By Héctor Sarnago Andía, Associate Professor at the School of Engineering and Architecture (EINA) of the University of Zaragoza.
Hosted by IMB-CNM researcher Xavier Jordà.
Invited IMB-CNM Talk organized within the Innovation with Purpose María de Maeztu Sessions.
About the session
Power electronics is the enabling technology behind electrified transport, renewable generation and the data centres powering artificial intelligence, yet conversion systems remain limited by the switching performance of their semiconductor devices and by the parasitic elements of their packaging. This talk introduces SPEED (Sub-nanosecond Power Electronics for Extreme Efficiency and Density), an ERC Consolidator Grant project started in September 2026 at the University of Zaragoza, which aims to operate wide-bandgap devices with sub-nanosecond switching transitions and MHz switching frequencies, targeting conversion efficiencies above 99% and power densities beyond 50 kW/l.
The talk outlines the main research lines of the project — gate-driving strategies for GaN devices, bond-less PCB-embedded switching cells, electromagnetic and thermal integration, and the control platforms required at these timescales — together with the two validation demonstrators: an 11–22 kW on-board charger for electric vehicles and a power supply for AI servers. The second part of the talk is devoted to the non-technical side of the process: how the proposal was built, the role of the scientific narrative and of the feasibility evidence, the interview stage, and a set of practical lessons learned. Particular attention is given to a concern shared by many engineers considering an ERC application — whether an applied, technology-driven project can be competitive in a scheme associated with fundamental research — and to how the ambition and risk of such a project can be articulated in ERC terms.
About the speaker
Héctor Sarnago Andía is Associate Professor at the School of Engineering and Architecture (EINA) of the University of Zaragoza, Spain, and a member of the Aragón Institute of Engineering Research (I3A). He received the M.Sc. degree in Electronic Engineering in 2011 and the Ph.D. degree in 2013 from the University of Zaragoza, with a thesis on high-efficiency resonant power conversion for domestic induction heating, which received the Extraordinary Doctorate Award. His research focuses on high-frequency resonant power conversion, wide-bandgap device application and power converter integration, with application to domestic and industrial induction heating, on-board chargers for electric vehicles, and biomedical power electronics, in particular electroporation systems. He has authored more than 130 journal and conference papers and is co-inventor of over 60 patent families, several of which have been transferred to industry and are commercially exploited. In 2026 he was awarded an ERC Consolidator Grant for the SPEED project, which he currently leads as Principal Investigator.
