Alfred University hosts AUEnergy Conference

Alfred University hosted the AUEnergy Conference on Thursday, Oct. 23. The event, themed "Emerging Technology for a Resilient Grid," brought a number of power industry professionals and energy enthusiasts to campus, where they heard talks from industry leaders and presentations on emerging technologies, and toured Alfred's renewable energy and power grid simulation lab facilities.

Among Thursday's speakers were Alfred University alumni Patricia Nilsen '88, CEO of Avangrid companies New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E); John Edmond '83, founder and research fellow at semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed.

Nilsen earned a bachelor's degree in English from Alfred University in 1988 and went on to earn a master's degree in English from Syracuse University in 1990 and a master's degree in adult education from Elmira College in 1996. She was appointed president and CEO of Avangrid companies New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG) and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) in 2022 and is the first woman to lead the companies in their combined 175-year history.

Avangrid is a leading energy company working to meet the growing demand for energy for homes and businesses nationwide through service, innovation, and continued investments in expanding grid infrastructure and energy generation projects. Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, including NYSEG and RG&E, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. As CEO, Nilsen leads the NYSEG and RG&E teams which serve more than 1.2 million electric and 579,000 natural gas customers across more than 40 percent of Upstate New York.

Nilsen talked about the changing landscape of the energy industry and how power suppliers like Avangrid are working to meet ever-increasing demands.

"I thought giving people a power supply choice would be the big moment in the energy industry," she commented. "It's not. There's so much change going on, right here in New York and in Upstate New York in particular."

Nilsen talked about the need to increase capacity to meet the energy needs that come with residential, business, and industry development in the region. That will be accomplished by utilizing all methods of power generation-through traditional means, and through renewables like wind, solar, and hydro. "We have to have a buffet approach to energy," she said. "We can't get rid of any one."

She also referenced the emerging use of artificial intelligence in improving the effectiveness and efficiency of the power grid. AI can be used to expedite responses to power outages; to detect potential threats to the power delivery, such as from dead or dying trees falling on power lines; and to learn from the impact of storms on power delivery and how to take a proactive response to dealing with inclement weather.

While goals for increasing the use of renewable energy sources are clear, there remains a need for carbon-based energy like natural gas, a heat source for a large portion of the region's population. Decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels, by creating a power supply system that is heavily electrified, will be a challenge, particularly as we embrace the use of electric vehicles and make greater use of renewables. Currently, power companies face a significant challenge in meeting the increasing demand for creating an EV infrastructure that can accommodate the electric vehicles on our roadways, whether they be passenger vehicles, large capacity vehicles used for business; and those used for public transportation.

"We have to build systems to meet the demands," she said. The move toward renewables and away from fossil fuels has "placed a demand on our grid like never before. As we look towards lowering our dependence on fossil fuels, we have to bring innovation to the table."

Nilsen said the industry must embrace renewable's like wind and solar, "but what do we do on the days the sun is not shining? Or at night when everyone is charging their EVs? We need a grid that stores energy so that surges (in use) can be managed effectively.

Edmond earned a bachelor's degree in ceramic engineering from Alfred in 1983 and went on to earn a PhD in materials science from North Carolina State University. While at NC State, he and four other graduate students researched ways to synthesize silicon and carbon to create silicon carbide, a compound sought after by the electronics industry for use in lighting applications and in high power, high frequency, high temperature electronic components. In In 1987, he and five others-including the four fellow graduate students-founded Cree Inc. as a manufacturer of products utilizing silicon carbide technology.

The Durham, NC-based Cree-which changed its name to Wolfspeed when it moved from NASDAQ to being listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2021-is now a global leader in the development and manufacture of wide-band gap semiconductors, focused on silicon carbide and gallium nitride materials and devices for power and radio frequency applications such as transportation, power supplies, power inverters, and wireless systems. In 2022, Wolfspeed opened a $1 billion silicon carbide chip manufacturing facility in Marcy, NY. A nationally recognized scholar, Edmond is the inventor of record for 411 worldwide patents.

Edmond said the electrification of our power infrastructure-for residential and business and industry, and transportation-is increasing. "Everything is going to be electric. It's going to happen."

The grid, he said, cannot currently supply the demand that is coming. He pointed to a move from fossil fuels to renewables for powering vehicles (from passenger cars and trucks to large earth-moving equipment) and the development of artificial intelligence data centers, which consume massive amounts of energy. "We need a lot more juice," he said.

John Edmond '83, founder and research fellow at semiconductor manufacturer Wolfspeed, gives a talk during the AUEnergy Conference.

Edmond spoke about the role semiconductors made from silicon carbide can play in making the supply and delivery of power more efficient. "Silicon carbide can be utilized for power conversion, energy generation, and storage systems," he said, noting that the silicon carbide semiconductors have improved the efficiency and performance of power inverters, saving on the cost of power generation.

Wolfspeed's plant in Marcy, Edmond said, the first and largest 200-millimeter silicon carbide power fabrication facility in the world. The 500,000 square foot facility currently employs 400 and that number is expected to double in the coming years. Schools like Alfred University, with its programs in ceramic and materials science, will provide a pipeline of industry professionals to the facility.

Other speakers Thursday included John Simmins '84, PhD '90, director of the GE Vernova Advanced Power Grid Lab at Alfred University; Brian Seal, senior program manager for EPRI, an independent, non-profit research and development organization, which has provided short-course training courses for students and power utility workers through the NYSERDA-GE Vernova supported workforce development initiative; Dan Arczynski, president and CEO of Index AR Solutions; Abdelrahim Brown, director of the Center for Grid Innovation, Development, and Deployment (GrIDD) and Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC) at Stony Brook University; Santosh Kurinec, professor of electrical and microelectronic engineering, Rochester Institute of Technology; Dick VanBelzen of Aestus Energy; Alfred University alumnus Behrouz Azimian '19 (M.S., electrical engineering; master's thesis on the design of an Alfred University microgrid system), senior electricity market software engineer, GE Vernova; Chandan Kumar, associate professor of computer science, Alfred University; Anthony Fiore, chief program officer at NYSERDA; Emily Marino, deputy director, New Energy New York (NENY) Battery Institute; and Gabrielle Gaustad '04, dean of Alfred University's Inamori School of Engineering.

Anthony Fiore, chief program officer for the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), makes remarks during the AUEnergy Conference.

The conference also featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Edibon Power Systems Simulation Lab; tours of labs across the McMahon Engineering Building; a poster presentation of current research by students from Alfred University's Renewable Energy Engineering and Electrical Engineering programs; and a networking reception.