Winter 2021
To shield and protect
Matthew Percival and the US State Department's Diplomatic Security Service ensure the safety of embassies and staff. » More ...
Electrical engineering
Fall 2015
Cybersecurity and the smart grid
Chen-Ching Liu, Anjan Bose, Adam Hahn, and the other researchers at Washington State University’s Energy Systems Innovation Center explain the smart grid and how to safeguard it from hacking and natural disasters, with redundancy and testing.
You can read more about their work in “Out the hack door,” Fall 2015.
Videos produced by the WSU Video Team.
What is the Smart Grid?
WSU professors Chen-Ching Liu and Dr. Anjan Bose discuss the evolution of the electric power grid.
The Self-Healing Grid
Advancements in intelligent monitoring and automation, combined with robust, redundant sources of power serve to protect electricity-dependent communities from outages and … » More …
Fall 2015
Out the hack door
When a hacker attacks the electric power grid, scientists and industry partners are prepared. They’ve done it already. » More ...
Winter 2011
A power shortage
Don Kopczynski ’91 first noticed the power industry’s newest problem around the year 2000. The vice president for Avista Corp. counted 100 engineers on his team. Looking ahead, he realized that half of them would be retiring simultaneously. It made sense, since they all came out of school and entered the workforce at the same time. “We’ve been together our whole careers,’’ he says.
The looming shortage of engineers, though, is not limited to Avista. It’s a national issue, according to a recent survey by the Center for Energy Workforce Development. Fifty-one percent of engineers working in the power industry, including electric, natural gas, and … » More …
Fall 2011
Research gone wild: Engineering power in the Pacific Northwest, part II
In 1946, the Washington State Legislature established Washington State College’s Institute of Technology. In a 1986 oral history, Eugene Greenfield, who directed the Institute’s Division of Industrial Research starting in 1958, explained that the purpose of the institute was to “find technological means for inducing a larger industrial output in the State of Washington.’’
“At the end of [World War II], industry was flopped right straight on its back,’’ said Greenfield. “There was nothing doing, and it looked as though it would be many years before industry would be picking up.’’
The legislature would provide $500,000 a year to fund a division “whose sole … » More …
Summer 2011
Current events—engineering power in the Pacific Northwest
When electricity first came to Washington in September of 1885, just a few electric lights illuminated downtown Spokane. By the following March, Seattle had them, too. From those early days, Washington State College had a role in helping spread and improve delivery of electricity throughout the state, with many graduates active in the power industry.
The chief engineer for Washington Water Power (WWP) at Long Lake Dam, completed in 1915, and Little Falls Dam, completed in 1911, was a WSC graduate, as was the superintendent of construction. Nineteen students and graduates worked on the Long Lake job. On the Skagit River Project for the City … » More …