Nathan Kahl

Mason's living lab pumps up power research

Tama Moni — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 21:47:13 +0000

Mason's living lab pumps up power research Tama Moni Mon, 03/06/2023 - 16:47

In This Story

You've seen it in the movies—a massive wall of monitors in a dark room displaying blinking charts and graphs while busy staffers press buttons and shift levers.

The new Smart Grid Lab, opening in 2023 in George Mason University's Van Metre Hall at Mason Square, will recreate a modest version of this control center. This state-of-the-art facility will offer hands-on experience to undergraduate and graduate students and professional practitioners. College of Engineering and Computing Associate Professor Liling Huang reports the lab will include three workstations with a Real-Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) and a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system, among other features. These stations can either be linked together to imitate the entire grid or used independently to examine particular subjects. Huang believes this lab will make Mason's power engineering program unique, as few universities offer this immersive educational experience.

"The new Smart Grid Lab is critical to training and modeling, simulation, and digital twin research. It will support a secure next-generation power grid," said Liza Wilson Durant, associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement at Mason.

The new lab will also be used for security and resiliency testing, ensuring power systems are equipped to manage and mitigate potential cyberthreats or disruptions—photo courtesy of iStock.

The lab's primary purpose is to enable students and researchers to conduct various hands-on experiments, work with hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) simulations, and analyze simulation data related to power and energy systems. These activities will encompass various aspects of power systems, smart grid technology, microgrid, renewable energy, electric machines, and energy management systems. Beyond that, Huang says that when using the SCADA system and display wall, students and faculty in the lab will collect consumption data and display energy flow at the Fairfax, Mason Square, and SciTech Campuses.

"This will be a unique living lab for Mason students. We can start observing the campus energy flow and collect data. That can support our future research in data analytics, machine learning, digital twins, computing, or cybersecurity of the smart grid and smart cities. It allows us to reach beyond the 4,000 square feet of the lab." - Liling Huang, associate professor CEC

Many power engineering programs have shuttered over the last 20 years, causing an industry workforce shortage, making the lab even more valuable to Mason's students by rounding out their education. Further, the nation is struggling with an aging power grid infrastructure and an increasing electricity demand. Combine all of that with a global initiative of Net Zero by 2050, and Huang says Mason is an ideal place to pursue this type of research and education, particularly with the campus' location in the Washington metropolitan area, near the federal government and one of the largest data center markets in the world. The lab will also be used for security and resiliency testing, ensuring that our power systems are adequately equipped to manage and mitigate potential cyberthreats or disruptions.

"The Van Metre Lab is the precursor to a larger lab capability in Fuse, a net-zero ready facility which will serve as a living laboratory. This lab will enable real-time data collection to facilitate smart cities innovation and research to improve quality of life and moderate technology's impact on the environment," said Wilson Durant.

This powerful lab will help position Mason as a leader among Virginia universities in hands-on learning and research in power engineering.

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Cyber

Mason Square

Campus News

Electrical Engineering

Mason faculty firms up "Future G"

Tama Moni — Fri, 24 Feb 2023 16:14:33 +0000

Mason faculty firms up "Future G" Tama Moni Fri, 02/24/2023 - 11:14

In This Story

Kai Zeng

Binary code with 1s and 0s. Photo by iStock images.

The resilience of 5G communications in the face of interference and intentional jamming is critical in certain situations, such as when malicious actors try to disrupt communication between U.S. military entities. George Mason University College of Engineering and Computing faculty member Kai Zeng, an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the College of Engineering and Computing, is part of a multi-university research project to develop what is being called "Next G" and "Future G" to ensure those communication channels work seamlessly in the face of adversity.

5G millimeter wave (mmWave) technology uses particular frequencies for wireless communications, allowing for more capacity and speed. Like any other communication capability, however, mmWave signals can be interfered with. Zeng's research uses various techniques to ensure seamless communications.

Imagine an aircraft carrier sending a message to an airborne drone, but that signal being disrupted by an enemy aircraft in the vicinity, "jamming" that message. If the signal can be pointed in a different direction, where it can bounce off a reconfigurable intelligent surface (RIS), the signal can be re-routed around the jamming attempt. The 3D-printed, eggbox structure of the RIS – a fancy way of saying it is "an origami antenna" – allows it to generate multiple beams at wide angles, avoiding jamming. The antenna can adjust its frequency dynamically as needed.

