power grid Archives - �� Tri-Cities

PNNL-�� DGRP provides pathway from classroom to national laboratory

Maegan Murray — Thu, 10 Jun 2021 18:07:27 +0000

By Karen Hunt, �� Office of Research

Batteries developed by Shuo Feng could someday revolutionize the nation’s power grid and help electric vehicles go further on one charge than ever before.

Feng is one of five students who completed their doctorate program through the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) and Washington State University Distinguished Graduate Research Program (DGRP) in May.

The DGRP plays an important role in training the next generation of researchers and scholars and provides an important conduit for �� students to work on a nationally relevant project central to PNNL’s mission, conducting fundamental science or applied research relevant to energy, earth systems or national security.

“I am working on developing high energy-density lithium-sulfur batteries which can be used in future power grids and electric vehicles,” said Feng. “During the last two years, our team at PNNL has thoroughly discussed the challenges in practical sulfur cathodes and elucidated the design principles of sulfur cathodes for practical applications. Our investigations on material synthesis, cathode porosity, and electrolyte permeability provided a basis for the next phase of lithium-sulfur battery research.”

The PNNL-�� DGRP is designed to help doctorate students work collaboratively with faculty at �� and scientists at PNNL. In this program, the students complete their course work and qualifying exam at �� and then transfer to PNNL for the remainder of their research. This provides students the opportunity to leverage PNNL’s state-of-the-art research infrastructure and to work directly alongside their advisors and other collaborators at PNNL.

“The PNNL-�� Distinguished Graduate Research Program is a unique opportunity that taps into the knowledge and world-class capabilities available at both institutions,” said Asaph Cousins, professor in the School of Biological Sciences and �� DGRP program manager.

The DGRP plays an important role in training the next generation of researchers and scholars and provides an important conduit for �� students to work on a national project central to PNNL’s mission.

“The DGRP sets students up for success in the next phase of their research career and beyond. The training and experience in a national laboratory setting allows these students to build on the knowledge from the classroom and learn how to tackle hard scientific questions and real-world technological challenges,” said Suresh Baskaran, director of research partnerships at PNNL.

Along with Feng, this year’s graduates are Xiaolu Li, Gowtham Kandaperumal, Benjamin Schuessler, and Monish Mukherjee, which is the largest group of DGRP students to graduate within a single semester.

“The DGRP offers a valuable opportunity to learn new technologies and communicate with scientists with different backgrounds in PNNL. It provided me with different angles to think about my research and dig deeper with cutting-edge technologies,” said Li. “The experience helped me to look into what I really want to do and plan the right career path for me.”

The program aligns �� faculty and students with scientists and their research programs at PNNL to increase the number of STEM doctorate students at �� who will then go on to work in universities, national laboratories and industry. The program matches students’ research interests with existing areas of collaboration between �� and PNNL, such as nuclear science and engineering, electric power grid, bioproducts, catalysis, environment, water and soil science and engineering, and other emerging areas of collaboration.

“The opportunity presented by DGRP to work in a national laboratory setting has provided me with great exposure to the wide diversity of ongoing research projects at PNNL,” said Mukherjee. “This has immensely helped me envision relevant research problems and has prepared me for a career in research. Adapting to the research infrastructure at PNNL has also helped sharpen my skillset with analytical software tools and experimental facilities.”

The research topics for this graduating group of DGRP students cover a wide spectrum of topics: bioconversion of lignocellulose to lipids for the production of biodiesel, interface stereology in polycrystalline materials, development of high energy-density lithium-sulfur batteries, grid resiliency, and consumer participation in power systems via smart devices.

“My dissertation research focused on interface stereology in polycrystalline materials. In other words, extracting three-dimensional information from two-dimensional pictures. We developed a method of characterization that can assist in studying the performance behavior of a given material through another lens. While still in relative infancy, this project still has far reaching applications to materials and computational science with plenty of opportunity to explore and research further,” said Schuessler.

With real-world national laboratory experience, DGRP graduating students will start their early careers as scientists at PNNL and at other organizations, including those in industry.

“My next venture is working in the utility industry and bringing to the table my research specialization in the resiliency of distribution grids, analytics, and design. I am joining Commonwealth Edison as a senior engineer for the Chicago West region in the summer,” said Kandaperumal.

