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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Power Electronics by University of Colorado Boulder

4.7
stars
3,357 ratings

About the Course

This course can also be taken for academic credit as ECEA 5700, part of CU Boulder’s Master of Science in Electrical Engineering degree. This course introduces the basic concepts of switched-mode converter circuits for controlling and converting electrical power with high efficiency. Principles of converter circuit analysis are introduced, and are developed for finding the steady state voltages, current, and efficiency of power converters. Assignments include simulation of a dc-dc converter, analysis of an inverting dc-dc converter, and modeling and efficiency analysis of an electric vehicle system and of a USB power regulator. After completing this course, you will: ● Understand what a switched-mode converter is and its basic operating principles ● Be able to solve for the steady-state voltages and currents of step-down, step-up, inverting, and other power converters ● Know how to derive an averaged equivalent circuit model and solve for the converter efficiency A basic understanding of electrical circuit analysis is an assumed prerequisite for this course....

Top reviews

SA

Jul 31, 2017

This course sets the groundwork for more advanced concepts in Power Electronics. The Professor was very explicit and the homework assignments were of a good strength to help ground the notions learnt.

PK

Jun 18, 2020

Very nice course. Even if you are already familiar with power electronics, it will help you to form a system of knowledge and utilize rational approaches for task solution of any level of complicity.

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1 - 25 of 811 Reviews for Introduction to Power Electronics

By Nand N A

Jul 4, 2018

If one gets stuck in an assignment, then one cant get the required help or support.

By Gysbertus v R E

Aug 8, 2019

When struggling there was no online support. No response from Instructor or Teaching assistants.

By shubham m

Oct 4, 2018

The course has been completely amazing. The knowledge provided in the lectures is perfect and the assignment questions complement the lectures very well and tests the understanding effectively.

By Yun W

Mar 11, 2017

The whole specialization series is definitely a 5 star Coursera course. As a electrical engineer designing lab and industrial use power supplies, I found the material in this class review and enhance my knowledge, and more importantly, a systematic view of DC-DC converter concepts, which is a good reference of my future career.

The book those professors wrote is called "bible" in the power electronic industry, and most of the interviewers will ask questions related to the material in that book when you take a job interview in this industry, especially for an entry level or junior position. Watching the videos and doing the homework and final project help me understand those material more efficiently.

I appreciate the great work from all three professors!

By Abhishek V

Apr 29, 2019

It is a nice course. For a change, the quizzes were challenging, which was nice, but inadequate support provided by the mentors and the course forum are disappointing.

By Matej K

Apr 16, 2020

Excellent introductory course. The material is presented simply with just the right amount of complexity. Prof. Erickson is an excellent instructor who covers the relevant concepts clearly, concisely, but comprehensively.

My main criticism is how Coursera handles the homework assignments. The homework answers are not saved between consecutive tries; if one makes some mistakes on the first try, then on a new try one has to write all the answers all over again which is cumbersome since there are usually around 15-20 questions where a good amount of answers are algebraic expressions. It would be better if all the answers are saved between tries so one can easily edit wrong answers while not having to write the right answers from the previous try all over again.

By Sebastian G

Jun 21, 2020

Phenomenal Course.

With a background in mechanical engineering and physics, I worried that this course would either assume to much and be too technical or be too easy and superficial. Neither is true; the course introduces topics only assuming basic electronics knowledge but still manages to cover a lot of material and be quite challenging. Dr. Erickson's lectures are clear and focused.

The homeworks are hard but fair (there is a glitch in the first homework that almost convinced me to drop the course, but I'm glad I didn't; the glitch does not appear again and I am hoping they fix the glitch in the future). I encourage anyone interested in power electronics to go through the course.

By Pradyumna J

Jun 27, 2020

This course has been very helpful in understanding the principles of dc-dc converters and introduced me to LTspice. I enjoyed every part of the course especially the quizzes and chapter problems.

By Bryant V

Dec 18, 2021

Although the material is interesting and is good for going over basic circuit theory, I would not recommend this course to anyone learning how to design converters. The professor teaches well, but the assignments he gives have little to do with the examples in the lectures. With no book for this course, this leaves the students with a lot of guess work to do and external learning in order to understand the homework problems. Therefore, defeating the purpose of this course. In addition, I struggled immensely with week 2 homework because although my answers were 100% correct, if I did not enter my derived formula in the exact form of the answer, it would mark it as wrong. I discovered this by rearranging the variables in my answers until the program acknowledged them as correct. For example, one of the answers in the homework was D*Vg. It would say this was wrong until I typed it in as Vg*D. It is absolutely absurd and had me doubting my calculations many times.

By Beili L

May 12, 2016

I thought this course was an informative introduction to an important class of electronics. The lecturer was easy to follow, except during certain topics. That, however, is more due to the difficult nature of the subject than a fault of the professor. I found myself pausing and rewatching some portions so I could gain a better understanding but I don't have any problems with that. There is a good balance between more generalized overviews of key circuit concepts and more detailed analyses of specific circuit topologies. You may have to do some outside research to fully understand all details and I know some people may be turned off by that. I believe it is fine, and it is a good way to learn how to find information on your own. I did not have to do this more than a few times (that would actually be annoying). Lastly, the assignments were just challenging enough to force me to actually grasp the material, without making it seem like it was impossible to complete.

