Date: April 23, 2015

Time: 11:00am – 12:00pm EST

Location: Room 124 Min H. Kao Building, Knoxville, TN

Title:  Computational Approaches to Smart Grid Operations

Presenter: Dr. G. Kumar Venayagamoorthy , Clemson University

Abstract:   The smart grid can be viewed as a digital upgrade of the existing electricity infrastructure that minimizes the cost of energy and reduces emissions, and promises sustainability.

A vast amount of data is generated and must be processed, so that the pertinent information is communicated to the appropriate planning and control centers in time for necessary decisions to be made and adaptations to take place. ‘Big data’ initiative worldwide has provided a unique window of opportunity for improving the analytical methods in smart grid operations. Creating information and knowledge from cause-effect understanding and dynamic models is an emerging technology to provide situational awareness and intelligence in control centers. New data analytics is a promising development that will enhance future energy management system solutions.

The monitoring, optimization and control systems for smart grids will require real-time intelligence enabled by computational systems thinking machines (CSTMs) to handle the ‘Big data’, increased variability and uncertainties caused by increased penetration of variable renewable energy resources. What principles will govern the design of such systems and where do we find them? Such CSTMs will require three basic capabilities: sense-making, decision-making and adaptation. Realization of those capabilities will depend in turn on subsystems that continuously improve their knowledge of the grid dynamics and not just gather data. Using traditional methods, however, it is difficult or impossible to model, control and optimize modern power systems because of their nonlinearity, spatial and temporal complexity, ever-changingness, and uncertainties.

This keynote talk will provide insight into the design and development of real-time intelligence to handle smart grid operations.

Bio:   G. Kumar Venayagamoorthy received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Natal, Durban, South Africa, in 2002. He is the Duke Energy Distinguished Professor of Power Engineering and a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Automatic Engineering at Clemson University. Prior to that, he was a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T), Rolla, USA from 2002 to 2011. Dr. Venayagamoorthy was awarded tenure based on three years of accomplishments as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Venayagamoorthy is the Founder of the Real-Time Power and Intelligent Systems Laboratory (http://rtpis.org) in 2004 and directs it. He was recently appointed as an Honorary Professor of the School of Engineering at the University of Kwazulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

Dr. Venayagamoorthy’s interests are in the development and innovation of advanced computational methods for smart grid operations, including intelligent sensing and monitoring, power system optimization, stability and control, and signal processing. He has published 2 edited books, 8 book chapters, and over 450 refereed journal and conference proceeding papers. His articles are cited over 8700 times, has a h-index of 48. Dr. Venayagamoorthy has been involved in over 65 sponsored projects in amount of about $10 million.

Dr. Venayagamoorthy is a recipient of several awards including a 2013 NSF Accelerating Research Innovation Award (in alliance with many industries including Duke Energy), the 2010 Innovation Award from St. Louis Academy of Science, the 2010 IEEE Region 5 Outstanding Member Award, 2008 US National Science Foundation (NSF) Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation Award, a 2007 US Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Program Award, the 2006 IEEE PES Walter Fee Outstanding Young Engineer Award, and a 2004 NSF CAREER Award. He is the recipient of the 2012 Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Generation, Transmission and Distribution Premier Award for the best research paper published in 2010/2011 for the paper “Wide area control for improving stability of a power system with plug-in electric vehicles”.

Dr. Venayagamoorthy is involved in the leadership and organization of many conferences including the General Chair of the 2016-2013 Power System Conference (Clemson, SC, USA), and Chair/co-Chair of the 2016-2013/2011 IEEE Symposium of Computational Intelligence Applications in Smart Grid (CIASG). He is currently the Chair of the IEEE PES Working Group on Intelligent Control Systems, and the Founder and Chair of IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS) Task Force on Smart Grid. He is currently an Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid. Dr. Venayagamoorthy is a Senior Member of the IEEE, and a Fellow of the IET, UK, and the SAIEE.