UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center
        UCLA
Smart Grid Research and Demonstration Thought Leadership FormuTuesday, April 28, 2015


Speakers

 
Adrienne Grier
Manager, Smart Grid Programs, ComEd

Adrienne Grier is the Manager of Smart Grid Programs for Smart Grid & Technology at ComEd. She is responsible for managing (a) development and evaluation of business cases for emerging technologies, (b) business transformation activities associated with full scale deployment of approved technologies (c) development of a Smart City platform for ComEd including management of a Community of the Future initiative. In her prior roles, Adrienne served as principal project manager & executive assistant to ComEd President & CEO Anne Pramaggiore; principal compliance specialist assisting in the development of state and local compliance program and support of key witnesses in ComEd annual formula rate update filings; principal internal auditor for Exelon and external auditor for RSM US LLP. Adrienne holds a BBA in Accountancy from Loyola University Chicago and is a registered CPA.

 

Adrienne Grier


Brian T. Patterson
President, EMerge Alliance

Brian T. Patterson is President and a founder of the EMerge Alliance. He is a 30 plus year veteran of the electrical and electronics industry, has an extensive technical and work history in electronics, fiber optics and building electrical systems technologies and holds multiple patents in those fields. He is currently Managing Director of B. L. Coliker Associates, a market and technology consulting firm. Prior positions include General Manger at Armstrong World Industries, Director of AMP Incorporated’s Fiber Optic Business, and President of an Electronic Interconnect Division of Kollmorgen Corporation.

He is the US National Council International Electrotechnical Commission’s System Evaluation Group 4 on Low Voltage (under 1500V) Direct Current. He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association, the IEEE Power and Energy Society, the Continental Automated Buildings Association, the Power Supply Manufacturer’s Association, and the UL/NEMA/EMerge ad hoc NFPA National Electrical Code task group on DC power. Mr. Patterson is also past chairman of the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Panel Distributed Renewable Generation and Storage Distributed Energy Work Group Microgrid Subgroup.

Patterson has been a featured speaker at: US Green Building Council International, Lightfair International, American Institute of Architect, Applied Power Electronics, International Telecommunications Energy, International Electrotechnical Commission, International Facility Management Association, and numerous other national and international industry, government and academic forums. He is a professionally accredited course author and instructor for the American Institute of Architects, the US Green Building Council and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America. He has also authored articles for major industry and professional trade magazines and is the official spokesperson of the EMerge Alliance.

 

Brian Patterson


Datta Godbole
Vice President, Engineering & Chief Technology Officer, Honeywell HBS

 

Datta Godbole


David Wollman
Deputy Director, Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program Office, U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Dr. David Wollman is Deputy Director of the Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program Office of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Dr. Wollman leads efforts to coordinate and accelerate the private-sector development of smart grid interoperability standards, including as the NIST ex-officio Board member on the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel, and as part of the leadership team advancing the White House Green Button Initiative on energy usage information. Dr. Wollman is also expanding NIST’s coordination activities in the more general area of cyber-physical systems (CPS) through the NIST CPS Public Working Group and its CPS Framework activity. Previously at NIST, he managed efforts to maintain and advance the U.S. electrical standards and metrology supporting the electric power industry, in addition to serving as scientific advisor, program analyst and bench-level scientist. Before joining NIST, Dr. Wollman received his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. in physics from Michigan State University. He has received many awards, including two U.S. Department of Commerce Gold Medals/one Silver Medal, and the NIST Applied Research Award, and he has received three U.S. patents.

 

David Wollman


Doug Kim
Director, Advanced Technology , Southern California Edison

Doug Kim is the director of Advanced Technology, Southern California Edison’s technology evaluation organization. This Transmission and Distribution Business Unit group operates as part of the Engineering and Technical Services division and is responsible for SCE’s smart grid development, which includes advanced grid technologies, energy storage, electric transportation, and the integration of energy smart consumer products.

Before taking the helm at Advanced Technology, Mr. Kim led SCE’s Plug-In Electric Vehicle Readiness efforts to ensure SCE’s grid and services are prepared to support the integration of the many new electric vehicles being marketed by automobile manufacturers. Prior to leading the PEV Readiness group’s activities, Mr. Kim served as general manager for Edison Carrier Solutions, a business unit of SCE that provides large capacity fiber optics-based broadband services to local and long distance telephone, alternative telecommunications service providers, wireless carriers, cable television, and internet access companies.

Kim began his tenure at Edison International (EIX), the parent company of SCE, in 1996 where he was engaged in the company’s strategic planning and new business development. He also served as an internal consultant for many of EIX’s operating units. Mr. Kim went on to manage a variety of SCE organizations where he led the assessment of new business opportunities, development of strategies, and detailed business plans.

