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Prof. Ian Hiskens, Vennema Professor of Engineering, received a grant
from the Department of Energy: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to
develop new techniques for assessing the impact of wind generation on power
system voltage control and transient stability. He will initially focus on
the power system in Michigan's thumb area to understand the consequences of
increased wind generation. His is one of three projects across the state of
Michigan to receive funding from the government.
"With this grant, we hope to be able to increase the amount of wind power
that can be carried on the grid system, allowing for greater utilization of
wind generation. Increased wind generation will lead to new job
opportunities in our state, with the additional benefit of reducing harmful
greenhouse gases in our atmosphere," said Professor Hiskens,
In all, the Dept. of Energy announced the selection of 28 new wind energy
projects around the nation which could receive up to $13.8 million in
funding - including $12.8 million in Recovery Act funds.
"Wind energy will be a critical factor in achieving the President's goals
for clean energy, while supporting new jobs," said Energy Secretary Steven
Chu. "While the United States leads the world in wind energy capacity, we
have to continue to support research and development as we expand renewable
energy deployment."
Prof. Hiskens joined the faculty September 2008. He has made fundamental
contributions to the study of power system dynamics, such as establishing
theoretical and practical techniques to predict voltage collapse, and
creating trajectory sensitivity analysis techniques for hybrid dynamical
systems.
His primary research interests lie in the analysis of nonlinear (hybrid)
systems, in particular system dynamics and control, and numerical
techniques. Power systems form his primary applications focus. Current
projects include large-scale integration of wind generation, grid
controllability, system integration of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs),
dynamics and control of microgrids, and the development of methods for
analyzing the impact of uncertainty on system dynamic performance.
He is Chair of the Board of Directors of the International Institute for
Research and Education in Power System Dynamics (IREP), Treasurer of the
IEEE Systems Council, and a member of the Administrative Committee of the
IEEE Power System Dynamic Performance Committee. Professor Hiskens is a
Fellow of the IEEE, a Fellow of Engineers Australia, and a Chartered
Professional Engineer in Australia.
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