Search

This study addresses the issue of identifying the most suitable retail electric provider plan for the residential customers that are consumers only as well as consumers who intend to become prosumers. The main objective is to develop a methodology that will assist the residential customers in identifying the most suitable distributed energy resources, such as rooftop solar photovoltaic and home battery storage as well as electric vehicles. Furthermore, the proposed methodology is used to develop a decision support tool that aims to determine the appropriate retail electric provider plan that will ensure maximum savings on the customer's energy bill. The results of implementing the proposed methodology on case studies from Texas have shown that the residential customers can achieve significant savings if they install rooftop solar photovoltaic. The results have also shown that the maximum savings are usually associated with the time-variant or time-invariant plans, in case of customers with low energy usage, reaching up to $221/year. On the other hand, the customers with high energy usage were found to achieve significant savings on their energy bills when they are on the tiered time-invariant plans, in which case the savings may reach up to $475/year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Active flux model of permanent magnet synchronous motors simplifies the model and eases sensorless control implementation. However, incorporating the current model (CM) that depends on the estimated electrical position for active flux estimation may cause performance degradation. The conventional active flux observer analysis revealed that position error influences sensorless control performance, especially during transient conditions. Thus, two improvement strategies named method-1 and method-2 are proposed in this article. Method-1 is based on an adaptive gain observer-based approach designed to discard the effect of position error. The observer gains are dependent on the estimated reference frame currents, which leads to the observer complexity. Method-2, on the other hand, uses the position error from the estimated active flux to obtain the true CM active flux without changing the conventional observer gains. Thus, the effect of position error on active flux estimation is discarded. Method-1 and method-2 fully decoupled the speed-position identification and the active flux observer. Meanwhile, a feedforward compensated phase-locked loop is adopted for speed-position identification. The proposed sensorless control strategies have been extensively validated using the Texas digital signal processor (TMS320F28335) and RT-LAB real-time simulator. The experimental results indicated that the proposed methods improved the sensorless control and active flux estimation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a novel Lasso Logistic Regression model based on feature-based time series data to determine disease severity and when to administer drugs or escalate intervention procedures in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Advanced features were extracted from highly enriched and time series vital sign data of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, including oxygen saturation readings, and with a combination of patient demographic and comorbidity information, as inputs into the dynamic feature-based classification model. Such dynamic combinations brought deep insights to guide clinical decision-making of complex COVID-19 cases, including prognosis prediction, timing of drug administration, admission to intensive care units, and application of intervention procedures like ventilation and intubation. The COVID-19 patient classification model was developed utilizing 900 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in a leading multi-hospital system in Texas, United States. By providing mortality prediction based on time-series physiologic data, demographics, and clinical records of individual COVID-19 patients, the dynamic feature-based classification model can be used to improve efficacy of the COVID-19 patient treatment, prioritize medical resources, and reduce casualties. The uniqueness of our model is that it is based on just the first 24 hours of vital sign data such that clinical interventions can be decided early and applied effectively. Such a strategy could be extended to prioritize resource allocations and drug treatment for futurepandemic events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 20-GHz fractional- ${N}$ analog phase-locked loop (PLL) leveraging a novel high-speed charge pump (CP) and an on-chip frequency reference is demonstrated. An on-chip fully integrable 2.5-GHz frequency reference using Texas Instrument’s indigenous bulk acoustic wave (BAW) resonator is demonstrated. The low noise high-frequency reference allows for significant lowering of the division modulus leading to enhanced suppression of CP, phase-frequency detector (PFD), and loop-filter (LF) noise. A low noise class-C transformer-coupled voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) further allows for excellent jitter performance over wide integration bandwidths (BWs) while still working with a nominally low PLL loop BW. Capability is built into the design to characterize the PLL with either BAW or external reference. The design is implemented and fabricated in the GlobalFoundries 22-nm fully depleted silicon on insulator (FD-SOI) process. The class-C VCO is measured to be centered at $\sim $ 19.7 GHz with 16% tuning range (TR) while maintaining a flat $\vert {\rm FOM}\vert \sim $ 188 dBc/Hz (10-MHz offset) over the entire TR. The PLL measures an excellent jitter and $\vert {\rm FOM}_{j}\vert $ of 65/92 fs and $\sim $ 249/245 dB in integer/fractional modes, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose an approach to solving the AC network-constrained unit commitment problem (AC-NCUC) of large-scale power systems. This approach relies on solving convex (continuous and mixed-integer) optimization problems. First, we formulate a