By Sebastian Martinez-Lizana
The 2024 CURENT Industry Conference, held on April 30 and May 1 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville brought together leading minds in energy systems, green technology, and power electronics. This event provided a platform for cutting-edge discussions on decarbonization, energy resilience, and the future of the power grid.
Day 1 Highlights
The conference opened on Tuesday with a series of pre-conference tutorials led by renowned experts. Dr. Feng-Yuan Zhang from UTK kicked off with an in-depth session on “Green Hydrogen as a Path to Decarbonization and Net-Zero,” followed by Dr. Sandra Bogetic, who explored the potential of Small Modular Reactors in grid decarbonization.
The welcome speech was led by Sebastian Martinez-Lizana and Jia Niu, both chair and co-chair of this year’s conference. Then, Dr. Deborah Crawford, Vice Chancellor for Research, Innovation, & Economic Development of UTK, gave a warm welcome message to the conference attendees. Next, the Center Director Prof. Fran Li presented a center overview to set the stage for the key themes and objectives of the event, highlighting the center’s recent achievements and future goals.
The afternoon featured keynote speeches from industry leaders. Darrell Moore of NERC discussed the challenges in the electric-gas energy system, followed by Olga Spahn of ARPA-E, who presented on advancements in power semiconductor technologies. The session concluded with Fred Jones from Raytheon, who shared insights into securing critical infrastructure.
Afterward, we debited an industry/alumni session with successful alumni from CURENT that are an active part of academia and industry. Next, a student research poster session, where graduate and undergraduate students from CURENT were able to engage conference attendees on their research ideas, proposals, and results.
That day ended with a conference dinner and industry meeting, which facilitated networking and discussions on future collaborations and the next steps of the research center.
Day 2 Highlights
Wednesday began with keynote speeches focused on redefining the electrical grid. Y.C. Zhang of Utilidata introduced the role of distributed AI in grid evolution, while Peter Barbosa of Delta Electronics addressed the challenges associated with solid-state transformers.
The day continued with an overview of faculty research projects, showcasing innovative work from UT faculty members in power systems and power electronics. Discussion sessions enriched the faculty presentation, fostering deeper engagement and sparking collaborative ideas among attendees.
The conference concluded with Large-scale Testbed (LTB), FNET, and Hardware Test Bed (HTB) demonstrations, followed by lab tours and poster sessions at the Min Kao Building, highlighting UT’s contributions to the field.
The 2024 Industry Conference successfully fostered dialogue between academia, industry, and students, paving the way for future advancements in energy and power systems.
