EnerNex Corporation, an electric power engineering and consulting firm specializing in the development
and application of new electric power technologies, today announced it
has been awarded a Small Business Innovative Research Phase II grant
from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop Distribution State
Estimation. This includes EnerNex partners North Carolina State University (NCSU) and OSIsoft.

EnerNex was notified of the award by the office of Senator Bob Corker
(R-Tenn.), who serves on the Senate committee and subcommittees on
energy and small business and entrepreneurship. EnerNex was one of two
companies to receive awards in the topic area of electric transmission
and distribution technologies. The grant will continue supporting
the creation of a software product that will enable load modeling and
prediction tools for the improved resolution of customer loads;
accurate sensitivity assessments of the impact of weather conditions,
new technologies, demand response programs and load curtailment
practices; and advanced algorithms and decision logics for the large
data set analysis. The software will maximize use of current system
capacity and meet contingency planning and response requirements.

EnerNex will use the research of NCSU Professor, Mesut Baran,
to produce better methods of load modeling from statistical data, with
branch current state estimation and bad data identification. Using the
load estimation toolbox, industry researchers can develop new modules
as add-ons to the industry-leading data historian software, the OSIsoft
PI System, for electric utilities.

"We are pleased to
continue our work with DOE. This demonstrates further advancements in
our technology and ability to develop tools that will continue to
enhance the reliability and efficiency of the electric system," said
Jeff Lamoree, EnerNex President and Chief Executive Officer. "As our
nation continues to address concerns about the reliability of the
electric power system, our developments will play an important role in
the progress of flexible, customizable solutions to better understand
the operation of electric power distribution systems."

The
project will be led by EnerNex employee, Tom McDermott, a recognized
expert in circuit simulation, distribution systems, lightning
protection, power quality data analysis and the development of software
tools.

EnerNex Corporation provides engineering and
consulting services, along with software solutions and customization,
for the electric power industry. EnerNex offers these in the areas of
power system studies and analysis as well as utility communication and
automation. For more information on EnerNex, visit www.enernex.com.

SPEC is among the winning team headed by Allegheny Power in a $5.4m award annouced by DOE today. SPEC team will be led by Dr. Mesut Baran.

The projects was selected in response to DOE’s Office of Electricity
Delivery and Energy Reliability (OE) April 2007 Funding Opportunity
Announcement seeking applications for research and development
activities to improve the security of controls systems for energy
delivery and increase the use of distributed generation during peak
load periods.

Allegheny Power led project will develop the “West Virginia Super Circuit” in
conjunction with West Virginia University (WVU) Research Park, WVU
Advanced Power and Electricity Research Center, North Carolina State
University's Semiconductor Power Electronics Center, Research and Development Solutions, Augusta Systems, Inc.,
and Tollgrade Communications. They will improve distribution system
performance, reliability, and security of electric supply through the
integration of distributed resources and advanced technologies.
(Duration: 5 years; Cost: $5.4 million federal/4 million non-federal)

Dr. Huang is named the new Progress Energy Distinguished Professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at North Carolina State University.

The endowed professorship was established as part of Progress Energy's $1.2 million gift to the College of Engineering. The gift, announced in 2006, is the largest in the history of the Progress Energy Foundation.

“This is a wonderful and well-deserved honor for an outstanding member of our faculty,” said Dr. Louis A. Martin-Vega, dean of the College of Engineering. “We are grateful to Progress Energy for their generous gift and their longstanding interest in engineering education and research at NC State.”

The 11th US Energy Secretary, Mr. Samuel Bodman, visited SPEC laboratory today. Prof. Alex Huang, SPEC director, gave Mr. Bodman a tour of the lab and introduced a few important technologies the center are developing, including the light triggered Emitter Turn-off (ETO) thyristor and SiC high voltage devices. DOE's Energy Storage Program provided most of the funding for these developments.

EPRI, ABB, Progress Energy and SPEC will host EPRI's 3rd Annual International Workshop on Advanced Distribution Automation and the Distribution System of the Future. The workshop is the 3rd in a series beginning in 2004 that has been organized by the EPRI Advanced Distribution Automation Program (EPRI Program 124). The workshop is by invitation only and will be held on from October 15 to 17, 2007 at the McKimmon Center at NCSU.

EPRI has recently issued a project opportunity on the further development of FACTS devices through the utilization of several SPEC developed technologies.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), with major locations in Palo Alto, California; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Knoxville, Tennessee, was established in 1973 as an independent, nonprofit center for public interest energy and environmental research. EPRI brings together members, participants, the Institute's scientists and engineers, and other leading experts to work collaboratively on solutions to the challenges of electric power.

An active search is underway for a new faculty to join NCSU's electrical engineering department and SPEC. Faculty in one of the following the areas is preferred: distributed generation (DG), renewable energy (RE) and its grid integration, power management integrated circuits and motor drive. For more information on this position and to apply, please visit NC State University job application site here.

EnerNex Corporation, an electric power engineering and consulting firm specializing in the development and application of new electric power technologies, today announced it has been awarded a Small Business Innovative Research Phase II grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop Distribution State Estimation. This includes EnerNex partners North Carolina State University (NCSU) and OSIsoft.

EnerNex will work with SPEC Professor Mesut Baran, to produce better methods of load modeling from statistical data, with branch current state estimation and bad data identification. Using the load estimation toolbox, industry researchers can develop new modules as add-ons to the industry-leading data historian software, the OSIsoft PI System, for electric utilities.

SPEC has recently received a major award from Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), to develop and demonstrate a 10 MVA STATCOM based on the Light Triggered Emitter Turn-off (ETO) Thyristor technology. The project is also supported by additional fundings from Department of Energy's Energy Storage Program managed by Sandia National Lab, TVA, Tri-City and EPRI. The initial phase of the project will demonstrate the STATCOM operation based on the ETO and a novel five level converter topology. In the later phase of the project, energy storage system will be added to the STATCOM to provide real power injection and absorption. The intended application is for absorbing the flunctuating power generated by a wind farm. Other participatants of the project include Curtiss Wright and Florida State University.

From Michael Steer, mbs@ncsu.edu

The
Institute of Higher Education of the Shanghai Jiao Tong University compiles the most authoritative world wide ranking of universities known as the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU). ARWU ranks the top 500 universities world wide using data obtained from a large number of sources. The results have often been cited by The Economist magazine and the Wall Street Journal in ranking universities of the world. Part of the prestige of these rankings is that they use totally objective data. As with all rankings one of the primary criticisms of the ranking is its bias towards the natural Sciences, over other subjects. This has been addressed this year by the release of rankings in broad subject areas. For the first time in 2007 the Shanghai Jiao Tong rankings have considered broad fields. These broad fields are Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Engineering / Technology and Computer Sciences, Life and Agriculture Sciences, Clinical Medicine and Pharmacy, and Social Sciences. Engineering and Computer Science at NCSU was ranked as #22 among all universities world wide. Other universities in the US Southeast that have engineering programs were ranked in the top 100 include Georgia Teach at #7, Duke University at #50, Virginia Tech at #47, University of Florida at #30. Clemson is not ranked in the top 100.

The full rankings can be found at http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/ranking.htm