By Hamood-ur- R

Feb 9, 2019

The course is indeed source of motivation for beginner to delve deeper into the field of Power Electronics. From the course content to the quizzes, and the instructor's excellent way of teaching to the Coursera help and support, everything is commendable, flawless, and captivating to research. After successfully finishing the course, I intend to enroll in its specialization program. Coursera owns means a lot to me, being an intermediate level researcher, grown up in an environment lagging far behind in research in Power Electronics. Thanks Coursera for all such support, and thanks to Prof. Erickson for his untiring efforts he put in arranging and delivering this course. Stay blessed!

By Simon A

Aug 1, 2017

This course sets the groundwork for more advanced concepts in Power Electronics. The Professor was very explicit and the homework assignments were of a good strength to help ground the notions learnt.

By Szilard L

Dec 3, 2017

I haven taken power electronics in both undergrad and grad school, and did several online courses on EDx, and I am not impressed by this course. If I had to learn these first principles from this course, I would be suffering pretty bad. The lecturer is jumping back and forth between topics, not building the necessary mental structures. The lecturer lets power point do the teaching, then occasionally he tries to derive things in the corner, which is very hasty. He should just take the time and write out every equation so that students have a chance to follow and repeat real-time. (Nobody will interpret 4 long equations suddenly appearing in front of them + the important details easily slide away!) The length of the course is misleading, if you spend only a few hours with it, you can definitely pass, but you won't get the full picture, especially not enough if you ever want to work in this sector. I strongly advise to work out all the practice problems before the homework for practice.

By Omar H

Nov 10, 2017

Exceptionally bad assessment. Lecturer dry and boring. Did I mention how terrible the quizes were?

By Monika V P

May 22, 2020

i want to unenroll the course

By Sandra C

Mar 28, 2019

Phenomenal course. Very well structured and easy to follow. I have gained a deeper understanding of the basics of power electronics converters that have helped me understand these concepts much better at work, so an overall win for me. :-)

I was lucky enough that my mentor was able to lend me the book "Fundamentals of Power Electronics" by Robert Erickson and Dragan Maksimovic. This course follows the first three chapters of the book and vice versa, and so having that book handy proved tremendously useful (but not necessary to finish this course).

Overall, thank you for the lovely course and I'm looking forward to the next one!

By Shafquat H

Sep 23, 2017

I am very please of with course but i also want the course of power electronics related to any field i mean in FACTS devices applications so we can learn more related to new emerging technologies .

By Amin F

Nov 27, 2016

This wan an excellent course especially for electrical engineering students.

I suggest this course to every electrical engineering student and anyone interested in Power Electronics.

By Jorge V

Jun 26, 2021

There is little guidance to go by on this course, is it worth the time and effort? Not sure. A lot of theory with little application on real life problems. The concepts are important, the volt second, charge balance for example are fundamental, the examples given walk you through this. The teaching assistants are absent and also the Prof. There are no moderators on the Forum so you will not be able to ask anyone. The hw submission is inadequate, might as well make it multiple choice. You are on your own learning difficult content. This course can be improved with the presence of the moderators or TA's.

By Parker M

Nov 5, 2019

Good course overall. I thought the homework was actually pretty challenging, but the lecture effectively prepared you to complete them. The estimated complete time for them is horribly incorrect though. I found they took way longer. I wish there was a bit more discussion of theory regarding some of the "small ripple approximation" as it doesn't feel like there is enough justification behind our ability to simplify the math so readily. I also wish there was a more detailed steps shown during circuit analysis and derivation in the lectures. It would certainly help give me more confidence while working through the homework.

By usama m

Jul 30, 2022

An excellent course installing the fundamental knowledge of power electronics. Would definitely recommend it especially to automotive engineers planning to work in the field of electrical mobility

By Sarvesh T

Aug 11, 2020

GREAT TEACHER WITH BRILLIANT TEACHING STYLE EXPLAIN TOUGH TOPICS IN VERY LUCID MANNER AND MAKE ME LOVE POWER ELECTRONICS

AGAIN THANK YOU PROF. DR ROBERT ERICKSON

By Taylor S

Sep 29, 2018

This course has some very good things to learn. It picks up pace very rapidly. My biggest complaint is that there is far, far too few examples and/or sample problems. There are none in the lecture, and only 2 solved sample problems per week. There is no point in giving 7 sample problems, then only giving the solution to 2 of them. The lectures are good and coherent, but I don't feel like they fully prepare you for the homework, particularly for Week 3. And the forums are not very helpful for diagnosing mistakes, in the rare event you get an answer in a timely enough manner to be helpful. All things considered, I learned quite a lot from the 3 weeks of this class and is still a bargain for the price.

By James S

May 22, 2023

The homework is border-line impossible without TA help...

By Jayraj M P

Apr 22, 2020

not satisfied as it needs a specific software