PULLMAN, Wash. – Abdur Rehman, a senior in electrical engineering, received a second place award for his poster titled, “The Cost to Benefit Analysis of Direct Load Control in Smart Grid Applications,” at the 2012 IEEE Power & Energy Society Transmission and Distribution Conference. This conference is the largest biennial power engineering event in the world. Working with his advisor Anurag Srivastava, assistant professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Rehman has been conducting his research on the use of Direct Load Control by utilities companies to reduce blackouts and brownouts.
DLC allows utilities to control electrical applications in households and businesses as a way to reduce electricity demand during peak times. For consumers, the practice can improve the stability, reliability, and cost of electric power, and utilities don’t have to produce more power.
Rehman became involved in his research through a Boeing Cyber Grant scholarship. The undergraduate scholarship provides recipients with research opportunities with faculty members.
“I approached Dr. Anurag Srivastava and he was happy to add me to the Smart Grid Demonstration and Research Investigation Lab group,” said Rehman. “Dr. Srivastava nominated me, along with some other students in our group, to present at the IEEE PES Transmission and Distribution Conference in Orlando, Florida.”
After graduating from Washington State University, Rehman hopes to continue to devote his time and effort to developing tools that will help consumers become better at energy conservation.
“I want to make a difference in people’s lives and power engineering is the best way I can,” Rehman said.