Three engineers from UP Diliman (UPD) developed a new, sustainable design for a motor that can be used in electric vehicles.
Lew Andrew Tria, PhD, Ramon Florentino Santos, and Belle Sermeno of the UPD College of Engineering (COE) Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute, successfully registered a utility model for a modular stator segmented rotor switched reluctance motor with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines.
A utility model is a form of intellectual property protection for smaller, practical innovations such as the ones devised by the UPD engineers. The utility model granted to the group was for a specific configuration of a switched reluctance motor (SRM), which they designed for maximum ease of manufacture and modularity.
An SRM is a type of electric motor that uses “the tendency of the magnetic field from the copper windings to find a path of least resistance” to produce electricity. The SRMs are used in the e-mobility industry such as in electric vehicles and electric pumps.
According to the UPD Technology Transfer and Business Development Office, the unit that manages intellectual property and commercialization at UPD, the new design is modular. This allows for the easy replacement of individual segments for repair or change; its output, the cost and time needed for the motor’s maintenance is lowered.
In an email communication, Tria added that the motor design also does not use any magnets that contain rare-earth minerals, but use readily available materials such as copper, electrical steel, and aluminum.
This reduces production costs, makes it more viable for Philippine manufacturing, and is less vulnerable to potential decreases in supply of expensive rare-earth minerals.
“This is significant because such magnets tend to drive up costs and are largely imported, often exposing supply chains to price volatility and geopolitical risks,” Tria said.
Rare-earth minerals are widely used in the electric vehicle industry to produce powerful magnets, which lie at the heart of most modern electric vehicle motors. Because of its vast reserves, China accounts for over half of the global production and sale of rare-earth minerals.
The registered utility model grants Tria and his colleagues the right to stop any unauthorized person or entity from “making, suing, offering for sale, selling or importing a product.” The utility model’s registration is effective until May 2030.