Grid of the Future™ Paper Competition

Recent Updates

2024 NGN Paper Competition Accepting Submissions Soon

Are you an individual with a passion to share your experience and knowledge with industry professionals from across the nation? Have you ever thought about writing a technical paper? Are you seeking to put your skills to the test in competition with other young professionals from across the United States?

If so, the 2024 CIGRE NGN Paper Competition will be accepting submissions soon!

2024 Competition Information

The CIGRE-US National Committee Next Generation Network (NGN) is holding their annual synopsis (abstract) and paper competition to encourage students and early professionals to share their experience and knowledge with others in the industry.

The CIGRE-US NGN synopsis template document must be used to format the synopsis for submittal. A list of preferred topics to align with the 2024 Grid of the Future™ symposium Call for Papers can be found here or below. Paper topic selection from this list is encouraged but not required. The authors of the top ten synopses will prepare technical papers according to the 2024 CIGRE-US NGN paper template document. The authors of the top five papers will present their papers at the 2024 Grid of the Future™ conference in Raleigh, North Carolina, where one grand prize will be awarded.

QUALIFICATIONS

To qualify for the competition, you must fulfill both requirements 1 and 2:

  1. Be a current CIGRE member located in the United States. 2024 student membership is free! Register at cigre-usnc.tamu.edu/membership/.
  2. Be either a or b
    • a) Undergraduate student or graduate student with an interest in power systems, or
    • b) Power system professional with 10 years or less full-time experience.
      • Power system experience for this competition is classified as any full-time experience beyond the last degree received in the power field.

The Symposium scope covers the following general topics:

Enhancing Grid Resilience: Infrastructure Resilience, Microgrids, Resilience
Quantification, Big Data for Resilience, Resilience Planning, Aging
Infrastructure & Asset Management, FLISR, DC Microgrids, Proactive
Reconfiguration, Community Resilience, Localized Resilience Benefits,
Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), Mobile Storage, Long Duration
Storage, Wind and Solar Integration

Grid Operation, Automation & Management: Modern Energy Management
Systems (EMS), ADMS, Renewable Integration, Solar & Storage Microgrid,
Long-Duration Storage, Demand Response, Energy Efficiency, Innovations in
Battery Chemistry, Battery Diagnostics, Cybersecurity Standards, Advanced
Communication Applications, Fiber, LTE, 5G, Broadband, IoT-based Wireless
Technologies, Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN), Network Function Virtualization (NFV), Edge Computing, Smart EV Charging, Vehicle-
to-Grid (V2G), Vehicle-to-Anything (V2X)

Climate Change Adaptation: Climate Risk to System Assets, Managing the
Impact of Decarbonization, Improving Grid Biodiversity, Innovative T&D
Engineering to Limit Environmental Impacts, Life-Cycle Assessment,
Generation Planning, Policies and Regulations, Migration Effects, Clean
Energy During Pandemic and Global Unrest, Distribution Markets

Intelligent Protection and Controls: Voltage Optimization, T&D Monitoring,
Adaptive Relaying, Automation and Restoration, Bi-directional Power Flow,
IEC 61850, Digital Substation, System Reconfiguration, DERMS, Home and
Building Automation, DER Protection Study, DER Integration and Control

Beneficial Electrification: Smart Cities, Smart Villages, Smart Homes, Managed Charging, Fleet Electrification, Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G), Vehicle-to-Anything (V2X), Autonomous Vehicles, Extreme Fast Charging, Plug-in Hybrid EV (PHEV), Wireless Charging, Building Electrification, Conservation Voltage Reduction, Industrial Electrification

T&D Modeling, Sensors and Data Analytics: Real-time Modeling, Hardware-in-the Loop (HIL), Control-HIL, Digital-Twin, DER Modeling, Hybrid AC-DC Systems, Cyber-Attack Modeling, EV Modeling and Simulation, EV Planning Studies, Synchrophasor Technology, Power Quality, AMI Data, Bellwether Meters, Low-Cost Sensors, Big Data, Quantum Computing, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning

COMPETITION FORMAT

May 10, 2024 – Synopsis Due

May 31, 2024 – Top 10 notified of synopsis acceptance

September 6, 2024 – Top 10 participants submit papers

September 30, 2024 – Top 5 participants notified of paper acceptance

November 11 -14, 2024 – Top 5 participants present at the 204 Grid of the Future™ Symposium

TBD, November, 2024 – The first-place winner will be announced at GOTF 2024

Submittal

  • Each participant submits a synopsis by 5/10/24. They will receive confirmation of their synopsis’ receipt.
  • Ten participants will be selected to submit full papers. The ten participants will be notified no later than 5/31/24.
  • The ten selected participants will submit full papers by 9/6/24.
  • Five participants will be selected to present their papers at the 2024 Grid of the Future™ Symposium. They will receive notification no later than 9/30/24.

Presentation

  • The five participants will each present at the 2024 Grid of the Future™ Symposium on (NOVEMBER 11-14, 2024) during the Symposium in Raleigh, North Carolina. Each participant will have ten minutes for their presentation, followed by five minutes of Q&A.
  • The first-place winner will be announced on (DATE TBD – NOVEMBER 2024) at the Grid of the Future™ Symposium.

Prizes

  • All top five participants will receive complimentary Grid of the Future™ Symposium registration ($500 value).
  • The winning participant will have the option to choose between registration to the 2026 CIGRE Paris Session or the 2025 CIGRE Grid of the Future™ (GOTF) Symposium. In either case, the winner will receive up to the $3000 travel stipend as well as the opportunity to submit for a presentation slot.
  • All prizes are contingent on attendance at the events.

SUBMISSION

Synopsis

All participants must send their synopsis using the synopsis template provided here by 5/10/24 to jodie.lupton@powereng.com.

Paper

The top ten participants must send their paper using the paper template provided here by 9/6/24 to jodie.lupton@powereng.com.

RULES

  • All synopses must follow the Paper Competition Guidelines and use the paper competition synopsis and paper templates.
  • During the synopsis step, if the participant’s synopsis is not selected to prepare a paper, participants are encouraged to prepare a paper based on the synopsis and submit it for the 2024 Grid of the Future™ Symposium.
  • If a participant’s paper is selected as one of the top 5 to present at the 2024 Grid of the Future™ Symposium, they may submit it to the NGN competition ONLY. Do not submit for the Grid of the Future™ Symposium also.
  • If the participant’s paper is not selected to be in the top 5 papers, the participant is encouraged to submit the paper to the 2024 Grid of the Future™ Symposium. The deadline for submission will be extended to accommodate NGN paper competition participants.

CONTACT

Please contact NGN at jodie.lupton@powereng.com with any questions or clarifications.


Past Competitions


2023 Winners

Navigating Uncertainties in Dynamic Line Rating Estimation: An Analysis of Challenges and the Benefits of Diverse Approaches

B. LEIST, R. GRUDT, N. PINNEY, K. ENGEL, J. SPALENKA, C. WATERS, J. MARMILLO

From Left to Right: Chris Root (organizer), John Wempe, Brian Leist, and James Berger (organizer).

Download the Presentation Here

2023 Finalists

All Finalist Papers are available for download.

Powering the Future: Harnessing Neural Dynamic Equivalence for Enhanced
Power System Applications

Visualization Methods for Quickly Understanding the Evolution of Power Flow Constraints under AC Contingency Analysis

Exploring the Benefits of Demand Response in the PJM Wholesale Energy
Market: A Cost-Benefit Perspective


Pay Your 2024 Membership Dues

18-Month Special Offer for new members only

Starting JULY 1st, all new members joining will receive the remainder of 2023 with their 2024 membership.