SPEAKER:
Vidya Vankayala, Ph.D., Director, Grid Modernization, Powertech Labs, Surrey, BC
ABSTRACT:
Several cities and communities all over the world have launched ambitious plans to implement a ‘smart city/community’. While the smart city plans are driven by local governments and communities, these plans rely upon the local utility’s support and capabilities. This presentation highlights some of the common smart city aspirations/plans and the implication for distribution utilities in terms of technology, economics and regulation.
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.