GaN Wine Lounge

GaN is helping meet the growing power demands of AI data centers, where chips need more power in less space. EPC’s Alex Lidow and Cyntec’s Ian Chan discuss GaN’s advantages, the move toward 800V power systems, and the need for better magnetics, packaging, and integration. They also share the engineering challenges and technologies that could shape future AI, robotics, and autonomous systems.

In this interview, Stefan Werkstetter, VP of Sales EMEA at EPC, discusses the transition of the GaN market from early evaluation to volume adoption across Europe. He highlights high-volume automotive programs, AI-driven data center power supplies, and motor drive - especially e-bikes - as key growth engines. Werkstetter explains EPC’s “first time right” design process, extensive reliability database, and the dramatic gains in power density. He also outlines how evolving design guidelines and partial footprint standardization will shape GaN’s future success.

This interview with Marco Palma, Vice President of Motor Systems at EPC, explores how GaN technology is reshaping motor drives for humanoid robots and drones. Palma discusses the EPC 91132 reference board based on the EPC33110 IC, highlighting high power density, compact form factors, and advanced thermal management via topside cooling. He explains the importance of PWM frequency, dead time, and control algorithms, and outlines EPC’s scalable GaN inverter portfolio and future trends such as multi-phase motors and fully integrated GaN power ICs.

Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio speaks with Tobias Fuhr of Finepower about the evolution of power electronics and the impact of GaN technology. Fuhr highlights how EPC’s expanding portfolio, including complete motor control solutions, enables sophisticated applications such as humanoid robots. He discusses how GaN has revolutionized compact USB‑C chargers and enabled lighter, highly efficient converters in aerospace and avionics. Looking ahead, Fuhr envisions power electronics becoming “invisible,” a ubiquitous yet unseen engine of everyday life.

In this interview, EPC’s Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio speaks with AccoTEST Global Marketing Director Huipeng Liu about a decade of experience testing GaN and other wide bandgap devices. Liu explains why GaN must be treated as an IC, not a simple discrete, and describes AccoTEST’s multi-site, wafer-level test solutions. They discuss reliability challenges for AI data centers, key wafer-level parameters such as leakage and Rds(on), and why future breakthroughs in GaN will be driven primarily by applications.

In this interview, Episil Group chairman JH Shyu discusses the company’s role as a GaN foundry partner to EPC. He outlines key challenges in GaN manufacturing, including thermal management, dynamic Rds(on) degradation, EMI, and reliability for both AI servers and automotive applications. Shyu highlights scaling from 6‑inch to 8‑ and 12‑inch wafers, the transition toward vertical GaN, and the integration of all‑in‑one GaN power ICs as major milestones reshaping the power electronics industry.

In this episode of GaN Wine Lounge, Maurizio Di Paolo Emilio talks with Bolaji Ojo, founder of GeotechNexus, about how semiconductors have shifted from single “volume drivers” to a foundation for every sector of the global economy. Ojo explains why AI’s explosive growth is creating a massive, unresolved energy challenge and why power electronics—especially GaN—will be the defining story of the next decade. He highlights companies like EPC as key players turning GaN from a niche concept into industrial reality.

In this episode, Alex Lidow explains why power is the real bottleneck in AI. He outlines how GaN reshapes data center power delivery and motor drives for robots and autonomous machines. Ahead of PCIM Asia, he previews Gen 8 for ultra‑efficient point-of-load conversion and Trinity for highly integrated motor control, supported by EPC’s reference designs and tools.

This episode features EPC’s Nick Cataldo on the company’s role at PCIM Asia, where Gen 8 GaN and Trinity motor control will be demonstrated. He explains GaN’s advantages over silicon, EPC’s long-term reliability data, and why Asian AI and robotics markets are pivotal for next-generation power and motion control designs.