Mr. Kim earned a Master of Business Administration degree from UCLA and his Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA.

 

Doug Kim


Emma Stewart
Deputy Group Leader and Research Scientist, Grid Integration, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL)

Dr Emma Stewart is a deputy group leader, and research scientist in Grid Integration at LBNL, and the lead for the Berkeley Lab Grid Initiative. She completed her undergraduate degree in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Strathclyde in 2004 and a PhD in Electrical Engineering in 2009. Her field of research included the electrical integration of hydrogen and renewable technologies to power systems and she completed this research at Sandia National Laboratories in conjunction with Strathclyde. Prior to joining LBNL Dr Stewart was a senior engineer at BEW Engineering (now DNV GL) in the Transmission and Distribution consulting team. Dr. Stewart led distribution modeling and analysis and high renewable penetration studies for customers such as Hawaiian Electric Companies and Sacramento Municipal Utilities District and she developed proactive planning methodologies to quantify high penetration of PV impacts. Dr. Stewart joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratories in 2013, and is currently engaged in distribution measurement, modeling and analysis techniques for smart grid applications.

 

Emma Stewart


John McDonald
Smart Grid Business Development Leader – North America, GE Grid Solutions

John D. McDonald, P.E., is Director, Technical Strategy and Policy Development for GE Energy Connection’s Grid Solutions business.  John has 42 years of experience in the electric utility industry. John joined GE on December 3, 2007 as General Manager, Marketing for GE Energy’s Transmission and Distribution (now Grid Solutions) business. In 2010, John accepted his current role of Director, Technical Strategy and Policy Development where he is responsible for setting and driving the vision that integrates GE’s standards participation, and Grid Solutions’ industry organization participation, thought leadership activities, regulatory/policy participation, education programs, and product/systems development into comprehensive solutions for customers.

He is a sought-after industry leader, technical expert, educator, and speaker. John was elected to the Board of Governors of the IEEE-SA (Standards Association) for 2010-2011, focusing on long term IEEE Smart Grid standards strategy. John was the Chair of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) Governing Board for 2010-2015 (end of 1Q) coordinating Smart Grid standards development in the US and global harmonization of the standards.

John is Past President of the IEEE PES, Chair of the Smart Grid Consumer Collaborative (SGCC) Board, member of the IEEE PES Region 3 Scholarship Committee, the VP for Technical Activities for the US National Committee (USNC) of CIGRE, and the Past Chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee. He was on the IEEE Board of Directors as the IEEE Division VII Director in 2008-2009. John is a member of the Advisory Committee for the annual DistribuTECH Conference, on the Board of Directors of the GridWise Alliance, Vice Chair of the Texas A&M University Smart Grid Center Advisory Board, and member of the Purdue University Office of Corporate and Global Partnerships Strategic Advisory Council. John received the 2009 Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award from Purdue University.

John teaches a Smart Grid course at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Smart Grid course for GE, and substation automation, distribution SCADA and communications courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer. John has published 80 papers and articles in the areas of SCADA, SCADA/EMS, SCADA/DMS and communications, and is a registered Professional Engineer (Electrical) in California, Pennsylvania and Georgia.

John received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. (Power Engineering) degrees from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. (Finance) degree from the University of California-Berkeley. John is a member of Eta Kappa Nu (Electrical Engineering Honorary) and Tau Beta Pi (Engineering Honorary), a Fellow of IEEE, and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000, the IEEE PES Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award in 2002, the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award in 2003 and the IEEE PES Meritorious Service Award in 2015.

John was Editor of the Substations Chapter, and a co-author, for the book The Electric Power Engineering Handbook, co-sponsored by the IEEE PES and published by the CRC Press in 2000. John is Editor-in-Chief for the book Electric Power Substations Engineering, Third Edition, published by Taylor & Francis/CRC Press in 2012. John co-authored the book Power System SCADA and Smart Grids, published by Taylor & Francis/CRC Press in 2015.

 

John McDonald


Lee Krevat
Director, Sempra U.S. Gas & Power

Lee Krevat is director of new ventures for Sempra U.S. Gas & Power, a leading U.S. developer of renewable energy and natural gas solutions, with a focus on zero- and low-emission fuels. The company jointly owns and operates two of the largest photovoltaic solar plants in the U.S. and developed an innovative battery storage facility that improves the reliability of energy delivery to the power grid.

In Krevat’s current role, he is responsible for leading the development of distributed energy solutions including solar, energy storage, load optimization, microgrids, and fuel cells.