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�� Tri-Cities alumnus using degree to advance world’s largest man-made machine

Maegan Murray — Tue, 06 Jun 2017 15:45:20 +0000

By Maegan Murray, �� Tri-Cities

The United States power grid is connected by more than 450,000 miles of high-voltage transmission lines to provide electricity to more than 300 million people. But as the saying goes, with great power, comes great responsibility.

Yousu Chen – PNNL

With the increase of renewable energy sources, the growth of the increasingly complex system and increases in terrorist threats, engineers have to come up with new methods to protect the power grid.

Yousu Chen (�� Tri-Cities MS, environmental engineering), staff research engineer at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, is using high-performance computing techniques to safeguard the electrical grid against potential threats and outages.

“The power grid is the largest man-made machine in the world,” he said. “It is the most important infrastructure, and we need it daily for almost all of our daily activities. I’m always eager to know what I can do in this fast-growing area to solve new problems.”

During his time as a student at �� Tri-Cities, Chen got his first internship at PNNL. He also learned skills in simulation and modeling that have proven invaluable to his career.

He has been involved in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, increasing opportunities for current students.

Solving problems before they happen

Chen‘s work focuses primarily on modern computing techniques that both simulate potential hazards and provide ways for monitoring information within the grid. Through the advancement of high-performing computing techniques, he and his team at PNNL are developing simulations to predict and combat problems before they occur.

Chen’s computing systems utilize complex algorithms to measure power flow, identify potential problem areas, simulate possible outcomes if there were to be an outage or a catastrophic event, as well as provide solutions in how to deal with those potential problem areas.

“For example, if we want to evaluate the impact of newer smart grid technologies on the power grid, we use our simulation techniques to prepare for the event before we apply those new technologies to the grid,” he said. “Using our simulation, we could determine how that issue would impact the grid, and as a result, how we can prevent that from occurring.”

Chen said he and his team are always developing newer computing techniques to run simulations at a faster rate, which will be crucial in the event of a major outage or disruption.

“Some systems will take minutes, depending on the system, to run a limited number of contingencies,” he said. “My code is able to run 1 million contingencies in less than 30 seconds. That is a major achievement.”

With all of the data generated through advanced computing methods, Chen and his team are also always looking take the massive data caches and efficiently turn them into something usable and visual.

“Because high-performance computing systems can create a lot of data, it is challenging to digest that data in the short-term,” he said. “We develop advanced visualization tools, which allow us to view that data in real time and provide a quick response for potential events.”

Giving back to the future of engineering

Even though Chen has achieved much in his career as an engineer, he has used his position to increase opportunities for disseminating knowledge of his field into the community, as well as create pathways for other students to follow in his footsteps.

Chen realized early in his higher education career just how valuable mentorship and extracurricular learning experiences could be to his own growth as an engineer. In addition to utilizing university resources to connect him with an internship at PNNL, he also sought advice for how to improve his resume, his interview skills and more through the university’s career development center. After landing a full-time position of his own at PNNL, he wanted to keep paying forward what he learned, using his connections in engineering and computer science to provide resources and mentoring to aspiring engineering students.

Chen has since volunteered his time through a variety of capacities for the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He serves as chair for the IEEE’s distinguished lecture program and formerly served as the regional representative of the IEEE Power & Energy Society and the regional chair for the IEEE Power Energy Society’s scholarship plus program. He also serves as the editor for two professional journals where he helps edit and review articles for publication pertaining to the smart grid.

As a result of his efforts, Chen was recently awarded the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers’ Leadership Award for the contributions he has made to IEEE activities and the leadership he’s displayed through IEEE at the local, regional and national levels. In a congratulatory letter, Wai-Choong Wong, vice president of the member and geographic activities at IEEE, stated that Chen has set a great example in carrying forward the goals and objectives of the IEEE MGA board.

Chen said he is grateful for all he learned in his education at �� Tri-Cities, as well as what he has been able to accomplish since then by means of his work at PNNL, as well as through his involvement with the IEEE.

“These opportunities changed my life,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to accomplish a lot in my career as an engineer and I believe it is my responsibility to not only increase the capabilities of the power grid, but to also increase the potential for the world’s future engineers who will solve many of these energy-related problems.”

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power grid Archives - ������ Tri-Cities

PNNL-������ DGRP provides pathway from classroom to national laboratory

������ Tri-Cities alumnus using degree to advance world’s largest man-made machine

power grid Archives - �� Tri-Cities

PNNL-�� DGRP provides pathway from classroom to national laboratory

�� Tri-Cities alumnus using degree to advance world’s largest man-made machine