Grainger Awards

Over the past decade Professor Ludois and his research group pushed capactive machine technology to the point of competition. This machine requires new power electronics developed for medium voltage and low current. The focus of my past 3-4 years has been designing, benchmarking, and improving their performance.

I was brought into the world of power engineering during the first year of my PhD. I am most interested in applying techniques from algebraic geometry to problems arising in power engineering.

My research focuses on a technology which allows existing power transmission infrastructure to accommodate more power without the need for the difficult and expensive task of constructing new transmission lines.

At the core of our research, we are creating new and efficient ways to determine the best locations to install new power lines in the electric grid. Specifically, we’re using two different optimization approaches and exploring the benefits of using a quadratic function to model power flow in the power system.

I specifically chose power engineering because I want to work with renewable or clean energy sources to bring about a more sustainable future.

Power engineering interests me because I found the larger scale of the applications to be more directly applicable in the situations that I wanted to be working in.

From large scale renewable energy to smaller scale circuits in phones, I enjoy recognizing the need for it. My job is in the automation field, so I get to work with electrical and pneumatic systems as well as robots every day.

I’m interested in power engineering because it affects all aspects of life. Every industry uses power at some level, and I wanted to be able to understand how it is made and distributed and wanted to be a part of it.

The electric power grid is a marvel of human engineering and it is facing unprecedented change. Power engineers have the opportunity to shape that change. I am currently looking for work in power system design, renewable energy integration research, or photovoltaics materials research.

I became interested in Power Engineering during my junior year from my co-op experience and ECE 356. I saw firsthand and formally learned how integral electric motors and generators are to our everyday lives.

My fascination with power engineering turned into a full time commitment after taking ECE 356. That class really showed me how my childhood interest can really help out the world. How, with clever ingenuity, we can harness the sun and wind and provide clean power to our communities. I just love that idea.

To me, the most interesting part of power engineering is how important it is to be efficient and sustainable, and how there is always the opportunity to strive for better in those areas.