Dr Rafael Pena Alzola

Senior Lecturer

Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Personal statement

Rafael Peña-Alzola received the combined licentiate and M.Sc. degree in industrial engineering from the University of the Basque Country, Bilbao, Spain, in 2001, and the Ph.D. degree from the National University for Distance Learning (UNED), Madrid, Spain, in 2011. He has worked as an electrical engineer for several companies in Spain. From September 2012 to July 2013, he was Guest Postdoc at the Department of Energy Technology at Aalborg University in Aalborg, Denmark. From August 2014 to December 2016, he was Postdoc Research Fellow at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. From January 2017 to May 2017, he was with the University of Alcalá in Madrid, Spain for a short-term industrial collaboration. Since June 2017, he is with the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK initially as Research Fellow and since 2019, as a Lecturer within the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre for Electrical Power Systems, Institute for Energy and Environment. His research interests are energy storage, LCL-filters, solid-state transformers, power electronics for hybrid electric aircraft and innovative control techniques for power converters. He is an IEEE Senior Member and Associate Editor of the IEEE Open Journal of Power Electronics.

Publications

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Publications

Supercapacitor-based energy storage system using two- and three-level converter topologies: Zalapa Andrea Xiomara Monroy, Manjarrez Daniela Bobadilla, Monroy-Morales José Luis, Peña-Alzola Rafael, Campos-Gaona David; 2025 IEEE International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC) 2025 IEEE International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC) 2025 IEEE International Autumn Meeting on Power, Electronics and Computing (ROPEC), pp. 1-5 (2026); https://doi.org/10.1109/ropec68163.2025.11353982
Optimal operating temperature of inverters in all-electric aircraft using cryogenic cooling: Xiao Yudi, Yuan Weijia, Zhang Min, Alzola Rafael Pena; 2025 Energy Conversion Congress & Expo Europe (ECCE Europe) IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Expo Europe 2025 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1109/ecce-europe62795.2025.11238725
Adaptive voltage derivative algorithm for fast disturbance detection and localisation in DC microgrids: Babagana Abdulrahman, Seferi Yljon, Pena Alzola Rafael, Burt Graeme; 2025 10th IEEE Workshop on the Electronic Grid (eGRID) 10th IEEE Workshop on the Electronic Grid 2025 10th IEEE Workshop on the Electronic Grid (eGRID) (2025); https://doi.org/10.1109/eGRID63452.2025.11255435
Coupled transient and dynamic modelling of a retrofit hybrid electric turbofan engine: Lieder Daniel, Jones Catherine E, Peña Alzola Rafael, Feng Zhiwang, Norman Patrick, Friedrichs Jens, Burt Graeme, Goeing Jan; 2025 IEEE Workshop on Power Electronics for Aerospace Applications (PEASA) 2025 Workshop on Power Electronics for Aerospace Applications (PEASA) (2025); https://doi.org/10.1109/PEASA64120.2025.11182385
Applications and services of solid-state transformers in active distribution networks : A critical review: Wald Felix, M. Hrishikesan V, Gomis-Bellmunt Oriol, Ji Haoran, Davoudi Masoud, Bidram Ali, Syed Mazheruddin, Josevski Martina, Brüske Sebastian, Kumar Chandan, Alzola Rafael Peña, Colak Ilknur, Pannala Sanjeev, Liserre Marco, Carne Giovanni De; IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid Vol 16, pp. 3615-3637 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1109/tsg.2025.3574007
Comparative analysis and evaluation of ageing forecasting methods for semiconductor devices in online health monitoring: Villalobos Adrian, Barrutia Iban, Peña-Alzola Rafael, Dragicevic Tomislav, Aizpurua Jose I; Engineering Applications of Artificial Intelligence Vol 150 (2025); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engappai.2025.110545

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Research

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Professional Activities

Current-type Power Hardware-in-the-Loop Interface for Black Start Testing of Grid Forming Converter: Contributor; 19/10/2022

More professional activities

Projects

Hybrid Electric Research in Machines for Efficient Propulsion Systems (HERMEP): Norman, Patrick (Principal Investigator) Jennett, Kyle (Co-investigator) Jones, Catherine (Co-investigator) Pena Alzola, Rafael (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2029
Smart Meter Project: Seferi, Yljon (Principal Investigator) Burt, Graeme (Co-investigator) Pena Alzola, Rafael (Co-investigator) Feng, Zhiwang (Research Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2025 - 30-Jan-2026
Metrology for efficient grid-forming converters to stabilise future power grids (GridForm): Pena Alzola, Rafael (Principal Investigator) Burt, Graeme (Co-investigator) Feng, Zhiwang (Co-investigator) Seferi, Yljon (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2028
GKN COTS Fault Protection Devices: Pena Alzola, Rafael (Principal Investigator) Norman, Patrick (Co-investigator); Previous work under RKES 240358; 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2025
Coordinated Control and Operation of DERs in Converter Dominated Power Systems: Burt, Graeme (Principal Investigator) Feng, Zhiwang (Co-investigator) Pena Alzola, Rafael (Co-investigator) Seferi, Yljon (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2025 - 31-Jan-2027
Modular DCDC Converters for Aerospace Applications: Norman, Patrick (Principal Investigator) Pena Alzola, Rafael (Co-investigator) MacFadyen, Martin (Research Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2025