Generating Smart Grid Solutions

This lecture will address the smart grid drivers in North America and how the electric utility industry is responding to the opportunities created by smart grid investments. The need to address capacity, reliability, efficiency, sustainability, and customer engagement are fueling smart grid projects. Specific examples will be discussed on distribution grid management, asset health management, connecting renewable generation to the grid, and energy storage. Closing comments will address the smart grid investment forecasts and economic benefits from a smarter grid. North Carolina, and more specifically Raleigh and the Research Triangle, have emerged as a leading center of smart grid companies.

Gary Rackliffe

Vice President, Smart Grids North America, ABB Inc. on September 23, 2011 at 2:15 PM in BTEC, Room 135

Gary Rackliffe was appointed to Vice President of Smart Grids North America in May 2009. He leads ABB's Smart Grid initiative in North America, including business development, strategic partnerships, and ABB's marketing and product strategies.

Gary has over 25 years of industry experience in both transmission and distribution and has worked for ABB for 18 years in Raleigh, NC. He was previously the Vice President of Marketing and Sales for the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic sales region, covering ABB T&D equipment, power electronic products, systems, and services for the utility, power generation, and public power customers in the region. Other positions include Vice President of Strategic Marketing for the Power Products and Power Systems divisions of ABB in North America and Vice President of Marketing, Sales, and Business Development for ABB's Network Management business that provides SCADA/EMS/DMS/OMS and market systems. He also directed ABB's Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) business for the U.S.

Gary holds BS and ME degrees in Electric Power Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and an MBA degree from Carnegie Mellon University.

Gary is a member of the GridWise Smart Grid Implementation Committee, the DistribuTECH advisory committee, and the NEMA Smart Grid Council. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and a Registered Professional Engineer in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He is the co-author of a book on T&D planning, and has published several technical papers.

ABB and the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department are proud to host the ABB Distinguished Lecture Series in Power Engineering. Each semester, a nationally prominent expert will lecture on a topic related to recent developments in power technology and the smart grid. Distinguished speakers drawn from ABB, academia and the power industry will address the most timely and challenging topics of the power engineering and smart grid industries. Everyone is invited to attend, from undergraduates on up to faculty and friends of the department.