The Georgia Tech student branch chapter of the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) was awarded the 2nd place prize for IEEE Region 1-7, which covers the United States and Canada, in the 2020 PES High Performing Student Branch Chapter Program. Tech’s IEEE PES student branch chapter was specifically recognized for “continuously organizing high-quality technical activities, social activities, and contributions to the award-winning Haiti Solar initiatives.”

Chartered by both IEEE and IEEE PES, the IEEE PES @ Georgia Tech student branch is dedicated to encouraging the development and dissemination of knowledge in the power and energy fields among the students, faculty, and staff in the Georgia Tech community. Currently, more than 190 Yellow Jackets are members of Tech’s IEEE PES chapter, covering undergraduates, master’s and Ph.D. students, and alumni. Many different events–such as technical talks by scholars and industry experts worldwide, career and scholarship information sessions, resume workshops, and picnics–are organized regularly each semester. During the fall 2020 semester, the Georgia Tech IEEE PES student branch chapter recruited 33 new members and organized 12 events. The technical talk speakers represented universities, companies, and labs such as Virginia Tech, EPFL in Switzerland, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Dominion Energy, and ABB. They gave excellent and informative talks on current topics like renewable energy, power electronics, big data applications, and smart cities.

Founded in 1970, the IEEE Power and Energy Society is the oldest society of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) focused on the scientific and engineering knowledge about electric power and energy. It is aimed to be the leading provider of scientific and engineering information on electric power and energy for the betterment of society and the preferred professional development source for its members. As of December 2016, IEEE PES had 244 professional chapters and 240 student branch chapters across the globe.

Photos are courtesy of Zheng An, chapter chair of the IEEE PES student branch and current ECE Ph.D. student. Photo descriptions are below:

1) Electrical energy faculty and students from the IEEE PES student branch chapter listen to a talk given by Ron Melton and Andy Reiman, both of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNLL). Melton is the group leader of the Distributed Systems Group in the Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division of PNNL, and Reiman is a power systems engineer and project manager at PNNL.

2) Ron Melton and Andy Reiman, both of PNLL, spoke to the Georgia Tech IEEE PES student branch chapter, and Reiman is pictured with electrical energy faculty members. Melton is the group leader of the Distributed Systems Group in the Electricity Infrastructure and Buildings Division of PNNL, and Reiman is a power systems engineer and project manager at PNNL.

3) Pietro Cairoli, the director of Engineering Power Electronics at the U.S. Corporate Research Center of ABB, Inc., speaks to students and electrical energy faculty who are involved with the Georgia Tech IEEE PES student branch chapter.