GE Smart Grid Architect Lauded with Award for Engineering Accomplishment

Oct. 12, 2009
John McDonald is Recognized with “Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer” Award from Purdue University ATLANTA, GA.—October 6, 2009—GE Energy executive John D. McDonald, P.E., was honored with the prestigious Outstanding Electrical and Computer ...
John McDonald is Recognized with “Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer” Award from Purdue University

ATLANTA, GA.—October 6, 2009—GE Energy executive John D. McDonald, P.E., was honored with the prestigious Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer (OECE) award from Purdue University during an awards ceremony on Friday, Oct. 2. McDonald is general manager, marketing for GE Energy's transmission and distribution business.

The award is given to individuals who through “hard work, perseverance and leadership, made extraordinary contributions to healthcare, economic development, prosperity and technological advancement,” said V. "Ragu" Balakrishnan, interim head of electrical and computer engineering, professor of electrical and computer engineering and associate dean of engineering for research at Purdue, as stated in the awards program.

This is not the first time McDonald has been recognized. McDonald is a Fellow of IEEE and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000, the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award in 2002 and the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award in 2003.

McDonald has 35 years of experience in the electric utility transmission and distribution industry and has developed power application software for supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA)/energy management system (EMS) and SCADA/distribution management system (DMS) applications; developed distribution automation and load management systems; managed SCADA/EMS and SCADA/DMS projects; and assisted Intelligent Electronic Device (IED) suppliers in the automation of their IEDs.

McDonald is past president of the IEEE PES, CIGRE U.S. National Committee (USNC), VP Technical Activities, past chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee and IEEE Division VII director and is currently a member of DOE's Smart Grid Electricity Advisory Committee (EAC), a member of NEMA's Smart Grid Task Force and on the Board of Directors of the GridWise Alliance. He teaches a course on modern energy management systems at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a course on smart grid for GE Energy and has published 31 articles and papers and co-authored three books.

Of the five OECE recipients recognized last week, two were from GE, with Jonathan A. Murray, general manager, cross business programs for GE Healthcare also being recognized.

The OECE was awarded as part of a weekend-long celebration of the awardees' accomplishments.

About GE Energy

GE Energy (www.ge.com/energy) is one of the world's leading suppliers of power generation and energy delivery technologies, with 2008 revenue of $29.3 billion. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, GE Energy works in all areas of the energy industry including coal, oil, natural gas and nuclear energy; renewable resources such as water, wind, solar and biogas; and other alternative fuels. Numerous GE Energy products are certified under ecomagination, GE's corporate-wide initiative to aggressively bring to market new technologies that will help customers meet pressing environmental challenges.

About GE

GE is a diversified global infrastructure, finance and media company that is built to meet essential world needs. From energy, water, transportation and health to access to money and information, GE serves customers in more than 100 countries and employs more than 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.ge.com/. GE is Imagination at Work.

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