Science / Technology
People, Power and Information Technology
- Matt Lampe (LADWP), USC President-elect C. L. Max Nikias, John Chen (LADWP) and USC Viterbi School of Engineering Dean Yannis C. Yortsos, from left
- Photo/Eric Mankin
By Eric Mankin on June 4, 2010 8:04 AM
After six months of intensive negotiation and planning, the Department of Energy-funded Los Angeles Department of Water and Power Smart Grid Project is set to start turning green keys.
On June 1, the department’s board adopted a resolution approving the project to be undertaken with USC, UCLA and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
Academic, government and other organizations came together in Tutor Hall on May 28 to celebrate the agreement on the project, which will apply information technology to power production and distribution.
USC President-elect Max C. L. Nikias, USC Viterbi School of Engineering Dean Yannis C. Yortsos and USC Energy Institute executive director Donald Paul joined USC faculty and staff along with representatives from the Department of Water and Power, UCLA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) and the mayor’s office to celebrate the occasion.
“Today we celebrate a project that will position Los Angeles as the nation’s clean tech capital,” Nikias said. “This is the start of a very important partnership.”
Yortsos noted that USC Viterbi’s Center for Energy Informatics, led by Viktor Prasanna, would be working with other USC entities, including the Energy Institute, the USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, USC College and the USC Marshall School of Business.
The talks began five months ago when the Department of Water and Power announced U.S. Department of Energy funding for the Smart Grid project. The goal was to have three of the largest energy users in Southern California - USC, UCLA and JPL — collaborate with the energy supplier to devise methods to conserve energy.
“We are here today to celebrate the collaboration on building the next generation of the Smart Grid, and not just to build it, but to deploy it,” said John X. Chen, a USC alumnus who serves as assistant general manager of the Department of Water and Power and who worked with Paul on bringing together the Smart Grid players.
Making USC one of the Smart Grid campuses was not easy, said Paul, who retired in June 2008 as chief technology officer of Chevron Corp.
"I have been involved in many complex partnership developments and negotiations during my career in the energy industry," he said. "This has been one of the most challenging and one of the most rewarding."
While the outline of the goals was clear in December, Paul said, creating a concrete framework and plan was the work of some 50 specialists representing each of the participants.
“We had meetings every day for months,” he said. “We had to figure out how to divvy up the work, how to decide who does what.”
Regarding the outcome, he added: “Sometimes adversity builds better teams, especially when you reach the goal line. We built a level of partnership that wouldn’t have happened otherwise.”
Non-USC participants at the gathering included Rajit Gadh, professor of engineering and applied science and director of the UCLA Wireless Media Lab; Dean V. Wilberg, a program manager in the Innovative Programs division of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and Cleantech policy analyst Alex Fay of Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s office.
More steps remain, including approval by the Los Angeles City Council, before the ambitious new plans can be implemented. But participants agreed that completing the collaboration framework - and its adoption by the Department of Water and Power - is a major milestone on the way to a greener power grid for Los Angeles.
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The Chronicle of Higher Education mentioned USC’s $6 billion fundraising campaign. The story noted that USC had already raised $1 billion in a “quiet phase,” including the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College.
The Guardian (U.K.) highlighted two major gifts to USC in a list of the 10 biggest philanthropic benefactors in America. The list included the $200 million naming gift from USC Trustee and alumnus David Dornsife and wife Dana Dornsife to the USC Dornsife College, and the $110 million gift from USC Trustee and USC Viterbi School alumnus John Mork and wife Julie to create the USC Mork Family Scholars Program.
The New York Times featured the USC U.S.-China Institute documentary “Assignment: China — The Week that Changed the World.” The documentary, part of a series, examines media coverage of the 1972 Nixon trip that reshaped U.S.-China relations after a quarter century of isolation and hostility. “People look back now and take it for granted that the outcome was preordained,” said the institute’s Mike Chinoy, who produced the documentary. Voice of America also featured the story.
Los Angeles Times featured the Oscar Senti-meter, a tool developed by the USC Annenberg School, Los Angeles Times and IBM that analyzes thousands of tweets about the Academy Awards nominees. The story noted that Mexican actor Demian Bechir received an enormous boost on Twitter the day of the nominations, with a total of 6,893 tweets mentioning him, a 47-fold increase from the day before. The story noted the tool uses language-recognition technology developed in collaboration with USC Viterbi School’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Lab.
The Times of India (India) featured a three-day medical emergency training workshop organized in association with USC. At the workshop, held at GCS Medical College in India, 50 doctors and more than 100 paramedics learned how to improve emergency support systems. William Mallon of the Keck School of USC said that discussion topics included the use of portable ultrasonic devices to scan patients. “The ultrasound applications help physicians make accurate and timely decisions,” he noted. Daily News & Analysis (India) also featured the workshop.
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