Message from Dr. Mazzola
From time to time, I hear people tell me that "EPIC is a best-kept secret!" We don't like secrets, and so we are taking steps to raise our visibility with national and international audiences. As this newsletter reports, we are achieving that goal. The visit by the U.S. Under Secretary of Energy for Science, the Honorable Paul Dabbar, was a big step in the right direction. This visit was hosted by the energy industry trade group E4 Carolinas and reflects the importance of the entire energy industry to the Charlotte area. The Under Secretary also visited EPIC Affiliate, Siemens at its energy hub in South Charlotte and EPIC Affiliate, Duke Energy at its Optimist Hall Innovation Center near Uptown Charlotte. On the international front, it is with mixed feelings that we send off our latest group of international exchange students back to the well respected Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany. All eight were valued members of our research teams spanning almost as many engineering disciplines, and during their six-month stay at EPIC, they made many friends who will miss them.
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DOE Under Secretary Paul Dabbar visits EPIC
Paul Dabbar, Under Secretary for Science with the U.S. Department of Energy, visited our campus Thursday, Sept. 5, where he toured EPIC.
Dabbar was in Charlotte as part of a larger visit organized by E4 Carolinas, a trade association for energy companies in the Carolinas, to learn how the region-as it continues to secure its place as a national energy hub-can serve as a model for the energy industry regarding industry and academic collaboration.
Dr. Rick Tankersley, Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development, Dr. Robert Johnson, Dean of The William States Lee College of Engineering, and Dr. Mike Mazzola, Director of EPIC, welcomed Dabbar to campus. Alongside faculty researchers currently conducting work related to the energy industry, Dabbar toured EPIC to learn how the University is leveraging its industry partnerships to put innovation to work in support of the transformation of the U.S. energy economy.
The group visited the High Bay Structures Lab, the Siemens Large Manufacturing Solutions Lab, the Flexible Energy Lab, and the Duke Energy Smart Grid Lab, with researchers providing an overview of the labs and current research projects funded by the Department of Energy.
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KIT exchange participants |
TE-REx 2019
In April 2019, eight students from KIT arrived at UNC Charlotte for their six-month stay. These students not only became immersed in their projects, they also took advantage of all that our region has to offer! The students, advising faculty and research projects were:
Adem Silini, Faculty mentor: Dr. Badrul Chowdhury
Planning an Affordable, Resilient, and Sustainable Grid in North Carolina
Dominik Schulz, Faculty mentor: Dr. Valentina Cecchi
Loss Estimation in Electric Power Distribution Systems for Outage Prediction
Johanna Geis-Schroer, Faculty mentor: Dr. Sukumar Kamalasadan
Modeling and Analysis of Synchronous Condensers for Grid Stability Improvement (i
n collaboration with Siemens)
Jonathan Vieth, Faculty mentor: Dr. Umit Cali
Novel Peer to Peer Energy Trading using Advanced Optimization Algorithms
Kevin Polaczek, Faculty mentor: Dr. Rob Cox
Assistance with Curbside EV Charging Infrastructure
Marco Verlohner, Faculty mentor: Dr. Madhav Manjrekar
Designing a Charge Management System for Supercapacitor-based Energy Storage
Rafael Schreiber, Faculty mentor: Dr. Nenad Sarunac/Dr. Weimin Wang
Assessing Space Heating Resilience for Cold Climates, Design Study (in collaboration with EPRI)
Raquel Orias, Faculty mentor: Dr. Weimin Wang
Enhancing a PV/T Collector Model for Radiative Cooling
In May 2019, five UNC Charlotte students went to KIT for a 12-week stay. The students, advising
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UNC Charlotte student exchange participants |
faculty and research projects were:
Bhav Sardana, KIT Faculty mentor:
Dr. Armin Ardone/ Prof. Wolf Fichtner
European Power Networks Modelling
Chandra Sekhar Goli, Faculty mentor: Dr. Dennis Bräckle / Dr. Patrick Himmelmann
Evaluation of Model Predictive Controller for Modular Multilevel Converter
Edgar Salazar, Faculty mentor:
Dr. Armin Ardone/ Prof. Wolf Fichtner
European Power Networks Modelling
Kiran Ravikumar, Faculty mentor:
Prof
. Sören Hohmann
Passivity Based Control of AC Microgrid
Spencer Sutherland Owen, Faculty mentor:
Prof. Andreas Wagner
CFD Evaluation of Heating Ceiling Systems Based on Thermal Comfort Criteria
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EPIC Energy Seminars resume
During the Fall and Spring semesters, EPIC presents the EPIC Energy Seminar Series with speakers from around the region. These experts share valuable information and their insight into trends and news that are related to energy. Seminars are free and are open to students, faculty, industry partners and friends of EPIC. Click
here
for more details.
