Multi-Million Dollar Companies Bought Rights to Dr. Sarwat’s Work Making him a Board Member

The cutting-edge research (supported by NSF grant: CAREER 1553494) Dr. Sarwat and his team are conducting have resulted in multiple products that FIU has offered to companies to bring to the market. These companies seek to work with Dr. Sarwat for taking the technology to the right industry for commercial use. FIU has released his patents to a company with a history of success having  previously sold a developed business for $180 Million(Vartsilla). Dr. Sarwat  has accepted a position as a board member and part time Director of Technology for the same company.

 

Dr. Sarwat Appointed to Board of Directors of AMAPPER Corporation During Groundbreaking Commercialization and Co-President of SEGANEXT

SEGANext: The company SEGA Next specializes in energy systems having management expertise with multi-million-dollar projects, ability to develop total solutions, generate financing and proposals, produce deliverables on time, innovate in research, and engage positively with regulators, industry and customers. Dr. Sarwat leads the way at SEGANext Inc. as the Co-president. Special SEGA focus areas include but are not limited to smart grids, renewable energy, energy storage, nuclear energy, bioenergy, training and educational program development, and most aspects of power transmission, distribution and generation systems. The leadership team includes some of the original concept developers of smart energy systems and has trained thousands of energy engineers.

Dr. Sarwat’s  EPS  team is working on NSF CAREER award(1553494) resulting in two new products; a) PEACE-RenGen, and b)HOPES-RenCast to enhance the way how renewable energy grid integrates with traditional critical infrastructure(CI). Dr. Sarwat’s team has also developed an advanced prototype for wireless EV charging. Not only are the EV chargers capable of charging a parked vehicle but also charging of a vehicle in-motion. 

AMAPPER Corporation / AICINEXT.com : Dr Sarwat has been appointed as the director for AMAPPER Corporation since 2019. This Domestic for-Profit company is based in Boca Raton, South Florida. The Corporation has been established by the original founders of Greensmith Energy.

 A company whose goal is to solve the problems in the critical infrastructures with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, starting with Energy and Transportation but growing to encompass all 16 critical infrastructures defined by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. One of his recent graduates, Avinash Jeewani has joined AICINEXT as a Machine Learning expert.

 PEACE RenGen(Portable Emergency AC Energy Renewable Generator)- The goal of PEACE-RenGen is to serve as a mobile source of power for users with residential photovoltaic (PV) systems during outage situations caused by normal or extreme (i.e. hurricane) scenarios. The product achieves this through real-time monitoring, reporting, and control operations integrated into its hardware and software. The product’s one of the intended deliverables is to provide a customized plan to its user for optimally sharing power between the PV, batteries and the grid, with the goal to minimize the electricity consumption costs. Time-of-use electricity pricing of the local utility serving the user is also included.

   

Hardware testing bed       ML based Microcontroller

HOPES RenCast(Weather-based Renewable Energy Prediction Tool)- This is a highly configurable solar energy generation prediction system using weather data, for both the small-sized and large-sized PV plant. It does short-term as well as long-term prediction of energy generation, from 15 minutes ahead to up to 9 days in the future. It is based on different kinds of weather parameters, past and future data, but its vast data source of various locations throughout the United States and beyond makes it easy to do the task.

Working Principle for the HOPES controller

Wireless EV Charging System(Charge your vehicle without hassle of plug and unplug)-  Introducing an automated charging process without the interaction of the driver: No cables to handle inside or outside the car. It does not get affected by rain, snow, ice, dust, and dirt. It is a clean and safe way of charging electric vehicles. Its bidirectional IPT systems can be used to make grid-to-vehicle (G2V) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) connections. EPS has a Nissan Leaf electric vehicle to test the charging system.

 

Dynamic Wireless EV Charging System(Wireless charging on the go, charge your vehicle while driving)- It will be implemented on highways (dynamic or in-motion wireless charging) giving an unlimited range for EVs without plugging-in or stopping for recharging. This technology will revolutionize future transportation systems. It will reduce the size, weight, and cost of the battery, which is the most expensive part in an electrical vehicle. The Nissan Leaf belonging to EPS is used for practical testing of this project.

 


Working Principle for Wireless Charging

Nissan Leaf Electric Vehicle at EPS


Dynamic wireless charging – Future of Battery

Dr. Sarwat’s Transformative and Game-Changing Patents(support from NSF CAREER: 1553494 & 1541108)

Dr. Sarwat’s work has resulted in multiple patents and patent filings. The following is a list of major patents recently awarded to EPS team.

  • Distributed Renewable Energy Grid Controller 
  • Wireless Power Electronics and Controls
  • Mobile Wireless Power Transfer
  • Electric Power Distribution Interruption Risk Assessment Calculator

Industrial and Federal Labs Partner with Dr. Sarwat

Numerous industries have partnered with Dr. Sarwat for his state of art research which have led him to develop game changing products in advanced technical areas. These entities work closely with Dr. Sarwat to materialize his vision and bring life to the technology he has developed at EPS.

