World-renowned and Nobel Prize winning physicist Professor Hiroshi Amano visited the University of Bristol at the beginning of April 2025 to share his knowledge and expertise with REWIRE researchers and PhD students as part of an enterprising exchange programme to further high-efficiency power semiconductor advances.
Professor Amano, who shared the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs). His current research and collaboration with the Professor Martin Kuball of University of Bristol is leveraging the same principles of LED systems to pioneer technologies for the manufacture of high-efficiency power semiconductors and power electronics devices.
His visit included research discussions with REWIRE academics and students, and an invited talk about the challenges of embedding and implementing power semiconductors across society and the opportunities for mass production of power electronic devices, which could potentially slash total electricity consumption.
The initiative is supported by the British Council and the International Science Partnerships Fund (ISPF) and will see academics from Nagoya University and REWIRE join forces to develop next generation power semiconductor chips as part of the ASPIRE programme.