second-order conic relaxation of the original optimization problem, which renders a mixed-integer second-order conic optimization problem. To solve this problem, we use Benders’ decomposition, which decomposes it into a master problem, which is mixed-integer linear, and a subproblem, which is continuous and second-order conic. To improve the convergence of the Benders’ algorithm, we add several linear feasibility constraints to the master problem. Since the second-order relaxation of the original problem cannot guarantee AC feasibility of the solution found, we ensure such feasibility by solving a sequence of continuous convex optimization problems. We numerically validate the proposed approach using a Texas 2000-bus system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As renewable energy penetration increases and system inertia levels drop, primary frequency control is becoming a critical concern in relatively small interconnections such as the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). To address this problem ERCOT is implementing a number of market rule changes including the introduction of a new Fast Frequency Response (FFR) reserve type to the electricity market. This FFR reserve type aims to help the traditional Primary Frequency Response (PFR) reserve type in arresting frequency decline in the event of a large generator outage. This paper derives reserve requirements to ensure sufficient reserve to arrest frequency decline before reaching the critical frequency threshold while coupling PFR reserve, FFR reserve, and system inertia. The general reserve requirement places limits on the amount of PFR reserve that can be provided by each unit based on its ramping capabilities. Two such limits are derived from first principles and another is proposed that is capable of accommodating the equivalency ratio introduced in previous work. These PFR reserve limits also provide first principles insight into equivalency ratios, which have only been studied empirically in the past. High-level insights are provided on a large Texas test case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a new frequency adaptive second-order disturbance observer (FASODO) for back electromotive force (EMF) and active flux estimation is proposed using the active flux model of interior permanent magnet synchronous motors. FASODO is a frequency adaptive approach and eliminates the phase delay compensator demand of the traditional sliding mode observer-based back EMF estimator. Besides, FASODO estimates the active flux and the back EMF simultaneously. As a result, a quadrature phase-locked loop (Q-PLL) using either the back EMF or the active flux and a tan inverse approach can be used for speed–position identification. Meanwhile, an integrally compensated Q-PLL is designed to overcome the traditional Q-PLL position estimation error during ramp frequency tracking. The design guideline of FASODO and the integrally compensated Q-PLL are provided. A comparative analysis with traditional SMO shows that the proposed approach can deliver a better sensorless control performance. Furthermore, a comparison with a frequency adaptive complex coefficient filter enhanced SMO shows a comparable result, while the proposed approach additionally delivers the active flux. The approach is verified using the Texas Digital Signal Processor (TMS320F28335) and RT-LAB Real-Time Simulator, taking into account different operating conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ensuring reliable operation of large power systems subjected to multiple outages is a challenging task because of the combinatorial nature of the problem. Traditional approaches for security assessment are often limited by their scope and/or speed, resulting in missing of critical contingencies that could lead to cascading failures. This paper proposes a two-component methodology to enhance power system security. The first component combines an efficient algorithm to detect cut-set saturation (called the feasibility test (FT) algorithm) with real-time contingency analysis (RTCA) to create an integrated corrective action (iCA), whose goal is to secure the system against cut-set saturation as well as critical branch overloads. The second component only employs the results of the FT to create a relaxed corrective action (rCA) to secure the system against post-contingency cut-set saturation. The first component is more comprehensive, but the latter is computationally more efficient. The effectiveness of the two components is evaluated based upon the number of cascade triggering contingencies alleviated, and the computation time. The results obtained by analyzing different case-studies on the IEEE 118-bus and 2000-bus synthetic Texas systems indicate that the proposed two-component methodology successfully enhances the scope and speed of power system security assessment during multiple outages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates that false data injection (FDI) attacks are extremely limited in their ability to cause physical consequences on $N-1$ reliable power systems operating with real-time contingency analysis (RTCA) and security constrained economic dispatch (SCED). Prior work has shown that FDI attacks can be designed via an attacker-defender bi-level linear program (ADBLP) to cause physical overflows after re-dispatch using DCOPF. In this paper, it is shown that attacks designed using DCOPF fail to cause overflows on $N-1$ reliable systems because the system response modeled is inaccurate. An ADBLP that accurately models the system response is proposed to find the worst-case physical consequences, thereby modeling a strong attacker with system level knowledge. Simulation results on the synthetic Texas system with 2000 buses show that even with the new enhanced attacks, for systems operated conservatively due to $N-1$ constraints, the designed attacks only lead to post-contingency overflows. Moreover, the attacker must control a large portion of measurements and physically create a contingency in the system to cause consequences. Therefore, it is conceivable but requires an extremely sophisticated attacker to cause physical consequences on $N-1$ reliable power systems operated with RTCA and SCED. