Research, Funding, and Awards

  • 5/19 EEC Faculty Forum

    Dear UConn Faculty,

    The Eversource Energy Center seeks to engage the multi-disciplinary expertise within the university to further the resilience of the power grid. Funding is available for six $150K faculty pilot projects under the following topics: 

    • Understanding the social and economic cost/benefit of Eversource’s on-going $437M resiliency program
    • Distributed Energy Resources (renewable generation, energy storage and microgrids)
    • Cyber and Physical Security
    • Data and Technology Needs (vegetation management, infrastructure, LiDAR and remote sensing technologies)
    • Climate Change and/or sea level rise as it poses a risk to CT and the Utility Company

    The Eversource Energy Center will host a faculty forum focused on potential research collaborations with the Center on Thursday, May 19, 2016 from 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. (location: School of Business Boardroom). The Eversource Energy Center is a utility-academic partnership between the University of Connecticut and Eversource Energy, and was established in October 2015.

    We aim to fund up to six, one year proof-of-concept projects ($100-150K) during Fall 2016 – Dec 2017, and select projects will have the opportunity to continue to multi-year projects upon completion.

    This event will feature presentations by Eversource Energy employees and UCONN faculty as well as poster presentation by graduate students who are engaged in current research projects under the umbrella of storm damage forecasting, tree and forest management, electric grid hardening and infrastructure security.

    For more information, please contact Dr. Dave Wanik (dave.wanik@uconn.edu), Center Manager; Dr. Emmanouil Anagnostou (manos@engr.uconn.edu), Director; or, Dr. John Volin (john.volin@uconn.edu), Associate Director.

    To register please email Ashley Halpin (Ashley.Halpin@uconn.edu).

    Agenda

    -          9 – 9:30 a.m.

    • Welcome from UConn and Eversource leadership

    -          9:30-10:30 a.m.

    • Introduction of the Center, overview of existing projects, and announcement of the upcoming call for proposals
    • Talks from Eversource on the new topic areas:
      • Understanding the social and economic cost/benefit of resilience programs (tree trimming, grid hardening)
      • Distributed energy resources
      • Infrastructure security: cyber-security and flood vulnerability
      • Data and technology needs (vegetation management, infrastructure, LiDAR, expansion to other utilities)
      • Climate Change and/or sea level rise as it poses a risk to CT and the Utility Company

    -          10:30-11 a.m.: Break and Student Poster Session

    -          11 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Presentations by UConn faculty

    • Damage prediction modeling and grid resilience
    • LiDAR technologies
    • Anti-islanding and integrating renewables
    • Social science implications of resilience projects
    • Tree biomechanics

    -          12:15-1 p.m.:

    • Break for lunch (not provided – Union Street Market available)

    -          1-3 p.m.:

    • Expectations and details of the call for proposals
    • Roundtable discussion with Eversource and UConn leads

    For more information, contact: Ashley Halpin at ashley.halpin@uconn.edu

     
     
    For more information, contact: Ashley Halpin at ashley.halpin@uconn.edu