BlackboardWorkshop, Reception and Dinner to Mark 10th Anniversary of FSU's Center for Advanced Power Systems
Top military, government and corporate leaders will be coming to The Florida State University on Oct. 14-15 as the university's Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) hosts a series of events to mark the center's 10th anniversary, celebrate its accomplishments over the past decade and discuss plans for the future.
CAPS was conceived in the year 2000 with the mission of developing new components and system concepts to help meet the U.S. Navy's goal of establishing an all-electric-ship development program. The center's mission later expanded to include developing research programs focused on modernizing the nation's electric power grid, enhancing its security and reliability, and facilitating its recovery from disruptions.
A workshop, "The Road Ahead for NGIPS (Next-Generation Integrated Power Systems), Energy & Microgrid Systems 2010," is scheduled to run during both days of the CAPS celebration. It will bring together representatives from government, industry and academia and feature panel discussions of ongoing and planned initiatives in areas including naval power systems, alternative energy systems and microgrids. "The Road Ahead for NGIPS, Energy & Microgrid Systems 2010" will take place:
Thursday, Oct. 14 - Friday, Oct. 15
Noon - 3:30 p.m. (Thursday);
7:30 a.m. - 3 p.m. (Friday)
Augustus B. Turnbull III Florida State Conference Center
555 W. Pensacola St.
Tallahassee, Fla.
The workshop is open to the public; however, registration and fees are required for each day's events. Reduced early rates are available through Friday, Oct. 1. A complete workshop agenda and registration information are available here.
On the evening of Oct. 14, an invitation-only reception and dinner will be held at Mission San Luis, 2100 W. Tennessee St. (Credentialed members of the news media are welcome to attend and cover both the reception and dinner, which begin at 6:30 p.m.) The reception and dinner will highlight key events in the establishment and growth of the center and will provide an opportunity to recognize all those who have been and continue to be responsible for the success of the program.
Among those scheduled to attend the reception and dinner are Florida State University President Eric J. Barron; U.S. Rep. Allen Boyd, D-North Florida; Navy Rear Admiral Nevin P. Carr Jr., the Chief of Naval Research; retired Navy Vice Admiral Paul G. Gaffney II, the current president of Monmouth University and the Chief of Naval Research when CAPS was founded; Navy Rear Admiral Jay Cohen, former Chief of Naval Research during CAPS' formative years, and former Undersecretary for Science and Technology at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; Patricia Hoffman, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Energy over its Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability; and John Marks, mayor of the city of Tallahassee.
"Ten years is a short period of time for an academic center to have a substantial impact on major programs of both the Department of the Navy and the Department of Energy," said Steinar Dale, director of CAPS. "But our center has done that.
"The focus of our celebratory symposium, as well as the high-level involvement of officials from government, the private sector and key academic thinkers on these topics, attest to our contributions in helping to solve some of our nation's problems related to electric ships and the electric grid," he said. "We look forward to a bright future ahead for CAPS."
In addition to CAPS, organizations sponsoring the 10th-anniversary events are The Florida State University and the American Society of Naval Engineers. The principal corporate sponsor is L-3 Marine & Power Systems. Also providing support are the U.S. Department of Energy, Naval Sea Systems Command and the Office of Naval Research.