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on the 2021 IEEE Texas Symposium on Wireless & Microwave Circuits and Systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large-scale integration of distributed photovoltaic generation causes several power quality issues in low voltage (LV) distribution networks. Network voltage profile variations severely affect the LV distribution networks. The four-leg unified power flow controller (4L-UPFC) has series and shunt converters that can address the power quality issues. However, instantaneous power theory shows that second-order harmonic voltage (2ωHV) appears at the dc-link capacitor of the 4L-UPFC during any unbalanced operations. This article proposes control strategies for series and shunt converters that will simultaneously regulate the load voltages of a distribution feeder while suppressing the 2ωHV term on the dc-link of the UPFC. A controlled negative sequence current from the shunt converter is used to suppress the 2ωHV term on the dc-link. The active suppression of the 2ωHV term allows electrolytic capacitors to be replaced with small long life ceramic or film capacitors, and this does not require additional passive compensation. Stability analysis of the control loops demonstrates the overall stability of the converter system. The proposed control methods have been implemented on a Texas DSP (F28377D). An experimental demonstration on a laboratory scale prototype shows that the proposed control methods can effectively regulate the load voltages at LV distribution feeders and suppress the 2ωHV on the dc-link of UPFC during unbalanced loads and supply conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the modeling, design, and control of a photovoltaic supply (PVS) for single-phase grid system. In the two stage conversion process, a step-up converter (SUC) is employed in between the photovoltaic panel and dc bus of voltage source converter (VSC). For the maximum power tracking (MPT) at PVS terminals, a fuzzy logic control (FLC) based approach is developed for the switching of an SUC. A band-pass filter (BPF) is developed using modified multilayer fifth-order generalized integrator (mMLFOGI) to estimate synchronizing signals of the grid supply for the control of VSC. The mMLFOGI based BPF ensures the proper synchronization of VSC under grid disturbances such as dc offsets, frequency variations, voltage sag, swell, and harmonics. These proposed control approaches are simulated in MATLAB 2018a and prototype of PVS for single-phase grid system is developed in the laboratory. A Texas instrument micro controller board TMS320F28379D is used for real time validations of proposed control algorithms. The performance is obtained using simulation model and validated with test results under field emulated conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stochastic optimization can be used to model predictable but uncertain element failures, in an attempt to enhance system reliability in power system operation and planning. In practical applications, such as preventive operation during severe weather, the uncertainty set is often very large. This will lead to two challenges: (i) every possible scenario cannot be practically identified; and (ii) the computational demands of stochastic optimization with a large scenario set cannot be met. To address these challenges, this paper develops a multidimensional scenario selection method, which creates a rather small but representative set of scenarios. The developed method makes use of failure features as well as network features of the elements that may fail, to achieve a superior performance. The simulations studies on a synthetic large-scale Texas system, show the dominant performance of the method compared to existing algorithms in the literature, as well as common industry practices. Due to its effectiveness, the method presented in this paper enables computationally efficient implementation of stochastic power system operation and planning software tools. Such stochastic tools will improve system reliability and efficiency through enhanced use of the existing resources, without requiring any expensive system upgrade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric power system state estimation is a vital part of real-time monitoring and management for power grid operations and control. With increased interest in the effects of geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) and effective mitigation strategies therein, similar tools that provide situational awareness during GMD events are increasingly necessary. Therefore, a GIC estimator is developed by relating the known system parameters and measurements to the current “GIC state,” from which the GIC currents in transformers can be quickly calculated. Due to the linearity of GIC relationships, the estimator solves quickly and efficiently. The proposed methods are tested on a small example and a synthetic Texas 2000 bus scenario. These studies show the effectiveness of a GIC estimator to provide situational awareness for real-time operations, as well as sensitivity to measurement uncertainty and availability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a data-driven algorithm for locating the source of forced oscillations and suggests a physical interpretation for the method. By leveraging the sparsity of forced oscillations along with the low-rank nature of synchrophasor data, the problem of source localization under resonance conditions is cast as computing the sparse and low-rank components using Robust Principal Component Analysis (RPCA), which can be efficiently solved by the exact Augmented Lagrange Multiplier method. Based on this problem formulation, an efficient and practically implementable algorithm is proposed to pinpoint the forced oscillation source during real-time operation. Furthermore, theoretical insights