FPL/Next Era has signed long term contracts with Dr. Sarwat to work on different technologies.

FPL is the largest power utility company under Next Era Energy, and they serve approximately 10 million people throughout Florida. Their reliable generation, transmission, and distribution of electrical energy throughout the state keeps Florida working and satisfied with high reliability and rapid response to disturbance. The integration of advanced battery systems into their grid is enabling improved solar PV generation adoption into the power grid in Florida, making FPL/NextEra renewable energy leaders.

FPL/ NextEra has funded more than $10M to Dr. Sarwat’s efforts with the industry:

  1. Artificial Intelligence (AI) Based Renewable Microgrid System Development: The SISGSR (Storage Integrated Smart Grid Stability and Reliability) is a Project for an AI based FIU Renewable Smart Micro grid.The facilities of this project will include a Grid-Tied 3MW/12MWh Battery Energy Storage Plant connected with the 1.4 MW PV Power Plant on Campus. FIU Photovoltaics will charge the battery, which will ultimately be used to power the Engineering Center. The Micro Grid will be capable of Operating in an islanded mode. One of the biggest challenges of this project is the Virtual Inertia Emulation and Frequency Regulation which will be completely controlled by Artificial Intelligence and the whole setup will be capable of working on its own.
  2. Energy Power Reliability and Analytics Center(EPRAC) for High Penetration Distributed Renewable Resource Modern Grid System: Renewable energy,  is independently controlled and intermittent in nature. Hence, adapting the smart grid to include renewable generation sources, improving its energy delivery and efficiency, enhancing and maintaining its power reliability and quality, and ensure power availability with self-healing principles have emerged as the important cornerstones for the future smart grid renewable integration studies.
  3. Advanced Research on Integrating Emerging and Existing System(ARIES): Many complex systems, both physical and in software, are necessary in monitoring and controlling the power grid for maximum stability and efficiency.  This project focuses on systems on the distribution side (>70kV) of the power grid which powers our homes, streets, and businesses. These are systems such as:Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) – A system which utilities use to collect data from devices on the grid, as well as perform actions such as remotely energizing or re-energizing lines using remote switches.

Dr. Sarwat’s students partake in internships and find employment at Top Labs

NREL: Dr. Sarwat’s has worked with NREL having graduate students completing internships at the world leading National Renewable Energy Lab.

ORNL: Dr. Sarwat’s has attended the Artificial Intelligence town hall meeting at Oak Ridge National Lab, and his Ph.D. graduate Aditya S. now works as a full time research at the lab.

   

1.4 MW live solar grid at FIU-FPL solar Research center

FPL-FIU Solar Research Center- EPS received a $7.65 million collaborative project with the FPL as part of which high-end research that is conducted on many aspects of large-scale PV integration into the smart grid. As part of this project, a 1.41MW solar PV power plant has been commissioned and is currently live, generating power, at the Engineering Center, since May 2016. Dr. Sarwat serves as the Director for FPL-FIU Solar Research Center. Furthermore, EPS has access to 3MW distributed solar generation in Daytona. Real-time data of a wide range of parameters including solar irradiance, temperature, wind speed, humidity, and 46 smart PV inverters is continuously being collected and transferred to the Command and Control Center located at the Engineering Center campus under Dr. Sarwat’s supervision.

             

Grid connected Renewable Power Plant at FIU.                                                         PANDORAS facility.

Top-Notch Companies Hire EPS Students

More than 50 students have graduated under Dr. Sarwat and each graduated student is hired at a top company which include the likes of National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Applied Physics Laboratory – Johns Hopkins University, Florida Power & Light, WSP USA, GEIRINA, Acuity Brands, and Quest Global. Many EPS students, including researchers at the undergraduate and graduate levels perform internships with various industry partners and many join with FPL/NextEra. FPL/NextEra has become FIU college of Engineering’s largest hiring source thanks to Dr. Sarwat.

Aditya Sundararajan pursued his Master’s and Ph.D. at the Energy, Power & Sustainability (EPS) Group in FIU’s ECE department.Under the mentorship of Dr. Sarwat, Aditya published his research in renowned journals and conference proceedings during the course of his degrees on machine learning, artificial intelligence and data analytics for challenges in smart grid situation awareness and renewable integration. Aditya  has joined Oak-Ridge National Lab as a R&D associate staff member.

Yemeserach Mekonnen received her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Florida International University. She was the recipient of the McKnight Doctoral Fellowship and NSF Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship. Yemeserach has interned with NASA Johnson Space Center under the Human Research Directory as a space system hardware engineer. She has also interned as an electrical engineer with The Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, CA, supporting the Electronics and Power system and Civil and Commercial group. Yemeserach has joined Applied Physics Laboratory – Johns Hopkins University after the graduation.

