Edited by LaRahia Smith
The 91视频鈥檚 Center for Public History is playing a key role in a new interdisciplinary research project that aims to uncover the untold stories behind the North American power grid.
Funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the two-year study will examine the central role of algorithms in the development of the electric power grid and their potential impact on the cleaner grid of the future. CPH, housed in the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at the 91视频, will collect and preserve oral histories from individuals who were instrumental in the development, adoption, and application of algorithms in North America.
鈥淲hile electrical engineering is at the forefront of many of today鈥檚 technological advancements, a critical step in the process of innovative and cutting-edge research is working to understand the past,鈥� said Dan Molzahn, assistant professor in the Georgia Tech School of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the project鈥檚 principal investigator.
The group鈥檚 project, "Algorithms and Power Systems Architecture: Using Historical Analysis to Envision a Sustainable Future," emerges out of the Sloan Foundation鈥檚 emphasis to award historical scholarship projects that look to understand the contemporary context of scientific research and inform current and future research and policy practices. The study will examine the relatively invisible, yet central, role of the algorithms 20th-century engineers developed to provide optimization and control of the electric power grid and the ways in which these algorithms might impact the cleaner grid of the future.
鈥淐larifying how invisible technologies [like algorithms] became established in large and complex power systems is the ultimate goal of the project,鈥� Molzahn said. 鈥淎s algorithms became thoroughly naturalized within power systems architecture, they set the boundaries and established the scope of possibility; this can restrict innovation across the technology spectrum.鈥�
The research team 鈥� two historians and two engineers 鈥� represents an innovative alliance of technical, historical, and public policy approaches. In addition to Molzahn, the team includes , a research historian at the Center for Public History at the 91视频 (UH); Monica Perales, associate professor of history and director of the Center for Public History at UH; and , associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Minnesota (UMN).
The project comes at a time when power grids are in the throes of new demands and transformation. As a result of aging technology and regulatory structures that impede upgrades of essential power infrastructure, current grids are inadequate in integrating renewable energy sources at the scale the market requires. Energy providers and researchers are also looking for ways to guard power systems against cyber assaults, as well as against an increased risk of extreme weather events due to climate change 鈥� the average overall duration of power interruptions due to weather in the U.S.鈥痙oubled since 2015, .
鈥淭he opportunities and challenges of widespread electrification are front and center for the public. Debates about climate change, opposition to large-scale energy infrastructure, and periodic weather-related power outages appear in the news regularly,鈥� said Cohn, who is an expert on the development of the North American electric power grid and author of the book 鈥溾�� on the topic.
A particularly important part of the project is collecting the oral history of individuals who were instrumental in the development, adoption, and application of algorithms in North America. The team will train history and engineering graduate students to conduct approximately 50 interviews with members of the National Academy of Engineering, IEEE Fellows, and prominent power systems engineers.
鈥淭he interviews themselves will be the best way to make this project relevant for a non-technical audience,鈥� said Perales, an expert on oral history methods. 鈥淲hen you hear a person tell their story about why they became interested in working on the power system, it is often more than a 鈥榯echnical鈥� story.鈥疶hey offer insight into the 鈥榳hy鈥�, which is always compelling.鈥�
The interviews will be archived at UH and the IEEE History Center and will eventually be made available to other researchers and the public. The team will use the interviews as important source information to produce a podcast that interprets the highly technical history of algorithms and power systems architecture for a broad audience, especially those interested in climate change and sustainability.
The completed history will then be leveraged in engineering courses taught by Molzahn
at Tech and Dhople at the UM with the hope that other institutions will utilize the
team鈥檚 findings to provide appropriate historical context in their power engineering
courses.
鈥撯赌�Written by Dan Watson, George Institute of Technology