are provided for the efficacy of the proposed approach, by use of physical model-based analysis, specifically by highlighting the low-rank nature of the resonance component matrix. Without the availability of system topology information, the proposed method can achieve high localization accuracy in synthetic cases based on benchmark systems and real-world forced oscillations in the power grid of Texas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Frequency scanning is a powerful and versatile approach for subsynchronous resonance (SSR) screening in power grids. Among different numerical and analytical frequency scanning techniques, the harmonic injection method is well suited for the scan of black-box models with active elements, such as in wind farms and solar plants. The results can be used for SSR risk assessment, in which accuracy performs a decisive role. The ideal situation for this method, which leads to the most accurate results, is to perform one simulation per single-frequency injection. However, for SSR studies with a wide range of frequencies and simulations with very small time steps (scale of μs), this comes at the expense of increased simulation time. This article proposes a technique to improve the accuracy of the harmonic injection method through the optimization of the crest factor while injecting all frequencies at one shot, therefore also reducing simulation time. The proposed technique was tested on a wind farm connected to a radial test case and on a portion of a Texas synthetic grid with multiple active elements, including two wind farms and a VSC-based STATCOM. The frequency scan results were benchmarked with both time-domain transient simulations and the ideal multiple single-frequency injection case and compared with other techniques. The results show that the proposed method is superior in accuracy when compared to the other techniques and is 11.71 times faster when compared to multiple single-frequency injections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper suggests evolving linear models as a powerful alternative for online forecasting of synchronous time series. First, using a priori knowledge of an expert, all known possible features are clustered in some categories so that each category includes homogeneous features. Then, a novel evolving correlation-based forward subset selection technique is used to determine relevant features from each category. Next, based on the selected features, an estimation of the output of the system is modeled through an evolving adaptive linear regression model. In evolving systems, selected features and their associated weights could vary over time based on new incoming data samples which contain new information. Finally, a soft combination of output estimations of all categories, in a new sense of Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy system, gives the prediction of the output of the system at each sampling time. The approach offers a certain new view at the enhancement of evolving forecasting models. The proposed approach embodies recursive learning and one-step-ahead incremental algorithms that progressively modify the model to ensure continuous learning, and self-organization of the model structure and its parameters. Two real-world problems, forecasting electricity load of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas region and stock price forecasting of technology sector of Standard & Poor’s 500 index, are provided to validate the developed method. Pros and cons of the proposed approach are comprehensively discussed and shown through simulation results and comparisons with other state-of-the-art techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper develops models for hurricane exposure, fragility curve-based damage to electrical transmission grid components and power generating stations using Monte-Carlo simulation, and restoration cost to predict resiliency factors including power generation capacity lost and the restoration cost for electrical transmission grid and power generation system damages. Synthetic grid data are used to model the Energy Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) electrical grid. A case study is developed based on Hurricane Harvey. This work is extended to evaluate the changes to resiliency as the percentage of renewable sources is increased from 2017 levels to levels corresponding to the NREL Futures Study 2050 Texas scenarios for 50% and 80% renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Power grids have recently become more susceptible to sub-synchronous control interactions (SSCI) due to the increasing penetration of renewable resources and series-compensated lines. SSCI is a purely electrical and fast-growing phenomenon. Therefore, without an expeditious detection and mitigation solution, it can cause serious damage to renewable and transmission facilities, consequently leading to cascading outages. This paper proposes an effective algorithm to detect SSCI within 45 ms and reliably send a trip signal within 95 ms. First, a comprehensive SSCI analysis is suggested to improve the preprocessing of the measured signal. Then, the proposed algorithm utilizes mode identification approaches in conjunction with a moving fast fourier transform (FFT) to capture and process the frequency and magnitude of oscillations to issue a reliable trip command in the case of an SSCI event. To evaluate the algorithm, a portion of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) grid with relatively high penetration of renewable generation resources is utilized. The proposed detection algorithm is implemented on a real-time target device and is tested with an SSCI signal from the ERCOT grid under real-time operating conditions. The results indicate the efficiency and accuracy of the method with successful detection within the acceptable time frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2017, three sub-synchronous resonance (SSR) events were reported in the transmission system of Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). These