About Me

Tim Taylor is a Distribution Industry Solution Executive with Ventyx, an ABB Company. He assists distribution companies to understand how advanced distribution managements systems (DMS), including SCADA, outage management, mobile workforce management, and business intelligence can improve their performance. Tim has worked for ABB in a number of R&D engineering, consulting, and business development roles. He has performed distribution planning studies for companies around the world, has developed and taught courses on distribution planning and engineering, and assisted with due diligence evaluations of electric distribution companies. Tim also worked with GE Energy in a number of roles. He was a Technical Solution Director in the Smart Grid Commercial Group, focusing on distribution system management, automation, and operations. He worked in T&D application engineering, where he focused on the application of protective relays, surge arresters, distribution transformers, and other equipment. Tim is a Senior Member of IEEE and holds an MS in Electrical Engineering from NC State University and an MBA from UNC-Chapel Hill.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

NSF Site Visit at the FREEDM Systems Center

I was able to spend a day over at NC State University, as the FREEDM Systems Center hosted an on-site visit of the National Science Foundation.  The FREEDM (Future Renewable Electric Energy Delivery and Management) Systems Center is a NSF-funded Gen-III Engineering Research Center, where work is being performed at eight universities, with NC State being the lead university.  The ten-year project aims to perform fundamental research and science, enabling technology development, systems engineering, and demonstration projects, such as a 1 MW green energy hub.  The goal is develop breakthroughs in the way that renewable electricity is generated and managed.

At the meeting, I was able to see the momentum that has been generated by the FREEDM center.  University research on the projects is strong and industry partners are taking active roles.   Many university students are involved, many of which will later have careers in the smart grid industry.  FREEDM is also extending its reach into high schools and middle schools, with hands-on pre-college education programs that get students and teachers at these education levels involved.

Developing a new paradigm for a new electricity infrastructure takes a long-term, dedicated approach.  Diverse fields including fundamental research into power electronics, system control theory, and energy storage must all be included, and the FREEDM Systems Center is doing a fine job of coordinating all the work.  More information on the FREEDM Systems Center can be found at www.freedm.ncsu.edu.
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