In addition to the elaborate antenna, the research includes other attempts to thwart jamming, including using frontend technologies and digital filters, a maneuvering Zeng refers to as a "chess game." He notes that malicious actors deploy learning-based jammers that can react to efforts to evade jamming, but "we can adapt to the jammers' behavior." Checkmate.

Zeng says the research is important because the proposed technologies will significantly enhance the users' communication capability and resilience in contested and congested radio environments. They will be useful for military communication and commercial and civilian usage to greatly improve spectrum efficiency and utilization in spectrum-sharing paradigms.

This project is funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Research, and Engineering. It extends George Mason University's research leadership in the field of wireless communications and future G technologies. Zeng has other ongoing research in the field, including a project funded by the National Science Foundation and Department of Defense on securely operating through 5G infrastructure, named "Windtexter," which improves message encryption and covert communication.

Topics

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

5G/6G Wireless Communications

Signal Jammers

World Engineering Education Forum and Global Engineering Deans Council host international event in South Africa

Tama Moni — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 16:04:38 +0000

World Engineering Education Forum and Global Engineering Deans Council host international event in South Africa Tama Moni Fri, 01/27/2023 - 11:04

In This Story

Kenneth Ball

Ariela Sofer

Gregory Washington

The 2022 World Engineering Education Forum (WEEF) and Global Engineering Deans Council (GEDC) event (“Adapting to Global Disruption”) drew hundreds of people to Cape Town in late 2022. Collocated with the African Engineering Education Association (AEEA) conference, the event offered space to approach challenges in an integrative multidisciplinary, interinstitutional, cross-cultural, inclusive, diverse, trusting, and ethical manner. Hans Hoyer, in the George Mason University College of Engineering and Computing, organizes the event from his position as Executive Secretary of GEDC and as the Secretary General of the International Federation of Engineering Education Societies (IFEES).

Photo by the 2022 World Engineering Education Forum

IFEES and the GEDC Secretariat have been located at the Mason College of Engineering and Computing since January 2018. The IFEES/GEDC Secretariat adds strategic access and linkage to large international representation for Mason students and faculty. IFEES and GEDC have extended membership to several individuals and societies within the Mason community including President Gregory Washington and GEDC Executive Committee member and Dean Kenneth Ball. CEC became the third ‘Academic Partner’ to join IFEES at a Gold Level represented by George Mason’s, Ariela Sofer, the Interim Divisional Dean in the College of Engineering and Computing. She also represents IFEES Bronze Member, International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE). Mason’s, J.P. Auffret, the Director of the Research Partnerships and Grants Initiatives, represents IFEES Bronze Member, International Academy of CIO (IAC). Mason also partners with the GEDC and Siemens for the annual GEDC Diversity Award, a global award for innovative projects that inspire students of all profiles and backgrounds to study and succeed in engineering.

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South Africa

diversity

Engineering Education

George Mason faculty study the “energy justice” challenges of adding millions of new electric and hybrid vehicles to our electric grid

Tama Moni — Fri, 27 Jan 2023 15:52:04 +0000

George Mason faculty study the “energy justice” challenges of adding millions of new electric and hybrid vehicles to our electric grid Tama Moni Fri, 01/27/2023 - 10:52

In This Story

Jie Xu

Wenying Ji

Plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles are the future of automobiles, with car companies from Bentley to Volvo pledging to be all-electric within the next several years. While the EV charging infrastructure ramps up to keep up with this growing demand, Jie Xu, Associate Professor with the Department of Systems Engineering and Operations Research at George Mason University, is looking at an angle that not many have considered – the energy justice implications. His transdisciplinary team also includes Mason faculty members Wenying Ji (Civil, Environment, and Infrastructure Engineering), Fengxiu Zhang (Schar School of Policy and Governance), David Wong and Chaowei Yang (Geography & Geoinformation Science), Saba Siddiki from Syracuse University, and Feng Qiu from Argonne National Laboratory.

Hybrid Electric Vehicles. Photo by iStock images.

