Several industry partners were in attendance, such as NiSource, Amazon, Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, NVIDIA, Tesla, MISO, Schneider Electric, Dominion Energy, Energy Systems Network, and PG&E. The goal of the event was to identify challenges of the utility industry and to introduce attendees to Purdue's faculty with relevant expertise, formulate technical problems, and sketch possible solutions.  

Assistant Professor Sivaranjani "Siva" Seetharaman delivered a presentation during a "Strategic Doing" session, focusing on the challenges and opportunities in the area of Grid Energy Management, specifically with the integration of "Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) at the Grid-Edge."  Seetharaman mentioned four areas, unlocking DER flexibility, DER management, enhancing visibility and Grid-AI nexus, which involves machine learning and quantum computing for fast grid OPF solutions. 

 

The consortium aims to leverage the resources and expertise of tech companies, who are major energy consumers, to modernize the power grid and make energy cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable for all consumers. Key industry partners include PG&E, Schneider Electric, Amazon, Microsoft, and several other major utility providers.

 

"This is an exciting opportunity for Purdue, especially our industrial engineering students, to be at the forefront of transforming the energy landscape," said Andrew Liu, co-lead of the consortium. "By collaborating directly with industry, our researchers and students will be able to work on real-world challenges and develop solutions that benefit everyone."

 

As the consortium develops, discussions are underway to establish funding opportunities for Purdue research projects, as well as student internships and fellowships with industry partners. The workshop held last week generated initial ideas for research focus areas, and a follow-up event is planned for this summer in the Bay Area.