PowerUp Podcast

Shrirang “Shri” Abhyankar—formerly at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory—now serves as Grid Transformation Principal at ERCOT. In this episode, Shri explains how grid modeling, simulation, applied mathematics, and AI converge in real operations.

We also explore the open-source tools his work helped shape, including Exascale Grid Optimization (ExaGO), ChatGrid, and Grid coPilot, and what these innovations mean for the future of grid planning and control.

Shrirang Abhyankar

Principal - AI & Optimization | IEEE senior member

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shrirang-abhyankar-59018144/

some project links

https://www.pnnl.gov/publications/grid-modeling-tool-successfully-launches-worlds-fastest-supercomputer

https://www.pnnl.gov/news-media/chatgridtm-new-generative-ai-tool-power-grid-visualization

https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202504.1464

Nelson is the Supervisor of Substation Design and Drafting at Eversource Energy. He joins Cory and I on this episode to talk about his experience with Revit, the Eversource team, attending the SDSIC and much much more.

Enjoy!

Nelson Antunes

Supervisor of Substation Design and Drafting at Eversource Energy

https://www.linkedin.com/in/nelson-antunes-64a46374/

Shabnam has been pushing the envelope of Revit at Power Engineers (now WSP) and sharing that knowledge with the SDSIC members for the past three conferences. We are privileged to have her join our podcast and share her knowledge, experience, and just the pure joy of her personality! Join us and listen in to some of her great advice.

Shabnam Pazooki, Senior Technical Manager at WSP

https://www.linkedin.com/in/shabnampazooki/

Trevor and Cory sit down for a conversation with the Duke Energy team live from our SDSIC conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

joining us from Duke are:

Crystal Myers, P.E.

Manager | PGO Grid Ops Perf & Tech | Design Automation Tools & Support (DATS)

[email protected]

Peter Coffey

Director of Operational Performance & Technology

[email protected]

Mark Thomas

Design Automation Tool Support Specialist at Duke Energy Corporation

[email protected]

Justin Martin

[email protected]

ACADE SME | Design Automation Tools & Support (DATS) group

Duke Energy has been with the SDSIC since day one and have helped shape the consortium, and various products over the years. Their team is always engaged with members and provide outstanding presentations and content to help guide others in their journey towards design automation.

Trevor and Cory sit down for a conversation with the ePlan team live from our SDSIC conference in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

joining us from ePlan are:

Adrian Melendez

Energy Enthusiast | Business Development Professional | Grid Resiliency Advocate

[email protected]

Jan Oliver Kammesheidt

Global Vertical Market Manager Energy - building a sustainable future energy system based on efficient engineering processes and industrialized energy solutions.

[email protected]

Adrian and Jan 'Ollie' Oliver are big supporters of the SDSIC, sponsoring our live annual events and presenting great content to keep our members up to date on the latest technology.

Jeff and Michael join me to talk about Innovation at Burns & McDonnell including;

• Establishing a structured innovation program focused on Objectives and Key Results (OKRs).
• Importance of aligning innovation efforts with corporate goals.
• The role of AI in transforming multiple business functions, including construction, finance, and software development.

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Get in touch with our guests:

• Jeff Danley – Director of Innovation at Burns & McDonald[email protected]
• Michael Businger – Assistant Department Manager at Burns & McDonald, Co-Chair for the Civil Committee of the SDS-IC[email protected]

Special guests including: Michael Bussinger from Burns & McDonnell, Cory Byrnes from Beta Engineering, Anthony Contino from SBS, Ben Ferneau from Black & Veatch, Josue Sanchez from Quanta Technology, and Shawn Weekly from POWER Engineers join me to talk about AI in the electric utility industry.

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Get in touch with our guests:

Anthony Contino [email protected]

Ben Ferneau [email protected]

Cory Byrnes [email protected]

Josue Sanchez [email protected]

Michael Bussinger [email protected]

Shawn Weekly [email protected]

Special guests including: Michael Bussinger from Burns & McDonnell, Cory Byrnes from Beta Engineering, Anthony Contino from SBS, Ben Ferneau from Black & Veatch, Josue Sanchez from Quanta Technology, and Shawn Weekly from POWER Engineers join me to talk about AI in the electric utility industry.

Note that this ended up NOT being our final episode in the series as we needed one more. Look for our bonus episode on this series next.

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Get in touch with our guests:

Anthony Contino [email protected]

Ben Ferneau [email protected]

Cory Byrnes [email protected]

Josue Sanchez [email protected]

Michael Bussinger [email protected]

Shawn Weekly [email protected]

Special guests including: Michael Bussinger from Burns & McDonnell, Cory Byrnes from Beta Engineering, Anthony Contino from SBS, Ben Ferneau from Black & Veatch, Josue Sanchez from Quanta Technology, and Shawn Weekly from POWER Engineers join me to talk about AI in the electric utility industry.

====================================

Get in touch with our guests:

Anthony Contino [email protected]

Ben Ferneau [email protected]

Cory Byrnes [email protected]

Josue Sanchez [email protected]

Michael Bussinger [email protected]

Shawn Weekly [email protected]

Special guests including: Michael Bussinger from Burns & McDonnell, Cory Byrnes from Beta Engineering, Anthony Contino from SBS, Ben Ferneau from Black & Veatch, Josue Sanchez from Quanta Technology, and Shawn Weekly from POWER Engineers join me to talk about AI in the electric utility industry.

====================================

Get in touch with our guests:

Anthony Contino [email protected]

Ben Ferneau [email protected]

Cory Byrnes [email protected]

Josue Sanchez [email protected]

Michael Bussinger [email protected]

Shawn Weekly [email protected]