Oct. 16
NC Clean Energy Plan
Sushma Masemoe, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Env. & State Energy Director
Oct. 30
Large-Scale Wind Power Interconnection: Technical Challenges and State-of-the-Art Solutions
Sudipta Dutta, Senior Engineer, GE Energy Consulting
Nov. 11
High-Performance Computing for Engineering Applications
Dr. Tomasz Haupt, Mississippi State University
Nov. 18
Carolina's Emerging Energy Technology
Ed Myska, Vice President & General Manager, Smart Energy, Honeywell
Dec. 4
Panel Discussion on Energy Innovation
Bob Irvin, Joules Accelerator
Ryan Kennedy, Atom Power
Charles Lakeman, Framatome
Laura Smailes, Ventureprise
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"Cost Effective Rare-Earth-Free Flux Doubling, Torque Doubling, 8X Power Density Traction Motor with Near-Zero Open-Circuit Back-EMF and No Cogging Torque" has been awarded by the Vehicle Technologies Office at US Department of Energy to the team comprising of UNC Charlotte (lead), University of Kentucky, and QM Power.
This project proposes a novel Permanent Magnet motor & Silicon Carbide converter based electric traction drive system that aspires to achieve strategic goals, viz., 125kW system with 8X power density improvement at half cost and 2X useful life (300Kmiles) established by Electric Drives Technologies Research Consortium.
Dr. Somasundaram Essakiappan and
Dr. Madhav Manjrekar
from EPIC are the team members working on this project from UNC Charlotte.
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Dr. Badrul Chowdhury _left_ and Dr. Valentina Cecchi _right_ at the conclusion of the Distribution System Modeling and Power Flow Workshop |
EPIC hosts workshop and fundamentals course
Dr. Valentina Cecchi and Dr. Badrul Chowdhury of EPIC organized a one-day workshop titled the "Basics of Distribution System Modeling and Power Flow" at the request of Duke Energy, with approximately 40 professionals in attendance. The purpose of this workshop was to offer a refresher course focused on electric power distribution system modeling and power flow analysis, geared towards engineers, computer scientists, and data scientists working in the power industry. The workshop aimed at enhancing and deepening attendees' understanding of distribution systems modeling, with special interest in load modeling, and distribution power flow calculations. The material was developed specifically for an audience composed of grid analytics professionals.
EPIC collaborated with NC State and Clemson University in delivering a two-week course to practicing engineers on the "Fundamentals of Power Engineering to Support Integration of Distributed Energy Resources." Dr. Badrul Chowdhury and Dr. Valentina Chowdhury represented EPIC in producing part of the educational materials and delivering it to about 30 professionals employed in the power industry in the Carolinas as well as the rest of the country.
The main goal of this course was to provide newly graduated engineering students and power professionals with a quick but broad introduction to power engineering fundamentals related to the integration of distributed energy resources (DERs). The course materials included fundamentals of power system design and operations pertinent to the adoption of DERs in power system operation and planning. Many of today's engineering graduates do not receive the necessary training on the basics of three-phase electric power because most universities no longer require power systems to be taken by all electrical engineering students. This course covered basic topics usually taught in a two-semester elective power engineering curriculum and will be repeated in 2020.
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Prototype Energy Storage Module |
Special Projects update
ZapGo
EPIC has completed the design, fabrication, and evaluation of a prototype carbon-ion (C-ion) large-format energy storage module. This system was developed in support of an industry-supported contract from ZapGo Inc. and is the final deliverable of the 12-month energy storage research and development project. This work began with the evaluation of pre-prototype energy storage cells, which then led to the performance evaluation of a full-scale system prototype.
Pole Volt
EPIC has constructed a prototype Level 2 EV charging station mounted to an 8-inch diameter pole. This prototype demonstrates the feasibility of EV charging equipment mechanical integration with existing street lighting. Electrical and mechanical design requirements are being developed for this system in cooperation with Eaton Corp. The prototype charger incorporates Eaton's Energy Management Circuit Breaker (EMCB). The EMCB allows for remote monitoring and control of the charging platform enabling user authentication, which provides for enhanced safety and increased charger utilization. EPIC is currently studying a pilot installation with Facilities Management on the UNC-Charlotte campus.
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EPIC Affiliates news
EPIC Affiliates included in Career Fair
As a benefit of membership as an EPIC Affiliate, members were able to meet face-to-face with over 75 UNC Charlotte students, who have an interest in energy, at the EPIC Energy Career & Networking Fair held on Sept. 26, 2019.
