IEEE paper award recognises research on induction-motor fault detection

A paper co-authored by Dr Jonathan C. Mayo-Maldonado, Lecturer in Electronic Engineering and a member of the Electrical Power Engineering Research Group at the University of Southampton, has been selected for the 2026 Third Prize Paper Award by the IEEE Industry Applications Society's Electrical Machines Committee.

The paper, “A Novel Harmonic Isolation Method for the Reliable Detection of Rotor Breakages in Induction Motors”, was published in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications. It addresses the detection of rotor faults in induction motors operating at different speeds and loads.

The method estimates and isolates the main harmonics in the motor current and studies how they change in time and frequency. Unlike conventional approaches that depend on motor slip, it can be applied without first estimating slip. The approach was assessed using simulations of two induction motors and then validated experimentally on a 1.1 kW machine.

The work is closely related to research in Southampton's Electrical Power Engineering group on the modelling, monitoring and control of electrical drives and power-electronic systems. Mayo-Maldonado's research combines measured data and physical models to improve the analysis and control of electrified energy systems.

The paper was written with Panagiotis A. Panagiotou and Zihao Song from the University of Sheffield; Ioannis Arvanitakis from Coventry University; Gerardo Escobar from Tecnológico de Monterrey; Jose A. Antonino-Daviu from Universitat Politècnica de València; and Konstantinos N. Gyftakis from the Technical University of Crete.

The award will be presented at the IEEE IAS Electrical Machines Committee meeting during the 2026 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition in Vancouver on 6 October 2026.