News
Undergraduate students at Portland State University have developed a compelling computerized solution for local PNGC Power Company. The electronic device is a power distribution unit (PDU) for use at remote electricity metering points located throughout the company's service territory, spanning seven western states (Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Nevada and Wyoming).
In conjunction with their senior capstone class, four students in the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science's Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) developed the "12VDC Remote-Switched Distribution Unit." Targeted specifically for PNGC Power's Meter Data Management System (MDMS), the unit allows remote switching controlled through the Internet between power sources at each of the 80 metering points on the MDMS system. The information conveyed by the MDMS is critical to enabling PNGC to provide the right amount of electricity for 160,000 customers.
"This team of young people brought the formidable combined power of intellect and work ethic to bear on a knotty technical problem with great success," said Kevin Watkins, PNGC Power's vice president for Engineering. "The final result was an elegant and inexpensive approach to our need for remote, computer controlled-switching. This work is a great help to us."
PSU electrical engineering students who developed the project were Joey Baranski, Andreas Greisel, Jeremy Bynum and Josef Lotz. Baranski and Greisel were also contract employees of PNGC Power's IT group. The students worked under the supervision of ECE Assistant Professor Mark Faust, ECE Faculty Advisor and Professor Richard Tymerski, and PNGC Power's Senior Network Engineer Dragan Dokic.
"The students took a real world engineering problem from requirements through evaluation of alternatives to a working prototype," said Professor Faust. "In two terms they completed the design, built a printed-circuit board and mechanical enclosure, and brought up the server on an embedded microcontroller to enable Web access."
Currently in use by PNGC, this new ability to switch remotely gives the company necessary and efficient access to remote, unstaffed sites where the metering points are located. In the past PNGC had to send crews to each of the 80 metering points of the MDMS, which was both costly and time-consuming. With the Internet-based approach, PNGC personnel can monitor and control the PDUs from their offices using an ordinary Web browser.
About PNGC Power
PNGC Power is a Portland-based electric power services cooperative owned by 15 Northwest electric distribution cooperative utilities with service territory in seven western states. The company creates value for its member systems by providing sophisticated power management, technical innovation and cutting edge customer services and products. PNGC Power is a top aggregator of geographically diverse loads in the region and became the first electric cooperative in the country to receive a power marketing license from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. More information about PNGC Power can be found at www.pngcpower.com.
About Senior Capstone at Portland State University
Senior Capstone is the culmination of the University Studies program. Capstone courses are designed by Portland State University's faculty to build cooperative learning communities by taking students out of the classroom and into the field. In Capstone courses, students bring together the knowledge, skills, and interests developed to this point through all aspects of their education, to work on a community project. Students from a variety of majors and backgrounds work as a team, pooling resources, and collaborating with faculty and community leaders to understand and find solutions for issues that are important to them as literate and engaged citizens.
About the Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science
Located in the heart of Oregon’s Silicon Forest, Portland State University’s Maseeh College of Engineering and Computer Science is uniquely positioned to deliver progressive engineering and computer science education. By teaming with regional industry and government, faculty members in its five departments— Civil and Environmental Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Engineering and Technology Management, and Mechanical and Materials Engineering—keep the curriculum current and prepare PSU students to make an immediate contribution to the workforce through participation in Senior Capstone design projects, internships and research opportunities. During the 2004–05 academic year, the Maseeh College had a total enrollment of nearly 2,000 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs, a 57-percent increase since 1999.
# # #
Source:
Mark Faust (503-725-5412)
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Kathi VanderZanden (503-288-5561)
PNGC Power
For Immediate Release (#05-112)
