08/28/2026
By Marley O'Neil

The Francis College of Engineering, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering invites you to attend a master's thesis defense by Driss Bourzgui titled "Micro-Turbine Energy Harvesting and Resonant Wireless Power Transfer for Wind Turbine Blade Acoustic Based Structural Health Monitoring."

Event Details

  • Date: Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2026
  • Time: noon – 1:30 p.m.
  • Location: Saab ETIC Conference Room 445

Committee Members

  • Advisor: Yan Luo, Ph.D., Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMass Lowell
  • Murat Inalpolat, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, UMass Lowell
  • Mufeed Mah’d, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UMass Lowell

Abstract

Wind turbine blades are highly susceptible to structural damage due to their inherent prolonged exposure to harsh environmental conditions. As utility-scale wind turbine size continues to increase, especially for offshore deployment, the probability of damage to blades grows. Passive acoustic-based structural health monitoring has emerged as an effective method for continuous detection and diagnosis of various types of blade damage. This technique uses multiple wireless acoustic sensor nodes located along the span of the wind turbine blade’s sealed internal cavity. However, the conventional method of powering these sensor nodes via lengthy wiring routed from the wind turbine’s hub has presented various issues. More specifically, this approach suffers from high installation costs, increased risk of blade damage due to lightning strikes and presents a single point of failure for each blade’s monitoring system. To address these limitations, this thesis investigates a novel power supply system for these wireless acoustic sensor nodes based on energy harvested from vertical-axis micro-wind turbines mounted to the blade’s exterior surface. Since the harvesting source and sensor nodes are separated by the blade shell, a minimally invasive power transfer method across this barrier is also explored. This work develops the electrical subsystems required to convert, regulate, store and deliver this harvested power, including lithium-ion capacitor backup storage, maximum power point tracking, charge control and magnetically coupled resonant wireless power transfer through the blade shell to ensure a robust and continuous power supply for wireless acoustic sensor nodes.