Ekaterina Muravleva, a Nebraska Engineering doctoral student, led a research team that took first place among 34 international teams for research advancing a high-voltage power module designed for the next generation of electric power grids
Muravleva, a graduate research assistant in electrical engineering, presented the research at the 2026 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her project – “Interactive Demonstration of a 10-kV High-Frequency Press-Pack SiC MetaPak Module for Medium-Voltage Power Conversion,” which builds on the MetaPak technology developed by Jun Wang, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering – took the top award in the TC6 Emerging Technology Track.
“For me, this recognition means a lot because it’s my first major research project and the main focus of my Ph.D. thesis. I’ve put a tremendous amount of hard work into it, so seeing that effort recognized is really rewarding,” Muravleva said. “I was happy to see so many people from different research backgrounds stop by our booth and show genuine interest in our work.”
MetaPak combines innovations in architecture, packaging and control to produce power modules capable of faster switching and greater power density. Wang is developing the technology for next-generation power-grid infrastructure as data centers, electric vehicles and other technologies increase electricity demand.
Muravleva led the module development, fabrication and experimental validation as part of her doctoral research. Youssef Abotaleb, a graduate research assistant in electrical and computer engineering, assisted Muravleva on the project, contributing to its spring design and testing.
Developing the module packaging process required meticulous attention to detail and considerable trial and error. Muravleva said the team fabricated 17 switch cells while refining the process, first working with copper dummy dies and lower-voltage devices before progressing to the more expensive 10-kilovolt silicon-carbide dies used in the final prototype.
The research also required Muravleva and Wang to build much of the laboratory infrastructure needed to fabricate the module.
When Muravleva joined Wang’s research group, the department did not have an established power-module packaging laboratory. Wang had initially acquired a sintering machine, and the two worked to build out the fabrication lab, selecting and acquiring additional equipment and developing the processes needed to manufacture and test the modules.
“We’re very proud to have built the lab from scratch,” Muravleva said. “There wasn’t an established fabrication process for this new module, so we had to develop one ourselves.”
The experience meant learning to use the new equipment while also developing procedures for metallization, sintering, wire bonding, encapsulation and high-voltage testing. That developing laboratory capability ultimately allowed the team to fabricate and validate the MetaPak prototype Muravleva took to ECCE.
Muravleva said the fabrication lab may prove to be another lasting result of the project. With the equipment and processes now in place, Wang’s research group has established the capabilities to develop and fabricate a wide range of advanced power electronics packaging solutions for future research projects.