Energy justice refers to an energy system that fairly distributes both benefits and costs of energy services and that has “impartial” energy decision-making. Funded by a grant received from the National Science Foundation’s Strengthening American Infrastructure program, Xu’s team is working with local utilities, governments, and communities to develop and apply an energy justice approach from both techno-engineering and social perspectives to assessing and reducing potential injustice emanating from the transition to an EV future.

Xu notes that once people make the initial investment in buying an EV, the purchase will yield financial benefits in their overall energy consumption. But underprivileged people – many of whom do not own or cannot afford EVs (because EVs in general are more expensive than traditional gas-fueled automobiles) – will likely see their home electricity rates go up because of the overall increase in electricity loads thanks to the increasing number of EVs on the road.

Studies may take multiple angles to understand how EVs interact with the electric grid, according to Xu. He notes, “You have even heard people say that EVs will help improve the performance of the grid because you can use all these battery packs in the EVs as energy storage systems.” But he adds, “It’s far from easy to expand the capacity of the grid, especially the transmission network. They will start by increasing electricity prices as demand increases.”

Ramping up the electricity distribution network is a big challenge that must be tackled, Xu says. “The electricity is generated far from where it is consumed. We would expect urban centers to use most electricity related to EVs, but that’s being produced by offshore windfarms or nuclear plants in the countryside.” The hope is the infrastructure will be built in a way to mitigate economic disparities.

For a problem that involves a system of engineering systems, Xu stresses that engineering and science have to be very sound in order to make policy recommendations. “We’re looking at how technology is transforming the behavior of society. We have to know the electricity loads in the future and the penetration of EVs in daily life to understand how renewable energy will be added to the grid, and how the electricity generation will be distributed. Once this is right, we can help policymakers understand the consequences of their decisions.”

The $750k grant runs through August 2025, with a goal of developing new computational optimization and analytics tools to study the future electric grid and the implications of increased EVs on the road, as well as a policy guide providing socially and technically feasible solutions to reduce energy injustice in the transition to EVs.

Topics

Electrical Vehicles

Energy

Systems Engineering and Operations Research

In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Harry Van Trees

Tama Moni — Wed, 18 Jan 2023 18:41:54 +0000

In Memoriam: Professor Emeritus Harry Van Trees Tama Moni Wed, 01/18/2023 - 13:41

Professor Emeritus Harry Van Trees

Harry Van Trees, a distinguished and award-winning researcher, textbook author, member of the National Academy of Engineering, and George Mason University Professor of Information Technology and Electrical and Systems Engineering passed away on December 29, 2022.

Van Trees was born in Kansas City on June 27, 1930. He went on to graduate first in his class from West Point and earned an Sc.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology after a stint in the army. He joined the MIT Electrical Engineering Department, where he studied signal processing. He made significant contributions to detection and estimation theory, optimum array processing, and Bayesian estimation of random processes. He is regarded as a founder of the detection and estimation theory body of knowledge. His impressive CV may be found here.

Later in his career, he would go on to be the founding director of Mason's Center of Excellence in Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence (C3I). George Mason University Professor Emeritus Alexander Levis noted, “His vision for such a center was inspired by his brief service as Air Force Chief Scientist and then as the first Assistant Secretary at DoD for Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence. He recognized that rapidly evolving information technology would change fundamentally Command and Control and that both basic and applied research were very much needed. Indeed, thirty-five years later, Command and Control has now been recognized as a defining pillar of national security.”

Others on the Mason campus also paid tribute to his lasting legacy. “Harry Van Trees was a brilliant engineer, educator, mentor, and colleague who had a remarkable life and career in academia, government, and industry,” added Kristine Bell, Affiliate Associate Professor in the Mason Statistics Department. “His books on Detection and Estimation Theory and Array Processing have educated so many engineers and inspired so many important research findings in the last 45 years. There is no doubt that our world would look different without his contributions. I was so privileged to have worked with him. He was a wonderful man who cared deeply for his family, but also for his colleagues, and his community. I will miss him tremendously.”

According to his official obituary, his passing was unexpected but fortunately, although in the hospital, he was able to spend his last week with Diane, his beloved wife of 69 years, and his six surviving children, Stephen, Mark, Katie, Tricia, Harry, and Julia. 

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professor emeritus

College of Engineering and Computing

Obituary

Faculty and Staff News