Questions and Answers - IEEE Smart Grid

Interview with Alan Mantooth

Dr. Alan Mantooth is an IEEE Fellow and Director of Standards for the IEEE Power Electronics Society. He is a distinguished professor of electrical engineering at the University of Arkansas and executive director of three research centers at UA: the NSF center on Grid-Connected Advanced Power Electronic Systems; the NSF Vertically-Integrated Center for Transformative Energy Research; and the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission.

In this interview, Alan Mantooth discusses the role power electronics will have in Smart Grid. He also characterizes the Smart Grid as a "grand challenge" that requires sustained attention and commitment from industry and all stakeholders.

Question: What would you say are the greatest benefits of Smart Grid?

Interview with David Bernstein

David Bernstein is the founder and working group chairman of IEEE's P2301, Guide for Cloud Portability and Interoperability Profiles and P2302, Standard for Intercloud Interoperability and Federation. David is also VP of Strategy at Cloudscaling.

David Bernstein sheds light on Cloud Computing and its role in the development of the Smart Grid.

Question: Why should utility executives care about Cloud Computing?

Interview with Mike Andrews

Mr. Andrews is a Senior Member of IEEE and is serving IEEE members in several capacities in the Phoenix Section, nationally and globally including Region 6 Director-elect and the IEEE Public Visibility, GOLD, N&A, IB&SC and Awards committees. He has a strong commitment to STEM education programs, serving as President of the Smart Education Foundation, chairing the SMART Competition and serving as the Arizona Regional Coordinator for the National Engineers Week Future City Competition.

In this interview, Mike Andrews tells us about the SMART Competition for high school students and IEEE's involvement.

Question: What is the SMART Competition?

Interview with Steve Widergren

Steve Widergren is an editor of IEEE's Transactions on Power Systems and participates in standards efforts that bridge power engineering with information technology. He also is Principal Engineer for Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.

Steve Widergren, an editor of IEEE's Transactions on Power Systems, shares his thoughts about the integration of many of the key variables important to Smart Grid's future success.

Question: What is Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's role in Smart Grid?

Interview with Noel Schulz

Noel Schulz is President of the IEEE Power & Energy Society for 2012 and 2013 and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering at Kansas State University.

Noel Schulz describes the balancing act that many different types of engineers must perform as Smart Grid unfolds over the years to come.

Question: How would you define Smart Grid?

Interview with Lee Stogner

Lee Stogner is the Managing Principal of the Vincula Group. Throughout his working career, Lee has been active in both local and international IEEE activities and is the Chair of the South Carolina Engineering Cluster and a Director on the IEEE Board of Directors. Today, Lee is active in promoting the development of the Smart Grid through his participation in the IEEE Smart Grid Initiative, the IEEE Energy Policy Committee and the IEEE Electric Vehicle Committee.

Lee Stogner discusses recent developments regarding Electrical Vehicles and their adoption worldwide.

Question: What is IEEE's involvement in electric vehicles (EVs)?

Interview with John McDonald

John McDonald is an IEEE Fellow, a past president of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) and past chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee. He is director of technical strategy and policy development at GE Energy's Digital Energy business.

In this interview, John McDonald clears up common misconceptions about Smart Grid. He also explains the need for Smart Grid technologies, standards and policies to advance concurrently to ensure success of this new industry.

Question: Are there messages about the Smart Grid that are being miscommunicated or overhyped in the media and need to be clarified?

Interview with Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy

Dr. Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy is Editor of IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid and Chairs the Intelligent Systems Subcommittee and Intelligent Control Systems Working Group of IEEE’s Power and Energy Society. He also has been appointed by the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society (CIS) as Chair of the IEEE CIS's Smart Grid Task Force...

Dr. Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy discusses how Smart Grid will create new lifestyles for consumers.

Question: How do you define Smart Grid?

Interview with Mark McGranaghan

Mark McGranaghan is involved with the PQ Subcommittee, Harmonics, Distribution, Intelligent Grid, and Distribution Automation within IEEE and Vice President of Power Delivery & Utilization for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). He is also active in CIGRE and IEC.

Mark McGranaghan sheds light on the communications and power delivery infrastructure that provides the critical underpinning for Smart Grid.

Question: What is your definition of Smart Grid?

Interview with Stefano Galli

Stefano Galli is an IEEE Fellow, and an elected member-at-large of the IEEE Communications Society (ComSoc) Board of Governors. He is chair of the IEEE ComSoc Ad-Hoc Committee on Smart Grid Communications; director of Smart Grid activities for the IEEE ComSoc Technical Committee on Power Line Communications; and a member of the Energy and Policy Committee of IEEE-USA.

In this interview, Dr. Stefano Galli discusses the need for a holistic understanding of Smart Grid. He explains that a system-wide view of Smart Grid is fundamental to effective research and development and to network design.

Question: Smart Grid means different things to different people. How do you view the Smart Grid and how do you define it?