{"666109":{"#nid":"666109","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Looking Back to Prepare for the Future of the Power Grid ","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003EThe North American power grid is undergoing a generational transformation. Amid this change, an interdisciplinary research team of engineers and historians seeks to uncover the untold stories behind the algorithms and power systems architecture that have shaped the complex technological and social history of this key infrastructure.\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cYou can\u2019t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards.\u201d These words, famously attributed to Steve Jobs, address the broad truth that only through intentional reflection and examination can we learn from the past.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EWith this in mind, an interdisciplinary research team comprised of engineers and historians from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Houston, and the University of Minnesota are hoping to shape the future of electric power grids by studying and cataloguing the field\u2019s robust history during a two-year study funded by the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/sloan.org\/\u0022\u003EAlfred P. Sloan Foundation\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWhile electrical engineering is at the forefront of many of today\u2019s technological advancements, a critical step in the process of innovative and cutting-edge research is working to understand the past,\u201d said \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/faculty-staff-directory\/daniel-molzahn\u0022\u003EDan Molzahn\u003C\/a\u003E, assistant professor in the \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.ece.gatech.edu\/\u0022\u003EGeorgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering\u003C\/a\u003E and the project\u2019s principal investigator.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe group\u2019s project, \u0022Algorithms and Power Systems Architecture: Using Historical Analysis to Envision a Sustainable Future\u0022, emerges out of the Sloan Foundation\u2019s emphasis to award historical scholarship projects that look to understand the contemporary context of scientific research and inform current and future research and policy practices. The study will examine the relatively invisible, yet central, role of the algorithms 20th-century engineers developed to provide optimization and control of the electric power grid and the ways in which these algorithms might impact the cleaner grid of the future.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cClarifying how invisible technologies [like algorithms] became established in large and complex power systems is the ultimate goal of the project,\u201d said Molzahn. \u201cAs algorithms became thoroughly naturalized within power systems architecture, they set the boundaries and established the scope of possibility; this can restrict innovation across the technology spectrum.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe research team \u2014 two historians and two engineers \u2014 represents an innovative alliance of technical, historical, and public policy approaches. In addition to Molzahn, the team includes \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/cse.umn.edu\/ece\/sairaj-dhople\u0022\u003ESairaj Dhople\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Minnesota (UMN); \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.bakerinstitute.org\/expert\/julie-cohn\u0022\u003EJulie Cohn\u003C\/a\u003E, a research historian at the Center for Public History at the University of Houston (UH); and \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/uh.edu\/class\/history\/faculty-and-staff\/perales_m\/\u0022\u003EMonica Perales\u003C\/a\u003E, associate professor of history and director of the Center for Public History at UH.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe project comes at a time when power grids are in the throes of new demands and transformation. As a result of aging technology and regulatory structures that impede upgrades of essential power infrastructure, current grids are inadequate in integrating renewable energy sources at the scale the market requires. Energy providers and researchers are also looking for ways to guard power systems against cyber assaults, as well as against an increased risk of extreme weather events due to climate change \u2014 the average overall duration of power interruptions due to weather in the U.S.\u202fdoubled since 2015, \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.eia.gov\/todayinenergy\/detail.php?id=50316\u0022\u003Eaccording to the U.S. Department of Energy\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe opportunities and challenges of widespread electrification are front and center for the public. Debates about climate change, opposition to large-scale energy infrastructure, and periodic weather-related power outages appear in the news regularly,\u201d said Cohn, who is an expert on the development of the North American electric power grid and author of the book \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/mitpress.mit.edu\/9780262537407\/the-grid\/\u0022\u003E\u201cThe Grid\u201d\u003C\/a\u003E on the topic.