Single-contact transmission for the quasi-wireless delivery of power over large surfaces

Single-contact transmission for the quasi-wireless delivery of power over large surfaces

• Van Neste C.W.^,  , 
• Hawk J.E. , 
• Phani Arindam , 
• Backs J.A.J. , 
• Hull Richard , 
• Abraham Tinu , 
• Glassford S.J. , 
• Pickering A.K.  & 
• Thundat Thomas

• Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB T6 G 2V4, Canada, Phone: +1 (780) 492-9548

• Author Bio:
  Charles W. Van Neste is a Research Associate working in the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department at the University of Alberta. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University in 2009. Dr. Van Neste's primary research involves alternative forms of energy generation and transmission. His areas of expertise include wireless and quasi-wireless power transfer, electronics and instrumentation, and electric machine design.
  John E. Hawk received his Bachelors of Science degree in Physics and Mathematics at the University of Memphis in 2000. While continuing graduate studies in Applied Physics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, he began working as a research associate at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. He is currently pursuing a Doctorate in the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department at the University of Alberta (CERC Graduate Fellow). His areas of interest are mechanical and electrical resonant structures, atomic force microscopy, software development, and theoretical analysis.
  Arindam Phani is a CERC Graduate Research Fellow (Ph.D.) at the University of Alberta in the Department of Chemicals and Materials Engineering. His interests lie in fundamental understanding of physics of resonant systems. He is currently studying the role of dissipation in macro, micro and nano-scale electrical and mechanical resonant systems and developing sensors thereof. His other areas of interest include optical, opto-electro-mechanical transduction, sensors, and measurement devices.
  Jonathan A.J. Backs is a Canada Excellence Research Chairs interdisciplinary Ph.D. student at the University of Alberta. His current research integrates the fields of materials engineering and wildlife ecology to understand and prevent wildlife–train collisions. He holds a prestigious Graduate Student Scholarship from Alberta Innovates – Technology Futures and has previously held an Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada. Jonathan's broad background ranges from multi-physics computer modeling of in-situ soil remediation to research in near-field scanning optical microscopy. He received a B.Sc. degree in Engineering Physics, with Distinction, from the University of Alberta in 2010.
  Richard Hull is a research scientist working in the Chemical and Materials Engineering Department at the University of Alberta. He graduated from Oxford University in 2009 with a degree in Nanotechnology. His initial career was in the aerospace industry as an Electronics R&D Engineer on defense projects dealing with military radar systems in the UK. He later worked for the Canadian Space Agency at SPAR Aerospace in Toronto. His area of expertise includes power electronics, data processing, telecommunications, and robotics.
  Tinu Abraham is a Canada Excellence Research Chair Ph.D. student in the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Alberta. She is currently researching the feasibility of heating oil sands using near-field, standing wave resonance for in-situ reservoirs with the overall aim of reducing water and energy consumption in bitumen extraction. Her research interests include exploring enhanced oil recovery techniques and other sustainable methods of producing energy.
  Samuel Glassford is an undergraduate student currently pursuing a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Alberta. He has worked for Dr. Thomas Thundat as a NSERC Undergraduate Student Research Award recipient and for Dr. Thomas Thundat's Wireless Power Transfer lab under the instruction of Dr. Charles Van Neste during the following semester. Upon graduation, Mr. Glassford hopes to pursue a career in power transmission.
  Adam Pickering is an undergraduate student currently pursuing a Bachelors of Science degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Alberta. He interned for Dr. Thomas Thundat in the summer of 2013 where he built electrical resonators in Dr. Thundat's Wireless Power Transfer laboratory under the instruction of Dr. Charles Van Neste. His areas of interest include electronics and wireless power transmission.
  Thomas Thundat is a Canada Excellence Research Chair Professor at the University of Alberta. He received his Ph.D. in Physics from the State University of New York at Albany in 1987. Dr. Thundat is the author of over 280 publications in refereed journals, 45 book chapters, 40 patents, and over 130 invited talks. Dr. Thundat's research is currently focused on novel physics and sensing applications
• Corresponding author: C.W. Van Neste Email: cvannest@ualberta.ca