative discoveries, creating startup companies, and enhancing the culture of academic invention.

Batarseh joined UCF in 1991 and has distinguished himself by establishing the Florida Power Electronics Center, conducting significant scholarly research which has resulted in more than 100 published papers in refereed journals, and more than 200 refereed papers at international conferences. He is a Fellow of both the IEEE and the AAAS and, in 2004, received the Davis Productivity Award for Best Invention recognized by the State of Florida. He has graduated 42 Ph.D. students and more than 70 masters and undergraduate students.

Over the years, Batarseh has helped secure more than $12 million for his work in developing innovative power electronic systems to convert energy collected in solar panels into domestic electricity grids and similar topics in power electronics. He is also a founding partner of a start-up, Petra Solar, which is commercializing solar-electronics-conversion systems, and he has received 27 patents.

Li is the recipient of both the NSF Career award and the ONR Young Investigator Award, and is a fellow of IEEE, SPIE and the Optical Society of America. He is a deputy editor for Optics Express and an associate editor for Photonics Technology Letters.

His research interests include optical communication and networking, RF photonics and all-optical signal processing. He has collaborated widely with academic institutions and industry.

Li’s research, totaling $4.7 million, has focused on high-capacity optical fiber communication systems. He has been awarded 26 patents.

The NAI Fellows will be inducted April 15 as part of the fifth annual conference of the National Academy of Inventors at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Alexandria, Va. Fellows will be presented with a trophy, medal, and rosette pin in honor of their outstanding accomplishments.

Other UCF members of the academy are Leonid Glebov, Shin-Tson Wu, Michael Bass, and Peter Delfyett, all from the College of Optics & Photonics; MJ Soileau, vice president for research and commercialization; Sudipta Seal, NanoScience Technology Center and the College of Engineering & Computer Science; Tson Wu and Marwan Simaan from the College of Engineering & Computer Science.

, at the College of Engineering and Computer Science, developed the groundbreaking technology under the leadership of Issa Batarseh, Ph.D. The facilitated the exclusive license agreement.

Energy organizations and market forecasters project the solar PV industry will exceed $130 billion within the next 15 years. Twenty percent of the world 麻豆精品 S檚 population lacks access to electricity, according to World Energy Outlook-2009 estimation. As global-wide momentum continues to build for eco-friendly solutions, solar PV is positioned as a cleaner, more abundant and better distributed energy source than traditional technologies such as nuclear, coal, natural gas and hydro.

A crucial component of solar PV is the inverters that convert the direct current (DC) output of the solar cells to the alternating current (AC) used to power electric devices and deliver electricity to the grid. Traditional approaches have relied on large, central inverters that are expensive, require high-voltage wiring and introduce a single point of failure into the system. Microinverters have entered the market with improvements over the central inverters, but lack system scalability and full compatibility with the three-phase configurations used by the utilities that distribute electricity. In addition, they are not designed for optimal one-to-one, single microinverter connected to a single solar panel, performance.

麻豆精品 S淥ur team of University researchers has developed the technology to produce the industry 麻豆精品 S檚 first single-module three-phase microinverter that achieves the needed scalability, compatibility and single microinverter-to-solar panel performance to reduce the cost of solar energy while substantially boosting energy-harvesting capacity, 麻豆精品 S� explained Dr. Batarseh. 麻豆精品 S淎mong its many other benefits, it also provides both high power conversion and light load efficiency. 麻豆精品 S�

Under the MaxHarvest Microinverters brand, GreenTech Endeavors will continue to develop, test and invest in the technology as it prepares its market strategy. GreenTech Endeavors 麻豆精品 S� management team will also provide a variety of strategic business and marketing support activities.

麻豆精品 S淲e are extremely excited on the potential benefits this technology has for consumers and overall impact it can have for communities and entire populations around the world, 麻豆精品 S� said Will Perego, founder and CEO at GreenTech Endeavors, and CEO at MaxHarvest Microinverters. 麻豆精品 S淚n addition, the combination of the Department of Energy 麻豆精品 S檚 initial funding and the University 麻豆精品 S檚 innovative research is a shining example of the efforts needed for the United States to remain a major player worldwide in the development of clean, renewable energy. 麻豆精品 S�

Perego launched MaxHarvest Microinverters in March 2015, one of 17 companies he has started since the 1980s. A visionary and entrepreneur dedicated to clean energy solutions, Perego is in the process of finalizing a funded R&D project and engaging several of the UCF students who worked on the initial research, a move that would bring in additional inside knowledge of the technology as his company refines it further.

About the GreenTech Endeavors:
GreenTech Endeavors is an incubator of revolutionary cleantech startups that can help create an abundant, safe and non-polluted world for all mankind. GreenTech Endeavors licenses clean technologies from American Universities to bring these technologies to market and also invests in early stage cleantech startups. For more information: greentechendeavors.com.