Collegiate Times

Fred Lee, distinguished professor of electrical and computer engineering, poses in Whittemore Hall. Lee directs the Center for Power Electronic Systems.

In a world that depends on computers as much as Blacksburg depends on football, the demand for more efficient computer performance puts increasing pressure on industry personnel.

Virginia Tech's very own Fred Lee, who holds a distinguished professorship, directs the Center for Power Electronics Systems, an organization that is at the frontline of the global effort to enhance computer efficiency.

In 1997, Intel, a multibillion-dollar company, came to Lee and CPES with a specific task: come up with a way to provide power to the Pentium processor.

This chip was the fastest microprocessor to ever hit the market and required much more power to operate. Lee developed a way to distribute power among multiple sources.

By 2000, Lee's new model, known technically as a multi-phased voltage regulator module, was used in every Intel processor.

Although the momentum of CPES has been strong, this past year has been the first time CPES has had to operate without the funding of the National Science Foundation in nearly 10 years. For the past decade, the NSF had provided CPES with a $30 million sponsorship that expired this year.

Since Lee's revolutionary VRM development, Lee and CPES have continued to use Tech as a hub to conduct research. Although CPES has less money to draw on, Lee seems confident in the future of his organization.

"Virginia Tech allows non-contract companies to be members of CPES," Lee said. By becoming a member, Lee explained, "companies have direct access to our intellectual property. In other words, companies pay a $50,000 membership fee to have full access to the work of CPES."

Lee acknowledges that with this he loses the fame that comes with patenting ideas, but believes it is in everyone's best interest to allow these companies to have access to CPES' information. Tech is one of only five universities that comprise CPES, and are part of a collective effort to improve power electronics.

Lee represents a group of researchers who are devoted to their work at CPES.

Although the NSF no longer funds CPES, money seems to have little to do with continuing to make progress. Instead, Lee targets power as the main thing standing in the way.

"Power is a roadblock; it limits what we can do," Lee said.

He explained that Moore's Law governs speed and price. It stipulates that every 18 months the speed of a processor will double while its cost will be halved. CPES's diligent research, however, has helped the organization to overcome the power barrier.

Ming Xu, associate professor of the electrical and computer engineering department, has made large contributions to CPES' work since being brought to it by Lee.

"CPES keeps on studying cutting-edge technologies of the voltage regulator of microprocessor for higher power density and higher power conversion efficiency through higher-switching frequency power conversion technology, magnetic integration and advanced control," Xu said.

By staying up to date with modern technology, CPES is able to combine preexisting ideas with its own work to develop equipment that can power faster microprocessors.

The amount of energy needed to power modern technology is astronomical, yet researchers and manufacturers face even more pressure to meet laws demanding that computers be energy-efficient.

Based on Lee's scalable model that allows microprocessors to generate power from multiple sources, CPES believes it can develop a power supply source that adheres to energy laws and stays consistent with the ever-growing speed of computers.

"We believe we can reduce the world's electric power consumption by 30 percent through our advances in power electronics," Lee said.

In today's world, information technology is one of the fastest growing energy sectors, making up between 10 percent and 15 percent of the world's energy consumption.

Lee said the amount of energy used by the information technology world is "analogous to running 400 fossil fuel plants."

Lee and CPES believe they can decrease the amount of energy consumption to the equivalent of 80 fossil fuel plants.