PES Day 2021: Tech-Talk Series Organized by BUET SB, Bangladesh
From 21st April 2021 to 6th May 2021, IEEE BUET Student Branch (SB) and IEEE BUET PES SB Chapter hosted a series of webinars titled “PES DAY 2021 Tech-Talk Series at BUET” where six world renowned speakers delivered the talks. The topics of the Tech-Talk series were centered around the theme of the 4th IEEE PES DAY 2021, “Clean Energy Revolution”. Due to the restriction from COVID-19 pandemic, the events were organized virtually. This led to participation from over 12 different countries and an approximate of 400 participants throughout the events.
Fig.: Speakers, Guest and Moderators of the Tech-Talk Series
Tech-Talk Series | Talk -1
The first talk in the Tech-Talk series was held on 21st April 2021, 4pm – 5pm (GMT +6). Dr. Sri Niwas Singh, FIEEE, FNAE, Professor (HAG), Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, India was the speaker of this event. The title of the talk was “Key Issues and Challenges of Smart Grid Implementation”.
In his talk Prof. S. N. Singh discussed the practical obstacles and technical challenges of implementing Smart Grids in countries like Bangladesh and India. Electricity sector is growing each year and has become a very complex system. Now we are changing our focus into producing clean energy at a cheaper price. For that, prof. Singh emphasized on computer aided monitoring and dispatching systems. He indicated that there are several key drivers to technological changes, such as developing new materials and regulatory changes in the electricity sector. He explained that our present power system is transitioning to a smart power system, which relies heavily on computerization and coordination, and the smart grid has several advantages like increased efficiency. There are several challenges too, he added. Finally he discussed some approaches towards successful implementation of smart grid, and concluded the talk. The discussion was followed up with a short question answer session and comments from the Guest Prof. Celia Shahnaz. Prof. Shaikh Fattah moderated the event. The talk was attended by 97 participants from India, Bangladesh, Sri-Lanka and Malaysia.
PES DAY 2021: Tech-Talk Series | Talk -2
On April 29, 2021, 4pm- 5pm (GMT+6) the second talk of the series was hosted. The topic for the talk was “AI and Machine Learning in Power System Research” and the speaker was Dr. Saifur Rahman. He is the immediate Past President of IEEE PES, founding director and Joseph R. Loring professor of ECE of the Advanced Research Institute at Virginia Tech, USA. He is also a Life Fellow of the IEEE and an IEEE Millennium Medal winner.
In the talk, Prof. Saifur Rahman discussed integrating AI-ML to deal with uncertainty and supplementing human intelligence. The talk started with a brief introduction to ML and it’s different methods. Then, a comparison of performance of these different approaches were presented. During the talk, three main aspects of ML applications, namely distributed energy resources, grid assets and grid operations were explained. The speaker furthur talked about technologies that are currently being used, that are based on load forecasting and demand response. The talk ended with some comments provided by his co-presenter Ashraful Haque, guest, and moderator and taking on some questions regarding the talk. The talk was attended by 74 participants from many countries.
PES DAY 2021: Tech-Talk Series | Talk -3
The third talk of the series was held on 30th April 2021, 4pm – 5pm (GMT +6) with John D. McDonald, P.E, a Life Fellow of IEEE, as the speaker of the event. He was IEEE PES President (2006-2007), Division VII Director (2008-2009) and currently IEEE Foundation Director. He presented his insightful talk on “Big Data, IoT, Enterprise Data Management and the New Data Requirements of Drones and Robotic Inspection Devices”.
With the previous talks being mostly related to research and academic aspects of Machine Learning the field of power and energy, this talk provided an appropriate follow-up to the previous events with the discussion mostly being around the industry demand for power and energy engineers with Machine Learning knowledge. In this talk, the speaker discussed the new job scopes for power engineers with machine learning skill sets. Job sectors such as drone based automated inspection, automated high resolution inspection devices and machine learning driven forecasting were in the highlight. The talk was attended by 60 participants from different countries.
PES DAY 2021: Tech-Talk Series | Talk -4
The 4th talk of the technical talk series was organized on 4th May 2021, 4pm – 5pm (GMT +6), with the topic being “Energy storage overview and Research”. The speaker for this talk was Dr. Claudio Cañizares, Professor, Department of ECE, University of Waterloo. He is the Editor-In-Chief of the IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, the 2021-2023 IEEE Division VII Director-Elect and Director of the IEEE Board, and a Fellow of IEEE, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
The discussion included some research prospects of University of Waterloo in the aforementioned field. Dr. Claudio leads one of the 8 Power Groups of Canada, so he elaborated some functions his group fulfil, such as RES integration and EHMS. He has worked on many ESs, namely CAES, BESS, FES, collaborating with Power Companies all over Canada. He explained that since frequency of operation and duration varies, they use different ESs. Thus he showed how he develops and integrates different ESs for different power systems. He concluded the talk by showing some real life applications of the ESs he developed and providing the journal papers. The discussion was followed up with a short question answer session. The talk was attended by 80 participants from countries like China, Bangladesh, Australia and India.
PES DAY 2021: Tech-Talk Series | Talk – 5
The 5th talk of the series of technical talks was organized on 5th May 2021, 5pm – 6pm (GMT +6). The title of the talk was “Grid modernization and Distribution System”. The speaker for the event was Dr. Julio Romero Agüero, PES Vice President, Membership and Image. He served as Chair of the 2020 and 2021 ISGT-NA, Chair of the IEEE Distribution Subcommittee, Chair of the IEEE Working Group on Distributed Resources Integration, Editor of IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, and Editor of IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid. He is an Adjunct Professor at University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
In this talk, the speaker discussed the steps taken to keep power distribution systems updated with modern technology. He explained some Grid Modernisation Drivers to execute the Need for Grid Modernization plan. Showing a survey, he stated that within the next 5 years, the power industry will be utilized in such a way so that it can support a modernized grid. He then explained metrics for Grid Modernization. In conclusion, Dr. Julio summarized the roadmap to grid modernization, where he emphasized on T&D planning and operation. The discussion was followed up with a short question answer session. The talk was attended by 60 participants.
PES DAY 2021: Tech-Talk Series | Talk – 6 | Distinguished Lecturer Talk
The 6th and last talk of the technical talk series was organized on 6th May 2021, 5pm – 6pm (GMT +6). The talk was organized as a PES distinguished lecturer on “New Energy Technologies, Innovation in Power and Energy”. The PES distinguished lecturer for the talk was Dr. Syed Mofizul Islam. He is a Fellow of IEEE, Fellow of the Engineers Australia, and Fellow of the IET and a chartered engineer in the United Kingdom and a chartered professional Engineer in Australia.
In this distinguished lecturer, the speaker discussed the promising future of new technologies of generating and distributing electricity in the Power and Energy Sector. In this talk, the speaker suggested focusing on organizing fundamental talks with ascending difficulty in topics in the field of power and energy. Dr. Islam emphasized on the application of smart meters, because they generate big data for analysis and also maintain smart tariffs. He also focused on the emergence of large scale utility storages, such as Li-ion storage with MPPT and community microgrids. He concluded the lecture after describing potential for reliable electricity, and potential opportunity for H2 as a diversifying energy mix. The discussion was followed up with a short question answer session. The talk was attended by 50 participants.
Md Maisoon Rahman
Chairperson, IEEE PES BUET SBC
Elin Ranjan Das
Publicity Coordinator, IEEE PES BUET SBC