Smart Energy: The Role of Intelligent Connectivity in Evolving Energy Networks
Professor L. H. Tsoukalas, PhD
Energy diversification and efficiency drives a worldwide innovation effort popularly known as the pursuit of smart energy. At the core of this effort we find the transformative potential of energy connectivity, that is, the successful convergence of energy, computing and information technologies. We will discuss how the promise of smart energy may revolutionize electricity generation, transport and distribution. Pricing signals and short-term elasticities can optimize power distribution and maintain the delicate equilibrium involved in evolving power systems within the smart energy framework. Intelligent approaches form the cornerstone of an energy internet enhancing a variety of network functionalities including, but not limited to, forecasting, monitoring and control at multiple levels. Networks integrating a plethora of energy resource with information and computing may lead to significant efficiencies of scale without compromising reliability and quality of service
Professor L. H. Tsoukalas holds a PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (1989) along with considerable engineering experience in power generation, transmission and distribution. He has held faculty appointments as professor and head of the School of Nuclear Engineering at Purdue University as well as at the University of Thessaly, Tohoku University, the University of Tennessee and Aristotle University. Dr. Tsoukalas has three decades of experience in developing smart instrumentation and control methodologies with over 200 research publications in the area including a book titled “Fuzzy and Neural Approaches in Engineering,” (John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1997). Dr. Tsoukalas has served in advisory and consulting positions for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (ASTAR) of the Government of Singapore; and the US Department of Energy. Dr. Tsoukalas is a Fellow of the American Nuclear Society and the 2009 recipient of the Humboldt Prize, Germany’s highest honor for international scientists