Keila Diaz/Contributing Writer
Technology using renewable sources of energy to create power systems is rapidly emerging, especially at the University. Professor Osama A. Mohammed has received a $430,750 software grant from Operation Technology, Inc. – the creators of the Energy Systems Research Laboratory – to further his research of power systems and alternate energy sources.
Mohammed is a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at FIU as well as the director of the Energy Systems Research Laboratory. His impressive resume includes a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech, various research projects for the Office of Naval Research, more than 300 industry papers that he has written or collaborated on and various book chapters in industry books among many other accomplishments.
According to Mohammed, the software grant from Operation Technology, Inc. was due to the great research and educational programs that have been developed at FIU. “Our power and energy program is one of the best in the country,” he said. The Energy Systems Research Laboratory is used by students in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering for research as well as for educational activities. The lab is used by both graduate and undergraduate students and is used in several courses at the graduate and undergraduate level.
The Office of Naval Research has funded the development of the Energy Systems Research Laboratory over the last seven years. The research conducted in the lab has to do with power system design and operation. ETAP is the software the lab uses to train students in the design, analysis and operation of power systems.
According to the ETAP website, the company has grown to be the world’s largest in power system analysis software. ETAP is used in combination with the Smart Grid Test Bed project built at the Energy Systems Research Laboratory. The project is a power system designed to enable to use of sustainable alternate energy sources.
On the lab’s site, the Smart Grid project is described as “a self-managing and reliable smart grid facility that is presented as the future of protection and control systems for a healed operation.” “The Smart Grid Test Bed facility that we built here at FIU as part of my research laboratory is significant and unique and many researchers from around the world want to visit and collaborate with us,” he said.
Mohammed’s research is motivated by his desire to solve practical problems that affect our daily lives. His research is focused in two areas. “The first one is the development of new control techniques that will help power and energy industry find solutions to the blackout issues that have recently occurred costing us billions of dollars. We are doing that through increased utilization of renewable and sustainable sources of energy distributed throughout the system. The second one is in the area of product development and their design optimization to meet established national and international standards,” he said.
The importance of his research will continue to grow as the nation faces more severe power outages as the one experienced by millions of residents in parts of Arizona, Southern California, and Northern Mexico in 2011. For Mohammed, another very important aspect of the research he conducts is the development of scientists and engineers in these areas of research that will help this nation grow. Many undergraduate students are involved in the research Mohammed conducts in the lab and they are paired with doctoral students.
“One important note here is that all students involved in our research projects do secure excellent jobs in industry and academia before they graduate,” he said. The experience that the students gain working the in the laboratory prepares them with the skills that they need to succeed in the field. “I hope we can continue to secure the research funds to keep this pipeline of trained graduates going.”
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