Dr. Dan Trudnowski Receives Patent for Electric Power Grid Monitoring

Dr. Dan Trudnowski, head of the Electrical Engineering Department at Montana Tech, and Dr. John Pierre of the University of Wyoming have been awarded the patent “Electric Power Grid Monitoring Methods and Apparatus” for a novel approach to monitor the stability of electric power grids in real-time. The approach utilizes time-synchronized measurements from throughout the grid along with new signal processing algorithms to predict the stability properties of the grid. Maintaining grid stability is critical to preventing cascading blackouts. A prototype of the monitoring system has been installed and is being tested in the operation and control center at the Bonneville Power Administration in Oregon.