George Papafotiou

George Papafotiou is a Full Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) and Head of the Power Electronics Lab. His research focuses on computational intelligence, particularly Model Predictive Control (MPC), applied to power electronics systems for applications in renewable energy, high-efficiency power conversion, and grid integration. He holds affiliations with the EIRES Research Institute and the Cyber-Physical Systems Center in Eindhoven.

Academic Background: Papafotiou earned his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2002) and completed a postdoc at ETH Zurich (Switzerland). He spent 15 years at ABB in roles including Scientist, Global R&D Manager for SW/Control HW, and Quality Manager, leading projects on MPC-based control systems for industrial drives and energy management.

Research Interests: His work centers on advancing power electronics through MPC for microsecond-scale control, enabling reliable systems critical to a carbon-free future. Key areas include modular multilevel converters (MMCs), soft-switching techniques, grid-tied power electronics, and harmonics mitigation in high-voltage systems.

Projects: Current projects include

• RelSST: Developing reliable solid-state transformers for smart grids.
• HiVECAF: Designing versatile, efficient active filters for power quality improvement.

Teaching: He teaches

• Electric Circuits Analysis for Energy Conversion
• Electric Drive Systems

Grants & Labs: Leads the Power Electronics Lab, focusing on applied research in sustainable energy systems and industrial automation.