Dr. Kevin Speer is the technology director of Microchip Technology’s silicon carbide (SiC) business unit. He leads the technology development for Microchip’s SiC power solutions including device design, applications, advanced packaging and materials.
Since 1999 Dr. Speer has published a range of SiC research spanning materials science to applications, including crystal growth, defect-related device degradation, SiC MOSFET and diode device design and processing, and advanced power packaging. Dr. Speer has held strategic technical marketing roles with SemiSouth Laboratories, Infineon, and Littelfuse. Prior to Microchip, Dr. Speer founded Speer Semiconductor, a business aimed at empowering stakeholders across the value chain through product development and road-mapping, customer outreach, strategy and investment diligence, and market analysis.
Dr. Speer holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering (BSEE) from the University of Arkansas, a Master of Science in engineering from Case Western Reserve University (CWRU), and a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from CWRU as a NASA Research Fellow.
Today’s electric grid is ill-prepared for our surging demand due to its centralized architecture and one-way power flow. Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices can be the catalyst towards an omnidirectional grid – a grid where energy can be ported from anywhere, to anyone, at any time. The efficiency, size, and weight improvements enabled by SiC have led to its sweeping adoption in the electric vehicle space; these same benefits can be scaled to much higher voltages. This presentation will describe how SiC can decentralize our grid, make it more intelligent and efficient, and save us billions of tons in CO2 emissions.