Argonne, IIT join with Korea Power Exchange for grad program in electricity
markets
ARGONNE, Ill. (March 26, 2007) – In an agreement signed today, the U.S. Department
of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory and the Illinois
Institute of Technology are joining with the Korea
Power Exchange to establish a joint training program
combining training and research at Argonne with formal academic education at
IIT.
Under this program, KPX will send members of its technical staff to Chicago
every two years to enroll in the IIT Department for Electrical and Computer
Engineering. KPX staff will participate in a graduate study program while conducting
applied research at Argonne.
IIT has agreed to grant KPX participants credit hours of course work toward
a master's degree in the form of independent study at the Center for Energy,
Environmental, and Economic Systems Analysis in Argonne's Decision
and Information Sciences Division. Upon completion of the program, the KPX staff will graduate
with a Master of Electricity Markets.
“This agreement brings together three organizations committed to a brighter
world future through stable electricity supplies,” said Al Sattelberger, Argonne
associate laboratory director for physical sciences and interim associate laboratory
director for applied science and technology. Argonne has collaborated with
Korean energy institutions for more than 25 years, and has collaborated with
IIT, employing graduate students to work with Argonne researchers on power
systems analysis.
“Given the recent upheavals in global energy markets, the trend toward electricity
restructuring, and a generally renewed focus on energy, electricity and environmental
issues,” Sattelberger said, "it is our hope that this agreement will strengthen
our joint research activities in these areas that are so vital to our countries
and the world, expand our successful collaboration with KPX and IIT for the
benefit of all 3 institutions, and establish a Trans-Pacific partnership for
years to come."
Also attending the meeting was Bruce Hamilton, the president of ADICA
Consulting LLC, who is the licensed distributor for Argonne's power market analysis tools
and was instrumental in establishing the joint training program. Hamilton
praised the agreement as “a major achievement which provides an opportunity
for professionals from utility companies, electricity system and market operators,
and regulatory agencies around the world to develop a deeper understanding
of electricity markets through formal education at IIT together with the use
of Argonne's innovative agent-based modeling software to analyze the impact
of alternative market rules on the behavior of market participants.”
The Korea Power Exchange was founded in April 2001 as a core organization
of the newly introduced electricity market following the Korean government's
electricity industry restructuring plan. With responsibility for electricity
market and system operation in Korea, KPX operates Asia's largest competitive
electricity market and the second largest power grid in the region.
IIT is a private, Ph.D.-granting university with programs in engineering,
science, psychology, architecture, business, design and law. One of the 16
institutions that make up the Association of Independent Technological Universities,
IIT offers preparation for professions that require technological sophistication.
The university and its contract research affiliate, IIT Research Institute,
have an annual research budget of $130 million. Research strengths include
fluid dynamics and aerospace, synchrotron radiation science, environmental
engineering and regulatory policy, polymer science and recycling, food safety
and technology, and transportation and infrastructure.
Argonne National Laboratory seeks solutions to pressing national problems in science and technology.
The nation's first national laboratory, Argonne conducts leading-edge basic
and applied scientific research in virtually every scientific discipline. Argonne
researchers work closely with researchers from hundreds of companies, universities,
and federal, state and municipal agencies to help them solve their specific
problems, advance America 's scientific leadership and prepare the nation for
a better future. With employees from more than 60 nations, Argonne is managed
by UChicago
Argonne, LLC for
the U.S.
Department of Energy's Office
of Science.
For more information, please
contact Steve McGregor (630/252-5580 or media@anl.gov)
at Argonne.
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