SPEAKER:
Vidya Vankayala, Ph.D., Director, Grid Modernization, Powertech Labs, Surrey, BC
ABSTRACT:
This talk will address the following questions. 1. What are the most common approaches to D-system preventive maintenance – is it commonly performed or uses a “fix when broken” approach due to the number of assets and the nature of assets. 2. Sensors are becoming cheaper and more reliable. Is there a place for sensors and gathering more information using sensors that can detect asset conditions in real-time? Is anyone looking at this? 3. Is it valuable to make historical asset performance data available to distribution planning to evaluate options that could be different than prevailing practices?
SPEAKER’s BIO:
Dr. Vidya Vankayala is the Director of Grid Modernization at Powertech. With more than 25 years of experience in the utility and hi-tech sectors, Dr. Vankayala has helped several utilities in grid modernization, distribution automation, smart energy program management and system integration. He has extensive experience in management consulting for electric utility transmission and distribution and also worked for two large technology vendors that provide grid modernization technologies to the global utility sector. Dr. Vankayala has led a number of technology programs at various utilities as a Chief Architect, Solution Director and Industry Specialist. Dr. Vankayala is a member of IEEE and a contributor to several smart grid and smart city standards. He has over 20 publications in operations, planning and technology enablement of smart infrastructures for industry, community and home.