three events with different consequences are due to the same cause, i.e., Type-3 wind farms radially connected to a series compensated transmission line. The objectives of this paper are: 1) to build a testbed to replicate these real-world events and investigate what causes the different consequences; 2) to find out the impact of wind penetration level and wind speed on SSR; and 3) to investigate how to mitigate SSR. The replication testbed is built in MATLAB/Simpowersystems with each wind farm represented by a single aggregated wind turbine with full dynamics. The challenge of replication is the limited information about those three events, the ERCOT system, and the wind farms. Nevertheless, relying on simplification and assumptions, we are able to replicate the three events. Our contributions include the configured testbed for Type-3 wind farm SSR studies, diagnosis of impacting factors on SSR, and the confirmation of an SSR mitigation strategy through grid-side converter ac voltage command signal modulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oscillations have been observed in wind farms with weak grid interconnections. While Texas observes 4 Hz low-frequency oscillations, the west region in China observes subsynchronous oscillations at 30 Hz. Furthermore, this oscillation mode caused torsional interactions with a remote synchronous generator and led to shutdown of the power plant. Inspired by those real-world events, this paper aims to present an analytical model of type-4 wind in weak grids that can demonstrate both low-frequency and subsynchronous frequency oscillations. Critical factors, e.g., the parameters of the phase-locked loop (PLL), are examined using small-signal analysis. The analysis results are validated using a testbed built in MATLAB/SimPowerSystems. Except power electronic switching sequences, the testbed has controls (e.g., wind turbine pitch control, maximum power point control, converter controls), machine dynamics and power system dynamics modeled. This testbed includes a 100 MW Type-4 wind farm, a 600 MW synchronous generator, a long transmission line and a grid. The testbed successfully demonstrates two types of dominant oscillations under different PLLs. In addition, the testbed demonstrates torsional interactions due to the proximity of the subsynchronous mode and one of the torsional modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prospective authors are requested to submit new, unpublished manuscripts for inclusion in the upcoming event described in this call for papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present a method (Action-Fusion) for human action recognition from depth maps and posture data using convolutional neural networks (CNNs). Two input descriptors are used for action representation. The first input is a depth motion image that accumulates consecutive depth maps of a human action, whilst the second input is a proposed moving joints descriptor which represents the motion of body joints over time. In order to maximize feature extraction for accurate action classification, three CNN channels are trained with different inputs. The first channel is trained with depth motion images (DMIs), the second channel is trained with both DMIs and moving joint descriptors together, and the third channel is trained with moving joint descriptors only. The action predictions generated from the three CNN channels are fused together for the final action classification. We propose several fusion score operations to maximize the score of the right action. The experiments show that the results of fusing the output of three channels are better than using one channel or fusing two channels only. Our proposed method was evaluated on three public datasets: 1) Microsoft action 3-D dataset (MSRAction3D); 2) University of Texas at Dallas-multimodal human action dataset; and 3) multimodal action dataset (MAD) dataset. The testing results indicate that the proposed approach outperforms most of existing state-of-the-art methods, such as histogram of oriented 4-D normals and Actionlet on MSRAction3D. Although MAD dataset contains a high number of actions (35 actions) compared to existing action RGB-D datasets, this paper surpasses a state-of-the-art method on the dataset by 6.84%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large power consumers often have on-site generation. If the utility tie opens, it is essential to isolate the on-site generators to prevent generator equipment damage before the utility attempts to reclose in a possible out-of-synchronism condition. Typically, islanding detection schemes are used to detect this condition and disconnect on-site generation quickly, thereby allowing successful utility reclose. This paper introduces a reliable islanding detection solution that was proposed, implemented, and tested at a refinery in Texas. The facility houses two on-site generators and is interconnected to the utility via a looped system. A topology-based islanding detection scheme was originally installed at this facility but was later decommissioned because of difficulties in adapting to evolving topology changes. Following an undesirable event in the utility system that could have resulted in damage to the refinery on-site generator equipment, the refinery decided to implement an islanding detection scheme that is independent of system topology changes and only relies on local-area measurements. However, the dependability of a traditional local measurement-based scheme is vulnerable to the dynamic generation–load mismatch, making it possibly unreliable. This paper describes a solution using a redundant high-speed multiprinciple islanding detection scheme that incorporates a unique voting supervision logic to achieve security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Healthcare Technology Conference: Translational Engineering in Health & Medicine: the intersection of the lab, the clinic and the community to be held in Houston, Texas from November 7-9, 2012 along with call for paper submission.

