Academia and Industry Collaborate at the GRAPES Semi-Annual Meeting

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Attendees at the GRAPES meeting.

In November 2011, the Grid-connected Advanced Power Electronics Systems Center celebrated its two-year anniversary and held a semi-annual meeting on the University of Arkansas campus. In attendance were professors and students from the University of Arkansas and the University of South Carolina, as well as members of the GRAPES industry advisory board.

GRAPES began in 2009 as a cooperative effort between the University of Arkansas and the University of South Carolina. The program, which receives funding through a National Science Foundation grant, fosters collaboration between academia and industry to promote research that will improve the nation’s power grid.

The industry advisory board is made up of representatives from energy companies, industrial corporations and the Arkansas Public Service Commission. These members contribute research funds to the two universities, collaborate in decisions about which research projects to fund, and receive initial access to the findings.

Over the past two years, the center’s advisory board has grown from 8 to 20 members. The board is currently sponsoring 12 projects, including a green energy node which can connect homes to a smart electric grid, manage energy use, charge electric vehicles and smoothly integrate alternative energy sources. Other current GRAPES projects include a study of the impact of wind energy on the power grid and research on packaging needs for high capacity electronic devices.