CURENT 2024 Summer Planning Meeting in Seattle

Dr. Fran Li recaps CURENT 2024 Summer Strategic Planning Meeting in Seattle

CURENT held its annual summer strategic planning meeting with its industrial members during the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) General Meeting (GM). The meeting this year took place on July 25th at the Alder & Ash Restaurant private meeting room in Seattle, WA, during IEEE PES GM 2024. The meeting was attended by five CURENT faculty members (Fran Li, Yilu Liu, Kai Sun, Kevin Tomsovic, and Zheyu Zhang), alongside 11 industrial members representing 10 companies: Dominion Energy, Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), EnerNex, Hitachi Energy, ISO-New England, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), New York Power Authority, PingThings, and Southern Company.

The meeting commenced at 1:15 PM following a luncheon for the attendees. After a brief welcome message and updates on the center from Professor Fran Li, Professor Yilu Liu led a discussion on the Industrial Advisory Board (IAB) tasks and missions. Dr. Micah Till, from Dominion Energy, was announced as the new Chair of the IAB. Over the next two hours, faculty members shared their strategic views on future research directions and ideas, which sparked significant discussions and feedback from the industrial members. The meeting adjourned at 3:30 PM.

As previous CURENT events with industrial members, this year’s CURENT strategic planning meeting fostered a collaborative environment where academic and industry leaders exchanged valuable insights and forged stronger partnerships. The active participation and constructive dialogue are a testament to the collective commitment to advancing the future of power and energy systems. We look forward to the continued success of these partnerships and the innovative research that will shape the power industry’s future.