A calendar of events for the computer industry is presented including the IEEE International Symposium on High Performance Computer Architecture in San Antonio, Texas from February 12-16, 2011, the African Conference on Software Engineering and Applied Computing in Cape Town, South Africa from March 20-25, 2011, and the IEEE Computer Society Conference on Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition in Colorado Springs, Colorado from June 19-25, 2011.

In this issue, I am talking with Mark W. Spong, dean of the Eric Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science, the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article offers information on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Computer Society and the periodical "IEEE Transactions on Mobile Computing." It notes that the IEEE Computer Society is a group of individuals who have a professional interest in the field of computers. The society publishes the periodical monthly, costing 20 U.S. dollars for IEEE members and 54 dollars for nonmembers per copy. Also provided is the list of the members of the editorial board, including Sajal K. Das of the University of Texas in Arlington.

Information about the International Test Conference 2009 held in Austin, Texas on November 3-5, 2009 is presented. Topics include design verification, test, diagnosis, failure analysis, and design improvement of electronic devices, boards and systems. It also features a large exhibit of the equipment, software, services and tools that can be used in solving problem tests. The symposium is held with a panel of experts.

This paper describes radio frequency identification (RFID) projects, designed and implemented by students in the College of Engineering at the University of North Texas, as part of their senior-design project requirement. The paper also describes an RFID-based project implemented at Rice Middle School in Piano, TX, which went on to win multiple prizes both at the school and regional level. The goal of the RFID endeavor is to develop an RFID elective course that is current, industry-oriented, and methodically built to enable faculty to design, develop, and deliver the course to a diverse group of engineering students. The sequence of events through which the course evolved was as follows: 1) conduct an industry-supported workshop for students in the College of Engineering with funding received from the National Science Foundation (NSF); 2) assign an RFID-based design project for the senior students who attended the workshop; 3) use the first senior design project as a model to encourage subsequent senior students to create their own RFID projects or enable the students to contact companies seeking to accomplish RFID solutions to a problem; 4) involve middle school students in RFID-based projects by using the senior design projects as an enticement; 5) use the successful projects as the basis for practical laboratory experiences to be created in a new elective course on RFID. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the impediments to large-scale use of wind generation within power systems is its nondispatchability and variable and uncertain real-time availability. Operating constraints on conventional generators such as minimum generation points, forbidden zones, and ramping limits as well as system constraints such as power flow limits and ancillary service requirements may force a system operator to curtail wind generation in order to ensure feasibility. Furthermore, the pattern of wind availability and electricity demand may not allow wind generation to be fully utilized in all hours. One solution to these issues, which could reduce these inflexibilities, is the use of real-time pricing (RTP) tariffs which can both smooth-out the diurnal load pattern in order to reduce the impact of binding unit operating and system constraints on wind utilization, and allow demand to increase in response to the availability of costless wind generation. We use and analyze a detailed unit commitment model of the Texas power system with different estimates of demand elasticities to demonstrate the potential increases in wind generation from implementing RTP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Information about the 19th International Conference on Microelectronic Test Structures (ICMTS) held in Austin, Texas in 2006 is presented. There were over 40 regular papers presented in nine sessions at the meeting. The papers feature work directed to furthering the understanding of systematic and parametric yield loss characteristics of complementary metal oxide semiconductors (CMOS) to microelectromechanical systems (MEMS).

