POETS comprises three research thrusts:

Thrust 1: System Design and Operation

This thrust provides multi-disciplinary design tools that enhance the ability to create new physical architectures, then determines how best to operate these as-designed systems; draws from the advances made in Thrusts 2 and 3 to feed new components into the design tools. The design phase of optimization is coupled with the operational phase, where this thrust takes the as-designed systems and determines the best way to utilize them, respecting electrical and thermal constraints.

Thrust 2: Packaging and Integration

This thrust develops basic design topologies for new electronic components such as inverters, power converters, motors, storage, etc. Thrust 2 uses some of the fundamental new components developed in Thrust 3 and combines them using the design optimization tools of Thrust 1 to elicit novel designs.

Thrust 3: Component Fabrication

The most fundamental thrust, Thrust 3 examines basic materials and their integration into electro-thermal components. These materials include wide bandgap materials with promising electrical behavior, as well as new autonomic materials that change their behavior as a function of temperature. Thrust 3 is where the fundamental thermal routing development takes place