Category: SMART Grid

Every year the NM SMART Grid Center is required to submit three highlights from the previous project year to the National Science Foundation. For Project Year 2, the research themed highlights focused on work by Assistant Professor Ali Bidram and his PhD student Binod Poudel at UNM and advancements by Assistant Professor David Mitchell and his team at NMSU. Here is what these outstanding team members are working on - summarized in 250 words or less. Enjoy!  

Presenter: Christine Pfund, Senior Scientist, Wisconsin Center for Education Research, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Like many events and meetings across the world, the NM SMART Grid Center annual All Hands Meeting (AHM) shifted from face to face to virtual space seemingly overnight. As news of school closures and other mandates were announced in March, the unparalleled shift to home and online rippled across our lives, taking meetings and classes with it. While we were excited to gather all team members in one space to communicate progress and look towards the future, safety and health are the top priority.

All of our lives have changed in response to the latest pandemic. With respect to EPSCoR, most of us are working from home and are learning how to social-distance, video-conference with colleagues, and use Slack and other tools to maintain some semblance of normality in our workday. Upcoming EPSCoR meetings such as the All Hands Meeting, NSF Reverse Site Visit and, most likely, the New Mexico EPSCoR State Committee Meeting will become virtual—i.e., Zoom conference calls. In short, our way of life has changed, seemingly overnight and we do not yet see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Presenter: Kevin Tomsovic, Director of CURENT, CTI Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at the University of Tennessee

Presenters: Jeewon Choi, PhD Candidate, Mechanical Engineering, University of New Mexico (Research Goal 1), Jacob Marks, Masters Student, Computer Science, New Mexico Tech (Research Goal 2), Adnan Bashir, PhD Candidate, Computer Science, University of New Mexico (Research Goal 3), Shubhasmita Pati, PhD Candidate, Electrical & Computer Engineering, New Mexico State University (Research Goal 4)

Presenters: Diana Dugas, CyberInfrastructure Architect, NMSU Karl Benedict, Director of Research Data Services/ Director of IT, UNM

The NM SMART Grid Center is pleased to announce the most recent faculty hire for the project: Frank Currie, who is leading development of the Smart- and Micro-grid Training Center at Santa Fe Community College (SFCC). Within this role, Frank will spearhead development of the Distributed Energy Systems Program, an AAS and AS degree program specializing in smart grid and microgrid systems technician training. “I am excited to build the program I wish had existed when I started school,” Frank said.

The theme of the conference was Science and Partnerships Across Disciplinary Boundaries, and many of the presentations were focused on partnerships, transdisciplinary research, big data and STEM initiatives. NM EPSCoR was proud to have multiple students present at the conference and contribute to the larger NSF EPSCoR conversation about these topics.

Presenters: Arthur Barnes, Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Jay Johnson, Sandia National Laboratories (SNL)