Some SmartGrid Information Technology Needs (slides:) Jack Brouwer Adjunct Associate Professor; Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Associate Director; National Fuel Cell Research Center (NFCRC) The Henry Samueli School of Engineering University of California, Irvine

Abstract

Energy savings, more sustainable power production and delivery, and reduced emissions of criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases can be enabled by the introduction of advanced monitoring, communication and control technologies, broadly categorized as “SmartGrid” technologies, into the electric power grid infrastructure. The general public and policy decision makers hope that modest investments in SmartGrid technologies can provide these significant benefits. Some initial UCI research and anecdotal evidence point to several challenges that must be addressed by information technology, which will be presented and discussed.

 

Bio

Dr. Brouwer holds a doctoral degree in mechanical engineering and chemical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Brouwer has research interests in the science and engineering of energy conversion with coupled mass, energy and momentum conservation, chemical and electrochemical reaction and heat transfer. Dr. Brouwer leads a team of researchers in experimental and theoretical investigation of fuel cells, electrolyzers, gas turbine engines, fuel processing, photovoltaics, wind turbines and other novel energy systems at the NFCRC.