History

The Institute of Drive Systems and Power Electronics (IAL) was founded in 2001 when the two Institutes of Electric Machines and Power Electronics merged.

The Institute for Electric Machines was founded in 1924 and emerged from the first electrical engineering chair at the Technical University of Hannover, which was established in 1884—the second in Germany—and awarded to W. Kohlrausch.

K. Humburg served as the institute's director until 1954. In the 1960s, the institute gained international recognition, primarily due to the groundbreaking scientific contributions of H. Jordan. On the basis of the rotating field theory, Jordan developed calculation methods for magnetically-excited vibrations and noise, torque pulsations and other parasitic effects of spatial harmonics, which have essentially shaped the state of the art to this day. Since 1975, H.O. Seinsch has contributed to the institute's international reputation by conducting research on synchronous and induction machines. Parallel to this, H.-D. Stölting worked in the field of fractional horsepower motors since 1980, including groundbreaking work on miniaturization. Problems on drives with rotating field machines as well as small and microdrives are also the focus of current research activities at the institute.

The Chair of Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering and Power Electronics was founded in 1978 and established its research and teaching activities by K. Heumann in the years that followed. Due to the intensive development of this discipline, the independent Institute for Power Electronics was founded by J. Nestler in 1991. His research activities dealt with power electronic systems and their control and regulation for applications in controlled drive systems and in electrical energy supply.

While maintaining independent disciplines, the integration into a joint institute reflects the technological development towards integrated overall systems. On one hand, this structure enables very close cooperation and, on the other hand, offers highly developed expertise in both fields.

Following the appointments of B. Ponick and A. Mertens in 2003 and 2004, respectively, the institute underwent an unparalleled expansion, becoming the largest in the German-speaking world. Researchers specializing in electric machines, power electronics, and drive control work together to advance research in the entire field of electric drive technology, ranging from microwatt to multi-megawatt range. A particular focus of their work is the interaction between electric machines and power electronics.

The institute, which had a total of up to 60 research engineers, was further strengthened in the years 2018 to 2023 by the appointment of junior professors A. Ebrahimi (for hydroelectric generators) and J. Friebe (for passive components of power electronics) to the IAL. In this role, they were able to establish their own research groups and to provide many new impulses. Both colleagues have since been appointed to their own full professorships at the universities of Bremen and Kassel, respectively.