Engineering lab opens in Benedum

Pitt’s engineering department, in conjunction with a European power management company, unveiled a state-of-the-art lab on Thursday that will aid in University research and education.

Gerald Holder, dean of the Swanson School of Engineering, flipped the ceremonial first switch on a new electric power systems lab at 11 a.m. Thursday morning. Eaton, a power management company headquartered in Ireland, donated the lab, which is located on the eighth floor of Benedum Hall, now known as the building’s Energy Floor.

“This lab has set the bar higher for electrical engineering across the country,” Holder, who has served on panels for the National Science Foundation and the Department of Energy, said in a statement. “It will enable our students and faculty to better explore the next generation of sustainable power engineering techniques.”

The electric power systems lab is modeled after Eaton’s larger Power Systems Experience Center in Warrendale, Pa. 

Graduate and undergraduate engineering students will use the 1,500 square-foot laboratory for education and research. Brandon Grainger, a graduate student pursuing a doctorate in electrical engineering, said he hopes the lab will help the University take the next step forward in power delivery technology.

“I want this lab to turn into a place of transformation, breakthrough, creation and originality,” Grainger, who is also a Richard King Mellon research fellow, said. “It will create insight, intuition and partnership, which are all important for a well-rounded education.” 

The Richard King Mellon Research Fellowship, which the Richard King Mellon Foundation operates, commits its funds almost exclusively to organizations in southwestern Pennsylvania, and its programs focus on regional economic development, according to its website.

After Holder introduced the lab to the public for the first time, graduate students Patrick Lewis, Emmanuel Taylor and Ansel Barchowsky gave a brief demonstration.

Lewis referenced last year’s Super Bowl, during which a lighting malfunction temporarily stopped the game. He said the electric power systems lab uses energy in a way that would have prevented the lights from short circuiting because of the magnitude of the electrical power usage at the game.

Daniel Carnovale, manager of Eaton’s Power Systems Experience Center, and Gregory Reed, director of the Energy Power Initiative, which oversees energy programs at the Swanson School, helped lead the process of designing custom workbenches intended for a variety of uses within the laboratory. 

The lab contains six of these workbenches, along with a large high-definition screen, sound system and other features. 

The lab also integrates the solar panels, installed in 2012, located on the roof of Benedum Hall to partially power in the lab.

According to a press release from Eaton, the lab’s main uses for research and instruction include smart grid technologies, power electronics devices, renewable energy systems, energy storage and power quality. 

According to Eaton’s press release, the University’s engineering department has worked on creating new course developments in these areas to fully integrate the lab in undergraduate studies. The laboratory will serve primarily for undergraduates majoring in electrical engineering with an electric power concentration.

Last year, the Swanson School made further strides in electrical engineering education, according to Eaton’s press release. The department launched a distance-based graduate certificate program in electrical engineering, providing a unique choice for post-graduates in the workforce to still receive graduate classroom lectures.

Revathi Advaithi, president of the Electrical Sector of Eaton’s Americas Region, said this is just the latest of Eaton’s collaboration with Pitt to make the University a top engineering program.

“Part of our goal is to help develop Pittsburgh as an energy hub for the future,” Advaithi said.

Eaton and Pitt have collaborated over the past five years thorugh Eaton’s participation in the Swanson School’s co-op program. This year, the program named Eaton the Co-op Employer of the Year for its commitment to quality projects for students involved in co-ops with the organization.

“Eaton’s mission is to create an environment of efficient, safe and reliable energy for the future, and this lab is a good step towards doing that,” Advaithi said at the event.

Holder said the new lab will help prepare students and faculty for the future.

“Two of our academic and research priorities are energy and sustainability,” he said, “and the new electric power systems lab will enable our students and faculty to better explore the next generation of sustainable power engineering technologies.”