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EA particularly important part of the project is collecting the oral history of individuals who were instrumental in the development, adoption, and application of algorithms in North America. The team will train history and engineering graduate students to conduct approximately 50 interviews with members of the National Academy of Engineering, IEEE Fellows, and prominent power systems engineers.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u201cThe interviews themselves will be the best way to make this project relevant for a non-technical audience,\u201d said Perales, an expert on oral history methods. \u201cWhen you hear a person tell their story about why they became interested in working on the power system, it is often more than a \u2018technical\u2019 story.\u202fThey offer insight into the \u2018why\u2019, which is always compelling.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe interviews will be archived at UH and the IEEE History Center, and will eventually be made available to other researchers and the public. The team will use the interviews as important source information to produce a podcast that interprets the highly technical history of algorithms and power systems architecture for a broad audience, especially those interested in climate change and sustainability.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThe completed history will then be leveraged in engineering courses taught by Molzahn at Tech and Dhople at the UM with the hope that other institutions will utilize the team\u2019s findings to provide appropriate historical context in their power engineering courses.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":"","format":"basic_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAn interdisciplinary research team comprised of engineers and historians from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Houston, and the University of Minnesota are hoping to shape the future of electric power grids by studying and cataloguing the field\u2019s robust history.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"basic_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"A new study will examine the relatively invisible role of the algorithms 20th-century engineers developed to optimize the electric power grid."}],"uid":"36172","created_gmt":"2023-02-23 16:05:36","changed_gmt":"2023-03-28 17:51:40","author":"dwatson71","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2023-02-23T00:00:00-05:00","iso_date":"2023-02-23T00:00:00-05:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"666108":{"id":"666108","type":"image","title":"Past and present power grid experts. ","body":null,"created":"1677168047","gmt_created":"2023-02-23 16:00:47","changed":"1677244362","gmt_changed":"2023-02-24 13:12:42","alt":"Past and present power grid experts.     Top: Power systems experts from around the world gathering in St. Louis in 1904 to discuss anything and everything electrical, including the operation of the then new networks of synchronous generators.    Bottom: The January 2023 meeting of the Universal Interoperability for Grid-forming Inverters (UNIFI) Consortium on Georgia Tech\u2019s campus in Atlanta. UNIFI is a U. S. Department of Energy funded effort to advance grid-forming (GFM) inverter technology. ","file":{"fid":"251898","name":"Sloan Award for a Project on the History of Algorithms for Electric Power Grids_graphic.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Sloan%20Award%20for%20a%20Project%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Algorithms%20for%20Electric%20Power%20Grids_graphic.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/Sloan%20Award%20for%20a%20Project%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Algorithms%20for%20Electric%20Power%20Grids_graphic.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":4211630,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/Sloan%20Award%20for%20a%20Project%20on%20the%20History%20of%20Algorithms%20for%20Electric%20Power%20Grids_graphic.jpg?itok=5LdRBvUc"}}},"media_ids":["666108"],"groups":[{"id":"1255","name":"School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"}],"categories":[{"id":"144","name":"Energy"},{"id":"145","name":"Engineering"},{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"},{"id":"135","name":"Research"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9697","name":"Electric Power Grid"},{"id":"192209","name":"clean grid"},{"id":"246","name":"Georgia Institute of Technology"},{"id":"66891","name":"Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering"},{"id":"170548","name":"University of Minnesota"},{"id":"192210","name":"Center for Public History at the University of Houston"},{"id":"192211","name":"Dan Molzahn"},{"id":"192212","name":"Sairaj Dhople"},{"id":"192213","name":"Julie Cohn"},{"id":"192214","name":"Monica Perales"},{"id":"172309","name":"Alfred P. Sloan Foundation"},{"id":"192215","name":"algorithms and power systems architecture"},{"id":"192216","name":"electric power history"},{"id":"3163","name":"renewable energy"},{"id":"192217","name":"historical analysis"},{"id":"187915","name":"go-researchnews"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39531","name":"Energy and Sustainable Infrastructure"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDan Watson\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\r\n\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:dwatson@ece.gatech.edu\u0022\u003Edwatson@ece.gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["dwatson@ece.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}