IEEE conference focuses international wind energy expertise at Nebraska

Nebraska Engineering leaders have coordinated an international gathering of experts for a Power Electronics and Machines in Wind Applications (PEMWA) Conference in Lincoln.

The event, sponsored by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, gathers scientists and industry representatives working on ways to better utilize wind as an energy resource. According to the American Wind Energy Association, Nebraska has the sixth-highest potential for wind energy in the nation but the state ranks only 22nd in actual production.

The first PEMWA Conference was held last year in Atlanta. This year’s gathering includes a tour of the Elkhorn Ridge wind farm in Bloomfield as well as sessions including “Wind for Irrigation Applications” by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Department of Electrical Engineering, and “Present and Future Trends in Wind Turbine Generator Designs” by the Georgia Institute of Technology. Other PEMWA 2009 presenters have come from China, Brazil and Romania.

Conference co-chairs are Jerry Hudgins, chair of the UNL Department of Electrical Engineering; Dean Patterson, a visiting professor of electrical engineering; Wei Qiao, UNL assistant professor of electrical engineering; and Dionysios Aliprantis of Iowa State University.