Dr. Chien-fei Chen and her research collaborators at the University of New Mexico, Michigan Technological University and Texas Tech University are part of a $20 million National Science Foundation initiative focused on enhancing and making the nation’s infrastructure—clean water, electricity, transportation, and health care—more resilient. Their project is one of twelve recently selected for the three-year grant.
Dr. Chen and her partners will focus their project on microgrids—energy grids in regions and localities that can operate apart from the traditional large-scale power grid. Their goal is to help transform local power grids into distribution microgrids, which would combine the advantages of the traditional power grid, such as the ability to transfer renewable energy across wide geographical areas, with the advantages of emerging technologies, such as the ability to produce and use power locally in the event of major grid outages. The team aims to understand the connection between social-psychological factors, behavioral patterns and the various systems that manage the flow of energy.
Congratulations to Dr. Chen and her research partners on this prestigious project and program.
Read the article in Microgrid Knowledge.
Dr. Chien-fei Chen
