Oak Ridge National Lab and Industrial Technology Research Institute Join GRAPES Center

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Front row (left to right) Ian Chan and Alan Mantooth; Back Row (left to right) Tim Brinkley, Tzu-Kun Ku, Simon Ang, Juan Carlos Balda and T.A. Walton, all at the ITRI signing.

For three years, the University of Arkansas has partnered with the University of South Carolina in a National Science Foundation industry/university cooperative research center known as Grid-Connected Advanced Power Electronics Systems, or GRAPES. As 2011 closes, GRAPES is proud to announce that two new industry partners have joined the center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Industrial Technology Research Institute. Oak Ridge and the Industrial Technology Research Institute join 18 other industrial partners and one government partner in supporting the research of nine faculty members at the University of Arkansas and the University of South Carolina in the area of grid-connected power electronics.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory was opened in 1943 and is currently managed by UT-Battelle, a partnership of the University of Tennessee and Battelle Memorial Institute. Today Oak Ridge is the Department of Energy’s largest science and energy laboratory, supporting missions in scientific discovery and innovation, clean energy and nuclear security.

The Industrial Technology Research Institute is a Taiwan-based research institute, founded in 1973 with the mission of conducting technical research, promoting industrial development, creating economic value and improving social welfare for Taiwan. The institute is Taiwan’s largest applied technology research and development institution and is a pioneer in many fields. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the world’s largest contract chip maker, was started as a spin-off from of the research institute in 1987.

"We are thrilled to welcome these two companies to our Industrial Advisory Board," said Alan Mantooth, executive director of GRAPES. "We look forward to working with them in our mission to accelerate the adoption and insertion of power electronics into the electric grid in order to improve system stability, flexibility, robustness and economy."