3rd Grid of Tomorrow Consortium Event
Following the success of the 2025 workshops, members and friends of Purdue's Grid of Tomorrow Consortium will reconvene on February 26, 2026. This event is kindly hosted by Pacific Gas & Electric at the San Ramon Conference Center in San Ramon, California. Thank you, PG&E!
EVENT DETAILS
Date
February 26, 2026
Hosted by PG&E
San Ramon Valley Conference Center
3301 Crow Canyon Rd
San Ramon, CA 94583
Hotel Recommendations
San Ramon Marriott
2600 Bishop Dr
San Ramon, CA 94583
1 (925) 867-9200
Hyatt House San Ramon
2323 San Ramon Valley Blvd
San Ramon, CA 94583
1 (925) 743-1882
San Ramon Marriott
18090 San Ramon Valley Blvd
San Ramon, CA 94583
1 (925) 866-2900
Event attendees are responsible for their own transportation to the event.
Grid of Tomorrow Consortium
For more information on the Grid of Tomorrow Consortium and previous events, please see here: https://engineering.purdue.edu/GridOfTomorrow
WORKSHOP GOALS
The rapidly evolving energy landscape requires a smarter, more resilient, and more innovative grid. This third workshop builds on the first-year momentum, uniting utilities, technology innovators, and academic leaders in a shared mission to shape the future of energy. Together, we will tackle priority challenges, accelerate breakthrough solutions, and empower the workforce to meet the grid's evolving demands.
The summit will include Purdue-led lightning research presentations, industry panel discussions, and plenary talks that address key consortium challenges, complemented by strategic discussions on opportunities for innovation in data center modeling, expediting interconnections, and AI at the grid edge. These sessions are designed to harness the power of our collective communities and drive progress for generations to come.
Presenters
Joe Bentley
Senior Vice President, Electric Engineering
Pacific Gas & Electric
Patrick Bogle
Director, Data Center Strategy
Arizona Public Service (APS)
Suzanne Jaworowski
Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources
State of Indiana
Avnaesh Jayantilal
Chief Technology Officer, Grid Innovation
GE Vernova
Vassilis Kekatos
Associate Professor, Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
Prithpal Khajuria
Director, Energy Center
Intel Corporation
Mark Lauby
Senior Vice President and Chief Engineer
North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC)
Andrew Liu
Associate Professor, Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering
Purdue University
Xiaonan Lu
Associate Professor, School of Engineering Technology
Purdue University
John McDonald
Founder and CEO
JDM Associates, LLC
Damir Novosel
President
Quanta Technology
Junjie Qin
Assistant Professor, Elmore Family School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Purdue University
Arvind Raman
John A. Edwardson Dean, College of Engineering
Robert V. Adams Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Purdue University
Todd Ramey
Senior Vice President, Markets and Digital Strategy
MISO
Siva Seetharaman
Assistant Professor, Edwardson School of Industrial Engineering
Purdue University
AGENDA FOR THE DAY
The agenda below is preliminary. Additional details and confirmed speakers will be added soon, please check back for updates.
| Wednesday, February 25, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| Afternoon | Tour at PG&E's Hazard Awareness & Warning Center (HAWC) Facilities (Optional) |
| Thursday, February 26, 2026 | |
|---|---|
| 8:00 AM | Breakfast & Networking |
| 8:30 am | Welcome and Keynote #1 (PG&E) |
| 9:15 AM | Keynote #2 Secretary Suzanne Jaworowski, Indiana Secretary of Energy and Natural Resources |
| 9:45 AM | Purdue-led Research Lightning talks
|
| 11:30 AM | Keynote #3 (Schneider Electric) |
| 12:00 PM | Lunch |
| 1:20 PM | Keynote #4 (Midcontinent Independent System Operator - MISO) |
| 1:50 PM | Spotlight Panel #1: Reliability and System Adequacy Under Rapid Load Growth |
| 2:45 PM | Spotlight Panel #2: The AI-Power Grid Technology Nexus |
| 3:40 PM | Spotlight Panel #3: Enabling Innovation Across Distribution Systems and the Grid Edge |
| 4:30 PM | Closing Remarks and Networking |
PARTICIPATING INDUSTRY PARTNERS
