Media Coverage

AMPED Consortium Hosts Inaugural Meeting
October 26, 2021

The hybrid event had 75 attendees, comprised of 25 members from universities and 50 from industry representing 35 unique companies. Lynn Peterson from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and Andre Pereira from the Department of Energy (DOE) were the keynote speakers. The schedule also included a student poster session and time for networking with other attendees. Read more.


Shedding Light on the Value of Solar Power
September 28, 2021

A new project led by Paul Ohodnicki, associate professor of mechanical engineering and materials science at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, will provide under-served rural and small electric utilities with access to new sensors and analytical tools that will give them a real-time picture of solar energy and other distributed energy resources throughout their systems. The project recently received $3 million from the Department of Energy through its Solar Energy Technologies Office. Read more.


Amped Consortium Receives Suite of Equipment from Keysight Technologies to Enhance Power Magnetic Research Capabilities at the Energy Innovation Center
August 24,2021

Keysight Technologies, a leading technology company that delivers advanced design and validation solutions to help accelerate innovation to connect and secure the world, has donated a suite of essential testing equipment to the Advanced Magnetics for Power & Energy Development (AMPED) Consortium, coordinated by the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. The equipment will significantly enhance the consortium members’ capabilities in testing and developing new magnetic materials for power and energy applications. Read more.


Designing a More Sustainable Electric Vehicle
August 12,2021

Most electric motors for electric vehicles rely on permanent magnets made with rare-earth metals. Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are working with Powdermet Inc., a nanomaterials and advanced materials research and development company in Euclid, Ohio, to develop a rare-earth mineral free electric engine. The project recently received $200,000 in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Read more.


60 Researchers from the Swanson School of Engineering Ranked Among Top 2% of Scientists Worldwide
July 20, 2021

The list, compiled by Stanford University, covered scientists globally from a wide range of fields, and the ranking is based on citations from Scopus, assessing scientists for career-long citation impact up until the end of 2019 and for citation impact during the single calendar year 2019. GRID faculty included in this prestigious list include:

  • Alexis Kwasinski
  • Paul Ohodnicki
  • Rob Rutenbar
  • David Vorp

Pitt Nuclear Engineering Awarded $1.6 Million in Research Funding from U.S. DOE
June 25, 2021

The Swanson School’s funding is through the DOE Nuclear Energy University Program, which seeks to maintain U.S. leadership in nuclear research by providing top science and engineering faculty and their students with opportunities to develop innovative technologies and solutions for civil nuclear capabilities. Read more.


Building a Foundation for High-Power Tech
May 14,2021

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering are working to solve that problem with new materials and manufacturing processes that will establish a foundation for UWBG semiconductors in novel power electronics switching devices. Their investigation received $820,000 in funding from the U.S. Office of Naval Research to support graduate students to explore new ideas in magnetic materials, advanced manufacturing, and advanced component design methods and techniques. Read more.


Pennsylvania regulators take 'first key step' to identify storage-boosting strategies

April 21. 2021

"The optimal combination of storage and renewables, such as solar-plus-storage installations, can yield competitive economics for higher solar penetration in a state such as Pennsylvania that does not have the same quality of solar resources as California or Nevada," Paul Ohodnicki said. "In addition to mitigating adverse impacts of intermittent solar generation, solar plus storage installations can also be leveraged to provide additional grid services that would not otherwise be possible with solar or energy storage resources alone." Read more.


Research on New Magnetic Materials Gets AMPED Up
March 30, 2021

AMPED, focused on the research and development of magnetic materials for power electronics systems, has received $60,000 in funding from a University of Pittsburgh Momentum Funds Teaming Grant. Read more.


Brandon Grainger Elected Scientific Advisor on Emerge Alliance Board
February 19,2021

Brandon Grainger, assistant professor and Eaton Faculty Fellow of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, was elected to the board of the EMerge Alliance and will serve as scientific advisor. Read more.


Researching Resilience: The Data Behind the Modern Grid
June 18, 2020

With the increase in natural disasters, and as the northern hemisphere goes into what is commonly known as ‘storm season’, Smart Energy International spoke with Dr. Alexis Kwasinski, Associate Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, who specializes in grid resilience research in areas prone to natural disasters and extreme weather. Read more.