Student Projects
GridEd is undertaking an initiative to support undergraduate design projects with a focus on power engineering or data analytics related to the power system. This effort seeks to help students gain practical experience in developing an approach to design activities helping to prepare them to meet the future challenges of the evolving power system. For qualifying applicants, GridEd offers financial support (up to $5k per project) for undergraduate design projects meeting the following requirements
Requirements for Award Consideration:
GridEd seeks to prepare future power engineers and data scientists entering the power industry and will only consider projects related to engineering and data analytics challenges associated with generation, transmission, distribution or end use of electric power.
Application Process:
Proposals for projects which meet the above criteria may be submitted to GridEd at any time. To submit a proposal, complete the following proposal template and send an email to afeser@epri.com.
GridEd Undergraduate Design Project Proposal Template (216 KB)
Award Process:
GridEd will assemble a review committee comprised of personnel from EPRI and professors from participating GridEd universities to evaluate the qualifying* proposals based on the criteria below.
Award Criteria:
- Technical Merit: the project description sufficiently describes the design challenge and technical requirements necessary for successful completion. The proposed project scope is related to power engineering concepts which are expected aid students in understanding the fundamental principles and overcome challenges associated with the generation, transmission, distribution, and end use of electric power.
- Timeline: Projects must start within 6 months of the award date. GridEd will consider existing projects which are still seeking additional support. Projects may be short-term semester style initiatives or larger multi-year investigations. GridEd will make only one award per project per year based on available funding. Each awardee is expected to submit a summary of results to date (5-page maximum) to GridEd prior to graduation or within one year of award selection.
- Budget: A budget breakdown of expected project costs related to the award funding must be provided. While total project budget may be any amount, GridEd will only make awards up to $5,000 in support of the project. Sufficient detail should be provided which describes why GridEd funding is needed and for what it will be used. Applicable expenses may include items such as (but not limited to) equipment for testing, materials for prototyping, costs for modeling, printing costs, conference fees, or student travel to conferences to present results. GridEd will not consider projects which plan to use award funding to support work study, stipends, or scholarships, including graduate student assistantships or PhD research.
2023 Prior Award Submissions:
For questions related to GridEd's support of Undergraduate Design Projects, please contact us at afeser@epri.com
| University | Undergraduate Design Project Title |
| University of Memphis | Inductive Coupling and Mobile Energy Disseminator-Based Dynamic Wireless Charging of Electric Vehicles |
| University of South Alabama | Electric Power Savings in a Smart House |
| University of Pittsburgh | Design of a Power Systems Digital Twin Laboratory |
| Tennessee State University | Design of a Load Forecasting model for Electrical power substations |
| Tennessee State University | Design of a micro-inverter for solar panels |
| Tennessee State University | Design of a Distributed Solar Powered System for Electric Vehicle Wireless Charging |
| Texas State University | Developing Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Readiness Plan: A Case Study of Texas |
2022 Prior Award Submissions:
For questions related to GridEd's support of Undergraduate Design Projects, please contact us at afeser@epri.com
| University | Undergraduate Design Project Title |
| California Polytechnic State University | Battery Simulator for Microgrid Lab |
| California Polytechnic State University | Reliability Measurement for Grid Connected Solar System |
| City University of New York, City College | Energy Management and Control Framework for DC Bus-Integrated Solar, Energy Storage, and Electric Vehicle Fast Chargers |
| South Dakota State University | High Voltage Conductor Identifier |
| Tennessee State University | Design of a Solar Energy System with Smart Controller Capable of Weather Prediction and Acting as a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) |
| Tennessee State University | Design of a Wireless Dynamic Vehicle Charging System |
| Western Washington University | GPS Spoofing Mitigation for Phasor Measurement Unit Receivers |
2021 Prior Award Submissions:
For questions related to GridEd's support of Undergraduate Design Projects, please contact us at afeser@epri.com
| University | Undergraduate Design Project Title |
| University of Memphis | Design of Mobile Renewable Micro Power Grid for Vehicles |
| University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | Machine Vision Application for Damaged Solar Panels Detection |
| University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez | Solar PV System for Gazebo as Educational Tool for Communities Part II |
| University of Pittsburgh | Distributed Storage and V2GDemand Response Control Laboratory |
| University of South Alabama | Mini Microgrid System Test |
| University of South Alabama | Vehicle-to-Grid as an Energy Storage System for DC Microgrids |
2020 Prior Award Submissions:
For questions related to GridEd's support of Undergraduate Design Projects, please contact us at afeser@epri.com
| University | Undergraduate Design Project Title |
| California Polytechnic State University | Hybrid AC/DC Power Controller for DC House |
| California Polytechnic State University | Feasibility Analysis of Replacing Overhead Transmission Lines with DC Underground Cable to Enhance Microgrid Resiliency |
| Iowa State University | Mobile Microgrid for Energy Resiliency |
| South Dakota State University | Behind-the-Meter Solar Garden Load Following / Zero Injection Controls |
| University of Memphis | Design of Novel Variable DC Link Capacitor for Solar Photovoltaic System |
| University of Memphis | Design of Novel Bidirectional DC-DC Converter for Battery Energy Storage System Used in Microgrid |
| University of South Alabama | Optimized Energy Management System |
| Western Washington University | Modeling and Control of Voltage Source Converters Interfacing Renewable Energy Sources in Weak Conditions |
| Western Washington University | Solar Panel Shading Effects and Degradation Modeling |
2019 Prior Award Submissions:
For questions related to GridEd's support of Undergraduate Design Projects, please contact us at afeser@epri.com
| University | Undergraduate Design Project Title |
| University of Memphis | Development of Behind-the-Meter Photovoltaic (PV) Power Forecasting Method |
| University of Memphis | Design & Operation of Utility Integrated Photovoltaic (PV) System as Supercapacitor Energy Storage |
| University of Pittsburgh | Design of a Microgrid Laboratory with Distributed Energy Resource Visualization |
| University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez | Solar PV System for Gazebo as Educational Tool for Communities Part I |
| University of Tennessee at Chattanooga | AI Based Home Energy Management System |
2017 Prior Award Submissions:
For questions related to GridEd's support of Undergraduate Design Projects, please contact us at afeser@epri.com
| University | Undergraduate Design Project Title |
| Buffalo State | Enhancement of Transactive Energy Test Bed+D9:I as Related to Microgrid with Deployment of Synchrophasors for Protection, Monitoring and Control |
| Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | Estimation of Behind-Meter Renewable Generation from Power Consumption Data - Phase 2 |
| University of Colorado Denver | Energy Management System |
| Western Washington University | Distribution System Fault Location Identification: A Quickest Change Approach |
2016 Prior Award Submissions:
For questions related to GridEd's support of Undergraduate Design Projects, please contact us at afeser@epri.com