Avinash Jeewani joined the EPS in Fall 2018 as a Master’s student . He started to work on cybersecurity solutions with a smart grid and further expanding his domain to simulation and synthetic data for critical infrastructure, reliability analysis of grid system, renewable energy generation predictions and gaining some knowledge in Power Systems. Environment and structure at the EPS helped a lot in learning with high-tech systems and the availability of huge datasets.He joined AICINEXT as a Machine Learning Engineer.

Jonathan Sarochar graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from FIU in Fall’2019. His journey  at EPS  led to his first published research led him to delve into areas such as data mining, machine learning, Python, familiarity with utility ADMS software, smart city structure and utility roles, and more—all relevant, practical skills which ultimately secured him a position in the industry. He is currently pursuing a part-time Masters in Computer Engineering under the mentorship of Dr. Arif Sarwat. He is also working at FPL.

Juan Sanfiel has been a member of the EPS Lab since January 2018 as an undergraduate. During his time as an undergraduate he has been working on a bidirectional charging module for electric vehicles. Juan is continuing his studies, pursuing a Master’s Degree while working in the EPS lab. His research interests are renewable energy and power generation/distribution.

Alexander Hernandez received his Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Chemistry at FIU. He worked as a Graduate Research Assistant pursuing his M.S in Electrical Engineering, while under the supervision of Dr. Sarwat. His research involved battery management systems, and their application on various energy storage devices. He has experience in embedded systems and C/C++ programming languages. He is interested in the field of batteries, especially in large scale applications for electric vehicles and grid related infrastructure. Currently he is undecided between a potential job opportunity or to continue his PhD.

 

Industries Maintaining Long-Term Relationship and Investing in PANDORAS and GENIE Labs

EPS has a long-standing partnership on renewable integration and research with FPL NextEra Energy and takes pride in being their primary research partner. FPL, the largest renewable installer in the world is also becoming America’s largest producer of solar energy among electric companies and further advances affordable, clean and reliable energy for all Floridians. FIU and FPL have joined hands to conduct research on the impact of high penetration RESs in reliability, stability and other pertinent issues of the distribution network. At the FIU-FPL Solar Research Center, Dr. Sarwat is driving efforts to maximizing the benefits from this unique collaborative opportunity. The collaboration with FPL is an investment of EPS group in transferring the research efforts into applications for industries and communities.

                    

FPL-FIU Partnership

Proactive Analytics and Data Oriented Research on Availability & Security (PANDORAS) Lab

PANDORAS lab is equipped with high-end computer systems which are utilized to conduct research activities related to smart grid data, weather data, and telecommunications data. The lab is equipped with a large capacity data server, ten high powered workstations, a GPU server for accelerated machine learning, and a multi-panel wall screen for monitoring. These resources are applied in the development of the cyber security software, data synthesis, and grid edge analysis. The FPL/EPS partnership enables unique research through PANDORAS by the provision of real-world smart meter datasets along with the power grid topology.  Furthermore, the lab is equipped with the actual capabilities of Advanced Distribution Management Systems (ADMS) as used by the utility.

GENIE (Grid Energy Intelligence Exploration Research Lab)

Genie lab is a state-of-the-art Control Room for AI-Renewable Microgrid and hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulations. GENIE Lab houses OPAL-RT, and LabVolt simulators along with the InTouch Wonderware system, thereby providing the capability to test, simulate, and validate inverters, batteries and other grid-based equipment

Active Research Projects at EPS

We have three dedicated labs for research and testing purposes. Access to data, state-of-art software and cloud-based data management server allows for effective analytics and predictive modeling.The Center for Proactive Analytics and Data-Oriented Research on Availability & Security (PANDORAS) shown in is equipped with multicore central and general-purpose graphical processing units (GP-GPUs) integrated over a secure, isolated network. The EPS has a prototype of 9-bus test-bed system from LabVolt integrated with PV characteristics. EPS conducts processing at all levels- descriptive, diagnostic, predictive, prescriptive, and cognitive- to understand and offer actionable insights into different scenarios of the grid in near real-time. Such processing models will help the utilities with planning and decision-making at their command and control centers as well.

Research Areas At EPS

  • Smart Grid
  • Smart City
  • High Penetration Renewable Resilient communities
  • Data Analytics
  • Machine Learning  and Artificial Intelligence for Wireless networks.
  • Wireless Cellular and 5G networks
  • Internet of things
  • Critical Infrastructures
  • Cybersecurity
  • Grid Reliability
  • Cyber-Physical Systems
  • Battery Technologies
  • Renewable Microgrid

EPS is determined to break new grounds in research, education, and power distribution by bringing a wide-ranging approach into the way energy is produced and delivered. EPS lab is aspiring to bring clean, efficient, reliable, sustainable, and safe energy solutions to its clients.
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Open Post Doc Position at EPS Lab, FIU

Energy Power & Sustainability (EPS) group at FIU invites application for a postdoctoral data-oriented research position in the EPS lab, FIU. Applicants must have knowledge of machine learning, deep learning, Artificial Intelligence and big data analysis. Read more here.