Conceptualized at the company’s India Technology Center by Asokan T, a Chief Scientist at the Center, the Arc Vault represents a breakthrough in the area of electrical safety.  The arc vault works on the principle of transfer of an open arc flash to a safe containment.  The transfer of arc flash energy is accomplished by triggering an ablative plasma gun to generate a 3-phase fault within a safe containment.  The plasma gun operates in few tens of micro-seconds and the energy transfer occurs < 1milli-second.  The total duration (sensing, decision making and triggering) of arc vault to stop and contain a lethal arcing fault is less than eight milliseconds – as much as 10 times faster than conventional methods. This could result in lives saved and equipment being spared significant damage.

Statistics show arcing current is not only a dangerous problem, but a costly one for manufacturers.  According to engineering services company, ESA, there are as many as 10 incidents daily at plants in the U.S. resulting in losses of $1 billion annually.

“Arcing fault in electric systems is a major electrical hazard in the world.  The critical factors for arc fault protection are speed and reliability,” says Chief Scientist, T Asokan, who was recently made an IEEE fellow for his contributions to the development of innovative technologies for electrical safety and protection.  “GE’s arc vault technology deviates from conventional methods to achieve even faster responses to stop and contain dangerous arcing current.  I am delighted to see GE’s technology recognized so highly by the end users.”

Bob Vavra, editor of Plant Engineering magazine says, “Winners are selected by a vote of qualified Plant Engineering subscribers – the engineers who buy, specify and use these products on a daily basis. They are the most qualified people you can find to understand how new products reduce energy costs, ensure safety and improve productivity on the manufacturing plant floor. That’s why the Plant Engineering Product of the Year award is so highly regarded in our industry.”

The Arc Vault works by isolating the open or exposed arc and containing it. .  The system consists of an activation switch, a protective trip unit and a containment dome, all working together to provide fast protection from arc flash hazards. With the activation switch enabled, the trip unit will look for a current spike, and if necessary, trigger the containment dome and call for the main breaker to trip – stopping the deadly current before it can result in widespread explosion or fire. A secondary arc fault is created within the containment dome, which can extinguish the arc flash almost instantly. The secondary arc flash continues, protected in the containment dome, until the main breaker clears and de-energizes the entire system.

Congratulations to all members of the GE Global Research team who contributed to the development of the arc flash absorber technology.

Shekhar is actively involved in research activities in the area of Power System Analytics, Automation, and Operations & Control.  He is a Senior Member of IEEE and has 15+ international & national publications in the area of electrical engineering to his credit. He has delivered more than 30 Invited talks to Academic Institutions and Utilities in India and abroad.

We got Shekhar to tell us a little more about his new role post this fantastic achievement.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.
After completing my Ph.D. in Power System at IIT Delhi (2000), I began my active contribution to research and development in  power system operations, especially the Energy Management System domain, a key enabler to Smart Grid, working with Power Utilities.  I traveled to France, Ethiopia, Chile and Bangladesh in connection with establishing National Control centers for Energy Management in respective countries. I was also involved in commissioning of the prestigious National Load Dispatch Center at New Delhi, and Western Regional Load Dispatch Center, Mumbai, India. In addition, I was consultant to National Grid, UK for procurement and commissioning of Off Line Transmission Analysis software. I began working with GE in 2010, with the GE Energy team at Hyderabad and subsequently transitioned to Global Research’s Transmission & Distribution System lab in April 2011. My primary focus is development of technologies in Smart Grid domain in the area of Stability for Transmission network and efficient operation of Distribution grids.

You recently joined Global Research and have already secured a role with the Govt. of India. How did this happen and in what way has your experience at GRC helped?
In my previous role, I had a solid working relation with Utility Experts in India and abroad. The India Smart grid forum, a Public Private Partnership Initiative of Ministry of Power, Govt. of India, is a body composed of experts in power industry, responsible for providing the framework for deployment of smart grid technologies in India. GE Global Research and the GE Energy Team has been actively engaged with utilities in expanding the reach of smart grid technologies in India. So the current role is in recognition of GE’s depth in Smart Grid technologies and our robust relations with utilities.

Tell us a little more about what new your role entails.
In this new role as Chair, Working Group: Advanced Transmission, India Smart Grid forum, I will be closely working with the utilities, regulators and industry players in Smart Grid domain, framing up strategies for Smart Grid, related to power transmission, in India.

Besides work at GE what are some of your other passions/ hobbies that take up your free time?
Other than GE’s work, I am Senior Member of IEEE and share industry experience with student and research experience with industry professionals, to bridge the gap between industry and academics.

Marshall is one of six African American pioneers highlighted on the sign, which will be posted on all of Price Chopper’s 128 stores in the northeast during February. “Price Chopper is familiar with my work and community service through multiple interactions,” Marshall said. “They reached out to me when they were developing a scholarship for their African American interns, I have served on a board of directors with one of their vice presidents, and they are aware of my involvement with numerous educational initiatives focused on youth.”

For the love of learning
These educational initiatives focus on inspiring students to consider STEM careers, to meet obstacles head on and never give up, and to have students recognize that if they do what they love, the likelihood of their success will be greatly enhanced. He has presented to students as young as kindergarten, has mentored students who have been in graduate school, and has been a featured speaker at youth-focused programs for all ages in between. “As someone who struggled with education early in my life, I understand how challenging it can be,” Marshall said. “So one of my goals has always been to inspire youth to strive to achieve, no matter what it takes. And I know that I’m accomplishing that goal by the positive feedback that I’ve received.”