Krevat has over three decades of experience in the energy and technology industries, and was most recently director – client technology solutions & optimization at San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), a subsidiary of Sempra Energy. Prior to this, he served as director of smart grid, leading SDG&E’s smart grid and electric vehicle initiatives.

While working for the utility, Krevat was twice named one of the top 100 movers and shakers influencing the smart grid market by GreenTech Media and twice recognized as a Top 12 “Mover and Shaker” in the utility industry by Intelligent Utility Magazine. He has also been recognized as a Privacy Ambassador by The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario.

Krevat has been a champion for sustainability on a national level. During 2013, he served on the Board of Directors of the GridWise Alliance, leading the development of the GridWise Alliance Grid Modernization Index (GMI). The GMI is used to evaluate the status of electric grid modernization in the United States, to identify and promote best practices, and to provide insights to state policy makers, regulators, and other stakeholders regarding the progress of their grid modernization.

Krevat currently serves on the Board of GridX, a startup that has developed the industry’s first revenue grade, utility scale, cloud-based billing engine, and as a business advisor to PI Energy, a startup commercializing nano-photonic materials.

Prior to joining the Sempra Energy family of companies, Krevat led several software development teams at Tandem Computers, and was a partner at TransPac Software, a startup in Silicon Valley. He received a bachelor’s degree with university honors in applied mathematics/computer science from Carnegie Mellon University.

 

Lee Krevat


Nancy Sutley
Chief Sustainabiity and Economic Development Officer, Los Angeles Department of Water and Power

In July 2014, Nancy Sutley was named Chief Sustainability and Economic Development Officer of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) where she oversees energy efficiency, water conservation, economic development, and electrification of the transportation network. Prior to LADWP, Nancy Sutley served as Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality from January 2009 to February 2014. Under Sutley, the Council on Environmental Quality played a central role in shepherding the Obama Administration’s signature environmental accomplishments. Sutley was one of the chief architects of President Obama’s June 2013 Climate Action Plan to reduce carbon pollution, prepare the U.S for the impacts of climate change, and lead international efforts to address climate change.

Prior to her appointment as Chair of the Council on Environmental Quality, Sutley was the Deputy Mayor for Energy and Environment for the City of Los Angeles, California under Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. She represented Los Angeles on the Board of Directors for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. She served on the California State Water Resources Control Board from 2003- 2005. Sutley also was Energy Advisor for California Governor Gray Davis, and Deputy Secretary for policy and intergovernmental relations at the California EPA from 1999-2003. During the administration of President Clinton, Sutley worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as a Senior Policy Advisor to the Regional Administrator in San Francisco and Special Assistant to the Administrator in Washington, D.C.

Sutley received her bachelor's degree from Cornell University and her Master in Public Policy from Harvard University. Sutley resides in Los Angeles, CA.

 

Nancy Sutley


Patricia Hoffman
Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy

Patricia Hoffman is the Assistant Secretary for the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability at the U.S. Department of Energy. The Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability leads the Department of Energy’s (DOE) efforts to modernize the electric grid through the development and implementation of national policy pertaining to electric grid reliability and the management of research, development, and demonstration activities for “next generation” electric grid infrastructure technologies.

Hoffman is responsible for developing and implementing a long-term research strategy for modernizing and improving the resiliency of the electric grid. Hoffman directs research on visualization and controls, energy storage and power electronics, high temperature superconductivity and renewable/distributed systems integration. She also oversees the business management of the office including human resources, budget development, financial execution, and performance management. Before joining the Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Hoffman was the Program Director for the Federal Energy Management Program which implements efficiency measures in the federal sector and the Program Manager for the Distributed Energy Program that developed advanced natural gas power generation and combined heat and power systems. She also managed the Advanced Turbine System program resulting in a high-efficiency industrial gas turbine product.

Hoffman holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Ceramic Science and Engineering from Penn State University.

 

Patricia Hoffman


Pramod Khargonekar
Assistant Director for Directorate of Engineering, National Science Foundation

Dr. Pramod P. Khargonekar was appointed by the National Science Foundation (NSF) to serve as Assistant Director for the Directorate of Engineering (ENG) in March 2013. In this position, Khargonekar leads the ENG Directorate with an annual budget of more than $910 million. The ENG Directorate invests in frontier engineering research and education, cultivates an innovation ecosystem, and develops the next-generation of engineers. In addition, he serves as a member of the NSF senior leadership and management team and participates in setting priorities and policies. He is on assignment from the University of Florida where he holds the Eckis Professorship in Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Khargonekar received B. Tech. Degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India, in 1977, and M.S. degree in mathematics and Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Florida in 1980 and 1981, respectively. He has held faculty positions at the University of Florida, University of Minnesota, and The University of Michigan. He was Chairman of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from 1997 to 2001 and also held the position of Claude E. Shannon Professor of Engineering Science at The University of Michigan. From 2001 to 2009, he was Dean of the College of Engineering and is currently Eckis Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Florida. He also served briefly as Deputy Director of Technology at ARPA-E, U. S. Department of Energy in 2012-13.