In addition to market information, available energy and capacity to participate in the market are also essential to be an effective market participant. This paper discusses the development of an online dynamic cable rating system (DCRS) that can help a system engineer maximize asset utilization without jeopardizing system facilities or compromising the reliability of the cables. Based on real-time cable loading, cable surface temperature, ambient temperature, and forecasting temperature, the DCRS can estimate both steady-state and dynamic cable rating. To confirm with the actual operation condition, both real-time cable temperature and forecasting ambient temperature are taken into consideration to perform short-term cable ampacity estimation to prevent overestimation and/or underestimation. Based on the information provided by the DCRS, the system engineer can establish or adjust the bidding strategy in time to effectively participate in the restructured electric markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a corporate profile of 3M's Electrical Markets Divisions in Austin, Texas. The company designs, manufactures, and markets products for electrical construction and maintenance, utility and industrial power businesses, and electrical/electronic devices produced by originial equipment manufacturers. According to Paul Steece, Division Vice President, they continue to enhance their product portfolio through rigorous new product development and now have added cable to provide even more to their global customers.

The article reports on the 28th Annual Meeting and Symposium of the Antenna Measurement Techniques Association (AMTA), which was held on October 22-27, 2006 in Austin, Texas. The exhibition featured 35 companies who provide test and measurement services, facilities and instrumentation to the association. The technical program began with a "Wireless Short Course." AMTA President Larry Mandeville recognized the 2006 AMTA Board of Directors at the Awards Banquet.

The article presents the proceedings of the IEEE International Test Conference in Austin, Texas from November 8-10, 2005. Several papers and research works presented and discussed in the event. New technologies such as submicron technology have been developed for the test industries. The conference introduced seminars on testing areas such as delay testing, mixed-signal and radio frequency testing, microprocessor testing and debug, and very-high-frequency and jitter testing.

This article deliberates on the pros and cons of software licensing. This article provides a comparative analysis of the evolution of the medical profession to that of software engineering. This analysis supports the contention that licensing will occur but that one must wait longer, perhaps much longer before the professional societies finally agree on the criteria for licensing. It is opined that the ramifications of allowing unlicensed physicians to practice are quite clear. Perhaps less clear are the effects of allowing unlicensed software engineers to practice. It is informed that Texas is the only state that requires licensing of software engineers who are engaged in the development of systems that demonstrate "the application of mathematical, physical, or computer sciences to activities such as real-time and embedded systems, information or financial systems, user interfaces, and networks."

The article focuses on the 2004 Peter Mark Medal for Outstanding Contribution to Electromagnetic Launch Technology winner Mr. Francis Stefani of the Institute for Advanced Technology at the University of Texas at Austin, Texas. Stefani's interest in electromagnetic launch began soon after he received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois in 1981, when he joined what was then the Westinghouse Marine Division and is now Northrop Grumman. There, he participated in writing the proposal for the first electromagnetic tank gun study.