Marshall is one of the world’s foremost authorities in the field of laser material processing and has received numerous accolades for his research and community involvement.

His many awards and honors include receipt of the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT)  Innovation Award for Laser Applications in Manufacturing Operations (2011), the Arthur Schawlow Award, Laser Institute of America highest achievement award (2007), the Mechanical Engineering Alumni Society Merit Award from the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan (2004), election to the National Academy of Engineering (2001), selection as the GE Global Research Coolidge Award recipient (2001), the Pioneer of the Year Golden Torch Award of the National Society of Black Engineers (1999), the Dedicated Service Award of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (1997), a Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from the State University of New York (SUNY) (1985), and GE’s prestigious Phillippe Award for outstanding community service (1992).

Marshall earned his B.S. degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Michigan and his M.S. degree and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Massachusetts. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Laser Institute of America. He holds 53 US patents and 31 foreign patents, and has more than 45 publications to his credit.

Marshall also is the subject of a self-published children’s book, Never Give Up: The Marshall Jones Story, to inspire and encourage underrepresented youth to pursue their dreams.

The history of the award dates to 1991, when the school and its faculty began to recognize alumni who have demonstrated exemplary accomplishments and leadership in industry, academia, and governmental service. Award recipients are also acknowledged for the time and talent they contribute to their communities and the nation. Over the years 217 alumni have been honored with the prestigious Outstanding Mechanical Engineer award.  Juan de Bedout was one of seven recipients for 2011 (Juan is pictured back row, left).

“We are very happy to see this recognition of our senior leaders.  GE has a longstanding relationship with Purdue University.  Historically, GE has hired more students and has more alumni from Purdue University than any other University in the country,” said Tony Denhart, senior services manager for GE Energy Industrial Solutions and Purdue Campus Relations Leader.

Juan de Bedout leads the Electrical Technologies and Systems organization, a team of 550 scientists and engineers with 34 laboratories around the world. This group is devoted to developing a broad range of electrical technologies spanning advanced semiconductor devices, power electronics, generators, motors, controls and communications technologies for all of GE’s businesses.

Juan grew up in Medellín, Colombia, and comes from a family deeply rooted in Boilermaker tradition. His grandfather Larry Cargnino served as a professor emeritus of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics who taught many of Purdue’s astronauts, including Neil Armstrong. Juan’s father and mother both studied at Purdue, and his father remains strongly engaged serving on the engineering Dean’s advisory council.

Most recently, Juan was recognized in Diversity MBA magazine’s “Top 100 Under 50″ awards, September 2011, and was invited as session organizer for the 2011 EU-US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium, hosted by the National Academy of Engineering.

Juan adds, “The three mechanical engineering degrees I earned at Purdue established a foundation of analytical thinking that has served me well in my GE career. The curriculum and research helped me to develop the ability to grasp the essence of vaguely defined problems and to formulate plans for resolving them in a systematic and logical fashion.  As my responsibilities have grown, not a day goes by that I don’t leverage these traits for both research and business challenges.”

To learn more about the Purdue Outstanding Mechanical Engineering awards please visit here.

To read Juan de Bedout’s blog entries on Edison’s Desk, please visit here.

You can follow Juan de Bedout on Twitter at @JuanMDeBedout.

Honorees have contributed to the advancement of theory, technologies, and/or applications of fuzzy systems by inventing new technologies, creating innovative technical developments, implementing new products, or managing innovative product design or production processes. CATS, which was one of the first industrial applications for fuzzy logic, grew out of Piero’s vision that artificial intelligence would facilitate “reasoning with uncertainty” and enable significant industrial opportunities, especially in the area of knowledge engineering.

Piero, who was named Chief Scientist for Software Sciences and Analytics in 2007, will receive his award in June at the 2012 World Congress of Computational Intelligence in Brisbane, Australia.

Getting on board
“When I joined GE Global Research in 1979, it was like someone opened a door to a world of opportunities,” Piero said. “I had just come from UC Berkeley, where I had studied fuzzy logic, expert systems, and artificial intelligence. I recognized that I had the unique opportunity to introduce concepts to GE that didn’t exist at that time. I also had to, for lack of a better word, convince people that my theories about artificial intelligence could in fact be implemented in the face of ‘healthy skepticism’.”

Since those early pioneering days, Piero has gone on to develop, deploy and maintain a vast array of intelligent systems. Based on his initial experiences that systems need to evolve so they can adapt to ever-changing environments, he incorporated evolutionary algorithms that used automated processes to create intelligent systems. In doing this, he created a repeatable process that doesn’t require manual intervention for every step of the intelligent system lifecycle, and that can be maintained by the end users.  Today, these systems can be found in multiple GE businesses, generating large financial impact.

“This is a tremendous honor for Piero, and speaks to the foresight that he – and Global Research – had in exploring applications of fuzzy logic at a time when these concepts were in their industrial infancy,” said Bill Ruh, Vice President, Global Software Center.

“When I began working on fuzzy logic, there was no clear path as to where it would lead,” Piero noted. “There are always risks in a research environment, especially when the field is brand new. The fact that this award is given for work I did 25+ years ago, and that is still impactful today, is proof that one can move forward without having a pre-defined path, as long as you can envision what your final goal is.”

To learn more about Piero and his award, click here, for an excerpt from the announcement in the November 2011 IEEE Computational Intelligence Magazine or visit the IEEE Computational Intelligence Society website.

Image below is of Piero Bonissone (seated) with locomotive expert Dave Smith, from a 1985 CONTROL ENGINEERING article on CATS.