Victor Veliadis sharing his thoughts on our industry... and not only!

Victor Veliadis, Ph.D., was supposed to go to the US in 1990 for just 2 years but somehow, as he says: “he forgot to come back”. So he stayed on and in 2016 was named Executive Director and CTO of PowerAmerica, a consortium that brings together the brightest minds in the wide bandgap (WBG) semiconductor technology world. Get to know him, as he’s not only a brilliant mind but also a great conversationalist who shared with us his thoughts on our industry... and not only!

Hello Mr. Veliadis, why semiconductors? What do you find so interesting in this field?

As a school student, I did love math and physics. There was a lot of logic behind them and science was of great interest to me. I would spend a lot of time working on math problems on my own, solving equations, learning geometry, and then I started studying electricity and that was of course fascinating; so that set me on the path to study electrical engineering.

When you study electrical engineering, there is a very wide range of areas you can specialize in: you can work on image processing, on audio, communications and signal processing, power systems, semiconductors, etc.?I chose semiconductors primarily because they are omnipresent. They are the source of everything technical we have working in the world today from our cars, our televisions, our computers, and phones, our industrial infrastructure, to the way our appliances are powered and controlled. Thus, semiconductor technology triggered my curiosity. Because my thought was: if I learned how semiconductors worked, I would understand most of the technical world.

When I see a monitor, when I see a computer, even a kitchen appliance like a mixer or blender, all consumer electronics I see, I have a good understanding of what powers them and makes them run. When it comes to cars, I might not be an expert in mechanical aspects but I understand the electronics that are becoming more and more prevalent. When I started my University studies back in 1985, electrification was not as widespread as it is today. In the end, I made an investment in learning that is paying off since now the world is rapidly being electrified.

When you study electronics you don’t only learn hardware, you also learn software. So when I press the buttons to type something or to open a window on my computer or phone I can visualize the commands down to the “1s”and “0s” of the underlying machine language. When I see an electrical vehicle I visualize the power electronics, the electric motor, the inverter, the onboard charger, all these components I understand well. It is very exciting. Because of my training, everything I see I approach as an engineer. How does it work? Is it efficient? Can it be made better using less energy? How can I make it more efficient? This is always in the back of my mind: optimization for higher efficiency.??

You’re Executive Director and CTO of PowerAmerica. What’s your job?

PowerAmerica started as a large program funded by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). The DOE goal was to increase high-tech manufacturing in the USA. As you know, many technical inventions and advancements are made at U.S. Universities but the manufacturing they spur often ends up overseas, especially in East Asia where labor is a lot cheaper. So the US government wondered: what can we do so that technical innovations from our universities and small companies lead to manufacturing in our country? Wide-bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor technology (SiC and GaN) was identified as an area with significant potential for growth and that started PowerAmerica, a US$150 million dollar program that invested in universities, industry,?and national labs to boost manufacturing in the United States. In the U.S., we are good at discovering technology but there’s a big gap between discovery and actual manufacturing of products. That is the gap the PowerAmerica program set to fill.

It was a great honor to be selected to lead PowerAmerica and what I’ve been doing is identifying WBG technology and knowledge gaps, and investing about US$30 million dollars a year in university, industry, and national lab collaborative projects to overcome barriers and translate innovation to high value manufactured products. A big part of my approach is workforce training and education in WBG technologies. A well-trained workforce will allow for large volume WBG adoption, which will lead to economies of scale price reductions, and competitiveness.

What if Asia will always have a cheaper workforce? How in this situation can the US be more competitive?

That’s a very good question. I think apart from the United States, Europe is facing the same issue. The question is how can we be competitive in manufacturing when our labor and things like health insurance and benefits are more expensive. When a new technology is invented in the U.S. we have a short “time-window” advantage over other countries that haven’t developed that technology yet. So the goal is to rapidly go to manufacturing within the US and highly automate the process. Then we will be very competitive as others are trying to catch up. Key with discoveries translating to manufacturing are: how fast can you get to manufacturing and how automated can you ultimately make the processes? To successfully compete, your manufacturing must always be highly automated – then labor is not a prohibitively big portion of your overall expenses. Once you are manufacturing you got to continuously optimize the process to make it as automated as possible to compete well.

Of course, there are other considerations. Particularly for the US, there is a ~12-hour difference with the large semiconductor manufacturing centers of East Asia. Therefore, you might have engineers having to work at 10 o’clock at night when it is 10 o’clock in the morning in East Asia where collaboration takes place. So American companies are willing to pay a little more for the benefit of having work done within U.S. time zones. Also, when you’re manufacturing in the US and something doesn't work, you can always take a short flight and go to the plant, it’s much harder to go to East Asia.

Are you happy with the outcome / progress of PowerAmerica works?

Yes, we now have significant SiC chip fabrication in the US among other manufacturing successes. So SiC fabrication did not migrate overseas as it happened with silicon. In addition, companies from East Asia and Europe come to the US to fabricate so in a way we reversed the trend. We not only stopped fabrication from going overseas but we also have overseas companies coming to the United States.

Undoubtedly, PowerAmerica has been very successful. Electric vehicles, photovoltaic, data centers, UPS, airspace applications – there is a lot of growth that has happened in WBG applications and we are continuing to expand. Electric vehicles in particular, because of their very large numbers, it is a volume application, have led to mass commercialization. I think the PowerAmerica program came at the right time. It came a few years before the electric vehicle boom and strengthened the infrastructure to make WBG adoption in electric vehicles a reality. What PowerAmerica achieved over the past 5 years has put the US in a very good competitive position in WBG technologies. There is a lot of room for further growth so I am very happy with the way things have gone. Several companies from Europe are our members, benefitting from and contributing to the PowerAmerica ecosystem.?

Since you collaborate with European companies, and what’s more you were born in Greece and now live in the US I would like to know your opinion about the following: are there any differences in combining science and industry in the US and Europe? I mean, a different approach??

I think the models are rather similar. The US is learning from Europe, and Europe is learning from the US through free markets and open interactions. Part of what makes the United States very successful is that it really promotes and rewards creativity. If you are creative and hardworking, you do not need to have an uncle that knows somebody who knows somebody else that can help find you a job... Uncle Sam is the only uncle you need ?? If you have a good idea and need seed funding to get started they are several ways to move ahead. There are government small business funding opportunities and venture capitalists looking for the next big thing. I am sure that similar new technology support mechanisms also exist in Europe.

Mr. Veliadis, thank you for a great conversation!