Khargonekar’s research and teaching interests are centered on theory and applications of systems and control. His early work was on mathematical control theory, specifically focusing on robust control analysis and design. During the 1990’s, he was involved in a major multidisciplinary project on applications of control and estimation techniques to semiconductor manufacturing. His current research and teaching interests include systems and control theory, machine learning, and applications to smart electric grid and neural engineering. He has authored more than 140 refereed journal publications and 170 conference publications. He has supervised 35 doctoral students. He has been recognized as a Web of Science Highly Cited Researcher. He is a recipient of the NSF Presidential Young Investigator Award, the American Automatic Control Council’s Donald Eckman Award, the Japan Society for Promotion of Science fellowships, the IEEE W. R. G. Baker Prize Award, the IEEE CSS George Axelby Best Paper Award, the Hugo Schuck ACC Best Paper Award, and the Distinguished Alumnus and Distinguished Service Awards from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. He is a Fellow of IEEE and IFAC. At the University of Michigan, he received the Arthur F. Thurnau Professorship. In the past, he has served as Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, SIAM Journal of Control, Systems and Control Letters, and International J. of Robust and Nonlinear Control. He has been a member of the IEEE Control Systems Theory and Robust Control technical committee. He has also served as Chair and Member of the American Automatic Control Council’s Donald Eckman Award Committee. He has served as Program Co-Chair of the American Control Conference. Recently, he was a member of the IEEE Smart Grid 2030 Vision committee.

 

Pramod Khargonekar


Rajit Gadh
Director, UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center

Dr. Rajit Gadh is a Professor at the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science at UCLA, and the Founding Director of the *UCLA Smart Grid Energy Research Center* or *SMERC*. He is also Founder and Director of the *Wireless Internet for Mobile Enterprise Consortium* or *WINMEC*.

Dr. Gadh's research interests include Smart Grid Architectures, Smart wireless communications, sense and control for Demand Response, Micro Grids and Electric Vehicle Integration into the Grid, Mobile Multimedia, Wireless and RFID Middleware, RFID and Wireless sensors for Tracking Assets, RF-sensor-control interfaces,and Visualization. He has over 150 papers in journals, conferences and technical magazines, and, 3 patents granted.

He has a Doctorate degree from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), a Masters from Cornell University and a Bachelor's degree from IIT Kanpur. He has taught as a visiting researcher at UC Berkeley, has been an Assistant, Associate and Full Professor at University of Wisconsin-Madison, and did his sabbatical as a visiting researcher at Stanford University for a year. He has won several awards from NSF (CAREER award, Research Initiation Award, NSF-Lucent Industry Ecology Award, GOAL-I award), SAE (Ralph Teetor award), IEEE (second best student-paper, WTS), ASME (Kodak Best Technical Paper award), AT&T (Industrial ecology fellow award), Engineering Education Foundation (Research Initiation Award), William Wong Fellowship award from University of Hong-Kong, etc., and other accolades in his career. He is on the Editorial board of ACM Computers in Entertainment Publication and the CAD Journal.


 

Rajit Gadh


Ram Sastry
Vice President, Infrastructure & Business Continuity, American Electric Power

Ram Sastry is vice president – Infrastructure & Business Continuity, responsible for addressing all issues associated with the Feb. 28 downtown Columbus outage and the resulting failure of the AEP data center. Sastry is responsible for developing and implementing the remediation plan and extending the lessons learned from the event across the AEP System. He also will develop and implement a solution to the AEP data center failure to avoid a recurrence.

Sastry had been director of Distribution Services Support since January 2013. Sastry joined AEP in 2002 as director – IT Audits. He was named director – Distribution Research & Technology in 2009 and became director – Utility Research, Processes and Systems in 2012.

Prior to joining AEP, Sastry served as senior director at Covansys (now a CSC company in alliance with Hewlett Packard), a global consulting and technology services company. He holds a bachelor's degree in computer engineering from Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute. 

Sastry is a Project Management Institute Certified Project Management Professional, Certified Information Systems Auditor and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

He and his wife, Pallavi, have two boys and reside in Dublin, Ohio.

