Graduate students from prestigious German institute partnering with EPIC researchers

Eleven graduate students from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Karlsruhe, Germany, are participating in a six-month research exchange program at UNC Charlotte’s Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC), part of the William States Lee College of Engineering.

During the program, the 11 KIT interns will serve as research assistants for nine EPIC faculty members. They will help with various projects, including those related to auxiliary power for emergency vehicles, field-scale water balance of gypsum landfills, water balance of coal ash pastes in large-scale instrumented tanks, rooftop solar virtual power plants, hybrid models for power system T&D networks and OPAL RT and RTDS real-time simulators to develop hybrid real-time models for power system transmission and distribution network with integrated renewable energy resources.

At the end of the internship, the KIT research assistants will provide a final report or presentation to their EPIC advisers and KIT officials.

Germany’s Karlsruhe Institute of Technology is one of the largest and most prestigious research and education institutions in Europe and is known for its high quality of research work globally.

This partnership is a result of a “Memorandum of Understanding” signed in 2013, between KIT and EPIC with the purpose of building an energy bridge and aims to link academic and research initiatives of the two institutions around key energy issues.

“EPIC at UNC Charlotte represents an international model for multidisciplinary workforce development and applied energy research. This growing relationship with KIT is an example, and we are proud to have them as an academic partner,” stated Johan Enslin, EPIC director.

On May 18, UNC Charlotte students Kaitlyn Chapman, civil engineering; Samuel Ludwig and Kristen Venditti, mechanical engineering; and Mahfuz Ali Shuvra, electrical engineering; will begin a two-month exchange at KIT.

UNC Charlotte’s international reputation in the field of energy and the University’s relationship with KIT is the impetus for an upcoming visit by German delegates to the Queen City on May 19. Peter Friedrich, minister for Bundesrat, Europe, and International Affairs of the State Government of Baden-Wuerttemberg; Peter Kulitz, president of the Baden-Wuerttemberg Association of Chambers of Industry and Commerce; Benedikt Paulowitsch, head of the Minister’s Representative Office of the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg; and Christoph Sander, German consul general; will be among the delegates who will tour EPIC and the PORTAL Building, a facility developed to harness the research power of UNC Charlotte to stimulate business growth and job creation.