Mahmoud Kabalan, associate professor and director of the Center for Microgrid Research at the University of St. Thomas School of Engineering, recently spoke with Microgrid Knowledge about a new partnership with Bright.Green, geared toward developing solutions for grid modernization, energy security, and next-generation workforce.
From the story:
Minnesota’s University of St. Thomas, already home to the campus Center for Microgrid Research, will partner with EV charging technology firm Bright.Green to build a new microgrid facility after receiving a $2 million investment to support next-gen distributed energy and artificial intelligence (AI)-ready research.
The Bright.Green investment will also help to establish Mahmoud Kabalan as Bright.Green Director for the University of St. Thomas Center for Microgrid Research. Kabalan, who heads the microgrid research work at the St. Paul campus, also is an advisory board member for the Microgrid Knowledge Conference happening April 15-17 in Dallas.
Bright.Green develops electric vehicle charging infrastructure monitoring, payment and compliance services. The funding and collaboration with St. Thomas will focus on designing a microgrid utilizing AI-driven power management, carbon-free energy and advanced grid technology to test EVs, electric buses and decentralized energy solutions.
“This facility will be among the most advanced in the world, developing groundbreaking solutions for grid modernization, energy security, and next-generation workforce training,” Kabalan said in a statement.
Work on the first $2 million microgrid at the University of St. Thomas started nearly a decade ago. The new partnership with Bright.Green gives the next microgrid project a new focus with cutting edge digitalization utilizing AI.