 

Ram Sastry


Stephen B. Wemple
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Con Edison

Stephen Wemple joined Con Edison’s Utility of the Future Team in July 2015 as the Director responsible for market-related issues associated with New York’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) proceeding. Prior to that, Mr. Wemple was Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Con Edison’s Competitive Shared Services company where he represented Con Edison’s non-utility affiliates, Con Edison Development, Con Edison Energy and Con Edison Solutions in State and Federal regulatory proceedings.

Mr. Wemple has been an active participant in the New York, New England and PJM wholesale markets and served as Chair of the NYISO’s Business Issues Committee in 2002. He has worked for the Con Edison family of companies for 28 years with responsibilities ranging from resource planning for steam-electric generation, the design and implementation of energy efficiency programs, the development of retail access programs as well as marketing and business development for the wholesale and retail commodity businesses.

Mr. Wemple received his Bachelor of Science and Master of Engineering degrees from Cornell University and is a volunteer firefighter.

 

Stephen Wemple


Tim Avampato
Technology Program Business Development Manager, Eaton Corporation

Tim Avampato is a Chief/Principal Engineer with Eaton’s Corporate Technology Office leading the development of technology and new product development programs aimed at serving emerging customer needs in the electric power industry. Eaton's Electrical Sector business is a global leader in power distribution, power quality, industrial automation and power control product and service solutions.

Tim has over 30 years of experience developing and commercializing advanced technology products in the aerospace, electronics, material science and electric power industries. He is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Engineering, has an advanced engineering degree from the University of Florida and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University.

 

Tim Avampato


Vijaya Ganugula
Manager, Demand Response Operations NYISO

Vijaya Ganugula is the Manager of Demand Response Operations for the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO), which operates New York’s high-voltage transmission system, manages the state’s competitive wholesale electricity markets, and conducts comprehensive power system planning.

Mr. Ganugula has 15 years of experience in the design, development, implementation, and operation of solutions for wholesale electricity markets and energy management systems.

He currently is responsible for the day-to-day administration of NYISO’s demand response programs and ensuring compliance with tariff requirements, overseeing a team that manages approximately 4,000 demand response resources representing 1,200 megawatts participating in NYISO markets.

Mr. Ganugula began his career as a power systems engineer at the Alstom Grid in 2001. Prior to joining the NYISO in 2012, he worked as a principal market engineer at the Midcontinent Independent System Operator (MISO).

He earned a Bachelors of Science in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University College of Engineering, Osmania University, Hyderabad, India; a Masters of Business Administration from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering (with focus on Power Systems) from Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa.

 

Vijaya Ganugula


Previous Speakers

Previous speakers have included:
Alexander Keros Manager, Advanced Vehicle and Infrastructure Policy General Motors
Ali Miremadi Manager of Operations Policy California ISO
Bernard C. Soriano Deputy Director, State of California Department of Motor Vehicles
Bob Frazier Director of Technology Houston Electric
Dan Ton Program Manager, Smart Grid R&D U.S. Department of Energy
David Wollman Manager, Electrical Metrology Groups NIST
Doug Kim Director, Advanced Technology Southern California Edison
Erich Gunther Chairman and CTO EnerNex Corporation
Gilbert Weigand Director, Strategic Programs Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Jim Parks Program Manager, Energy Efficiency & Customer R&D Sacramento Municipal Utility District
Kevin Dasso Senior Director of Smart Grid & Technology Integration Pacific Gas & Electric Company
Kurt Yeager Vice Chairman Galvin Electricity Initiative
Lee Krevat Director - Smart Grid San Diego Gas & Electric
Livio Gallo Chief Executive Officer Enel Distribuzione
Luke Clemente General Manager, Metering & Sensing Systems GE Energy - Digital Energy
Malcolm Unsworth President & CEO Itron, Inc.
Marie Hattar VP, Network Systems & Security Solutions Cisco
Mark McGranaghan VP Electric Power Research Institute
Marvin Moon Director of Power System Engineering Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Matthew Lampe Chief Information Officer Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Matt Mikio Miyasato Assistant Deputy Executive Officer Air Quality Management District
Robert Weisenmiller Chair California Energy Commission
Ted Reguly Director - Smart Meter Program Office San Diego Gas and Electric
Timothy Simon Commissioner California Public Utilities Commission
Vincent Poor Professor of Electrical Engineering, & Dean, School of Engineering and Applied Science Princeton University
Vikram Budhraja President Electric Power Group
Weston Sylvester Director Distribution Solutions/Smart Grid Siemens Energy, Inc.