The program aims to identify and recognize entrepreneurial students and faculty with a focus on energy. Individuals or teams are invited to submit energy-related ideas, projects, technology concepts, or prototypes that they believe are worthy of further exploration and funding. Affiliates can become engaged with participants either as short-term reviewers of their work, longer-term mentors, financial supporters, early-term investors as is deemed appropriate.
Formerly known as Parker Energy Grid Tie Division, LS Energy Solutions is a pioneer in energy storage with a proven portfolio of storage solutions, driven by patented products, systems integration and engineering expertise, state-of-the-art test facilities and comprehensive field service capabilities.
EPIC Affiliate sponsors Senior Design projects
For Fall 2019, the Affiliates program is sponsoring the following seven senior design projects proposed by Duke Energy, EPRI, LS Energy Solutions and Siemens:
- Load Profiles of Customer Classes and Feeder Voltage Profile - Duke Energy
- A Better Approach to Vegetation Management at Utility-Scale PV Plants_Phase 4 - EPRI
- Conceptual Design of Vacuum Boxes for Fuel Pool Liner Inspection - EPRI
- Underground Transmission Manhole Vault Inspection System - EPRI
- Wind Turbine Design Project - EPRI
- Analysis of Thermosiphon Hole Geometry - Siemens
- Design of an Alarm and Fire Suppression System for ESS Facilities, LS Energy Solutions
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Women in Clean Energy at EPIC
EPIC is pleased to host Women in Clean Energy on Oct. 24, 2019 for a networking event fr
om 5:00 PM - 7:00 PM.
The goal of NCSEA's WICE project is to foster a network of support, camaraderie, and opportunity for self-identifying women in the North Carolina clean energy industry. Creating a space for women in North Carolina to come together and connect with other women in the industry is integral to the advancement of women in this sector, and the clean energy industry as a whole. For more details click here.
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VOLT is charged and ready to go!
VOLT
is a new student organization focused on empowering the power and energy professionals of tomorrow by providing opportunities to broaden horizons and expand skill sets
TODAY
! Members will receive
enhanced professional development services, industry networking opportunities, events that give back to the community, and chances to participate in real-world projects.
Want to join VOLT?
Visit
voltuncc.org
, or follow on Instagram or Twitter @volt_uncc.
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EPIC staffing updates
EPIC is pleased to announce the following staff changes at EPIC.
Marion Cantor has joined EPIC as the Executive Assistant to the Director. Marion joined UNC Charlotte in 2005, and for the past 13 years, has served as the administrative assistant in the
NC Motorsports and Automotive Research Center in the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Professor Nenad Sarunac supports activities of EPIC in the area of power generation, efficiency improvement, and energy in general. Prior to joining EPIC, Dr. Sarunac served as Associate Professor at Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science (MEES) Department at UNC Charlotte, and as Associate Director of the Energy Research Center (ERC) at Lehigh University.
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EPIC in the News
Business North Carolina
EPIC's Christina Kopitopoulou joined the conversation on North Carolina's energy industry.
Charlotte Business Journal
N.C. Department of Environmental Quality Secretary
Michael Regan shared how he and Gov.
Roy Cooper see the state's Clean Energy Plan "is about making North Carolina globally competitive.
"
AdvancedManufacturing.org
The large-scale manufacturing consortium, PrecisionPath Consortium for Large-Scale Manufacturing, is a working partnership of industry partners, the Coordinate Metrology Society, and UNC Charlotte.
Business North Carolina
EPIC's viable solutions for electric vehicle charging.
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EPIC Out and About
EPIC will exhibit at the following conferences in the upcoming months. These conferences will focus on areas ranging from energy storage to power
electronics.
Stop by and say hello!
IEEE ECCE (University Lounge)- Baltimore, MD, Sept. 29-Oct. 2, 2019
Distributech (Booth 613) - San Antonio, TX, Jan. 28-30, 2020
APEC 2020 (Booth 2137), New Orleans, LA, March 15-19, 2020
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EPIC generates the interest of industries, organizations, and educational institutions from across the US and countries around the world. We'd welcome a visit from you! Contact
Christina Kopitopoulou to schedule your visit.
| Advanced Energy |
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Atlantic International Research Centre
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| Ardent Edge |
| Copper Development Association |
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Duke Energy
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| GE Hitachi |
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Hyperion Technology Group, Inc.
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| North China Electric Power University |
| QM Power |
| Sprint - IoT Solutions |
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Stand Energy
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| Times Electric USA - Semiconductor Group |
| United Silicon Carbide |
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About EPIC: The Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte, serves as a state-of- the-art research center that provides
education
and applied research opportunities to students with energy related interests. Our industry-education partnerships unite students, faculty and industrial partners to collaborate on interdisciplinary research and learning.
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