The Naval Research Laboratory has initiated a program to study the effects of high power launch on railgun barrel materials. A rail used for 20 shots on the medium caliber launcher at the University of Texas at Austin Institute for Advanced Technology was analyzed using a variety of surface and bulk diagnostics. Initial results are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The preferred method of switching the very high currents and voltages present in electromagnetic launch systems is to use arrays of solid-state devices. The effort to reduce the overall switch mass and volume has generated interest in advanced high-power, high-temperature semiconductor materials such as silicon carbide (SiC). Devices produced from SiC are expected to provide significant performance improvements in very high-power switching devices over current devices based on silicon (Si) materials. The performance improvement expectations are based on SiC's superior material properties, most notably for power devices are a bandgap of 3.26 eV (three times that of Si), a breakdown field of 2-4 MV · cm-1 (order of magnitude better than Si), a thermal conductivity of 4.5 W · cm-1 K-1 (three times that of Si), and a saturated drift velocity of 2 × 107 cm · s-1 (two times that of Si). This paper describes the results of recent experiments at the Institute for Advanced Technology at The University of Texas at Austin in which SiC p-i-n diodes arranged in parallel pairs are subjected to high current density pulses. The failure modes of paralleled devices are compared to the failure modes seen in individual devices subjected to high current density pulses (maximum of 234 × 104 A · cm-2). The results show current equalization between paralleled high-voltage diodes when subjected to high current densities, which suggests that high-voltage SiC active devices will also function well in parallel arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on San Antonio, Texas-based electric insulation materials supplier Arlon Inc. Electric laminates supplied by the company to the motor and electrical equipment industry; Officers of the company; Web site; Formation of the Arlon Engineered Coated Products Division in response to increased customer demand.

This article focuses on the 2004 IEEE Microwave Theory and Techniques Society (IEEE MTT-S) International Microwave Symposium (IMS), which was held during 6-11 June 2004, in Fort Worth, Texas. 970 papers were originally submitted to the IEEE MTT-S IMS Technical Program Committee in December 2003 for possible presentation at the symposium in June 2004. Of those papers, 488 were accepted at the IEEE MTT-S IMS. Each of authors was then invited to expand their papers. 126 expanded papers were submitted and of these 65 papers have been accepted for publication. Of these, 22 were published in the November 2004 issue of the journal "IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques."

This article reports about the 2004 IEEE Global Telecommunications Conference (GLOBECOM 2004), which is scheduled to be held in Dallas, Texas. Speaking about the venue of the conference GLOBECOM 2004 General Chair Rajiv Shah, Vice President of Research and Network Strategy for Alcatel, said that there could be no more appropriate site than Dallas, Texas for the GLOBECOM 2004. He further added that, already known internationally for the Telecom Corridor area on its northeastern outskirts, Dallas is a major technopolis. Telecommunications and high-technology companies as well as advanced educational institutions are distributed throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and surrounding cities, providing a vibrant environment for engineering innovation and entrepreneurship. The GLOBECOM 2004 Technical Program will consist of seven technical symposia including communication Theory; General Conference; Global Internet & Next Generation Networksand so on. Shah said that like the everyday focus of technology businesses , the theme of the conference is emerging technologies

Focuses on the issues discussed during the International Electrical and Electronic Engineering Organizational Unit meeting in San Antonio, Texas. Approval of the compilation and mailing of the "Digital Archive" publication; Surveys initiated for the improvement of authors' services; Actions taken to address the issues on backlog publications.

Provides an overview of the development and operational process of the information technology tools pertaining to the technical operations system of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Description of the ERCOT operations; Details of the mock market process that was initiated prior to the opening of the wholesale energy market; Processes used to develop the ERCOT network model.

Details the artificial intelligence-related discussions at the Third International NASA Workshop on Planning and Scheduling for Space held in Houston, Texas in October 2002. Design of a planetary rover; Architecture of a Remote Agent control; Engineering resources needed in mission planning.

Describes the design algorithm used to optimize the railgun bore and integrated launch package at the University of Texas at Austin Center for Electromechanics (UT-CEM) in Arlington. Features of the UT-CEM design code; Development of an electric gun system design code; Fundamental categories used in the gun system.