Alfred University Secures Grants for Renewable Energy Education and Power Grid Software
Alfred University has received a $466,853 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to support student internships and fund a program providing short course training for renewable energy engineering students and workers in the electric utilities field.
The University has also received a donation of $2,786,000 from GE Vernova in power grid planning and operations software to support the NYSERDA-funded project.
Initially, the University was awarded $786,000 in Advanced Energy Management System (AEMS) and Advanced Distribution Management Solutions (ADMS) software packages from GE Vernova, to be used in 2023-24, the first year of the project.
Since then, GE Vernova has awarded the University an additional $2 million in software, which will be used over the following five-year period.
The program will receive $117,000 of in-kind/cost share funding from the University. It will benefit students in the Alfred University Inamori School of Engineering’s Renewable Energy Engineering and Electric Engineering programs by providing them with access to state-of-the-art equipment and training.
The NYSERDA workforce training grant will support student internships, 22 over the next three years, as well as fund the purchase of two microgrid control systems. The systems will be located in the new lab in McMahon Engineering Building to be used as a training tool for students.
It will also allow the University to subcontract with the EPRI, an independent, non-profit research and development organization, to conduct industry-standard training short courses for students.
