ETAP Donates Software Valued at nearly $125,000 to West Virginia University Institute of Technology

ETAP recently donated an ETAP power-lab software package valued at nearly $125,000 to West Virginia University Institute of Technology. This donation includes a lifetime license allowing up to 20 students to work concurrently on projects, studies, and research. ETAP’s giving program promotes the pursuit of academic excellence and the advancement of power systems studies.

“The ETAP software package is one of the leading packages used both nationally and internationally by the well-renowned electrical power systems industries,” explained Dr. Surinder Ram, professor of electrical and computer engineering, who facilitated the donation.

The academic edition of ETAP Enterprise Solution provides educational institutions with access to the latest technology for the design, modeling, simulation and operation of electrical power systems. Blending ETAP into standard power system curriculum gives students an excellent opportunity to learn and apply essential power system concepts utilizing the most sophisticated electrical engineering software package available for offline solutions.

Dr. Stephen Goodman, chair of the department of electrical and computer engineering, said, “We’re grateful for this gift since it allows us to bring more of the latest technology into our classrooms.”

ETAP: The Software of Choice for Nuclear Power Systems

The nuclear industry has a high level of regulatory standards that are met by ETAP’s strict quality measures, evident in the fact that, in the US, ETAP is the only High Impact power system analysis software approved for nuclear use.

ETAP is Verified and Validated (V&V) against field results, real system measurements, established programs, and hand calculations in order to ensure its technical accuracy. Each release of ETAP undergoes a complete V&V process using hundreds of test cases for each and every calculation module.

ETAP is driven to constantly be refined and enhanced for the nuclear community. ETAP annually hosts the ETAP Nuclear Utility User Conference in order for attendees to discuss project experiences and the capability for ETAP to optimize nuclear utility power systems.  This year’s conference takes place June 21-23, followed by a symposium on June 24.

The United States is home to 64 nuclear power plants which are responsible for producing approximately 20% of the nation’s electricity. The important nature of nuclear power plants is unmistakable, which makes it all the more significant that 94% of U.S. nuclear plants use ETAP electrical engineering software to manage their power systems.

ETAP prides itself in providing superior engineering services and is proud to be the software of choice for nuclear power systems management across the United States.

ETAP® Celebrates Its 25th Anniversary

ETAP is celebrating 25 years of expertise in power analysis and automation utilized for electrical engineering projects worldwide. Over 100,000 licenses have been issued in over 100 countries for power systems encompassing everything from generation to utilization.

Incorporated in 1986, OTI released the first version of ETAP power system analysis and design software. Since then, major milestones and achievements by the company include nuclear certification, the development and launch of ETAP Real-Time™ Power Management System, ISO 9001 certification, High Impact certification, and continuous improvements in software features and functionality up to and including the upcoming release – ETAP 11.

Market share growth of ETAP in all sectors of power systems has been consistently strong, including 94% of operating United States nuclear plants standardizing on ETAP. OTI has grown to be the world’s largest power system analysis software company, supported by an expert team of engineers and scientists, and experienced sales, marketing, and support staff.

Over the past decade, the rapid growth of ETAP has resulted in the establishment of ETAP Automation™ and subsidiary offices worldwide, including Europe, the Middle East, India, and China. These OTI groups of companies offer local and regional sales and support of ETAP using highly-qualified teams of authorized representatives and partners.

OTI is committed to not only producing the most comprehensive power system available, but to educate users about the myriad of functionalities available in ETAP. To this end, OTI offers training courses around the globe that cater to various levels of power engineering, ETAP skill and familiarity. Each course is taught by a certified ETAP engineer so that students can gain maximum benefit from ETAP software.

“Our mission has always been to provide state-of-the-art products and superior engineering services,” said Farrokh Shokooh, President and CEO of OTI. “We have achieved this by combining advanced technologies with the highest standard in quality while meeting our customers’ needs. We will continue to develop innovative and flexible software solutions for the power industry that enable our customers to obtain their technology objectives.”

The Future of Power Systems: Smart Grid and Microgrid

According to the United States Department of Energy, today’s power system is 99.97% reliable, but the remaining 0.03 percent costs a total of $150 billion a year. It’s a fact that if grids were just 5% more efficient, energy saving would be enough to permanently eliminate fuel and greenhouse gas emissions.

At one point it seemed inevitable that the future of power systems would be based on the Smart Grid. However, the energy crisis has forced the utilization of renewable and clean energy through small-scale Microgrids. Interaction of these two growing new technologies requires development of more complicated control strategies. In other words, while each Microgrid has to satisfy its own localized constraints and objectives, limitations and objectives enforced by the whole Smart Grid and/or other Microgrids enforce extended and more conservative constraints.

As a solution to all commitments and obligations of power systems, ETAP does not offer just one or two tools, but an enterprise solution to satisfy all interconnected and even interacting requirements of every power grid. Its ability to provide load and generation estimation, real time monitoring, forecasting, archiving, simulation and optimization make it the ideal brain for the smart acting grid.

Short Circuit Duty Calculations Discussion at January User Group Meeting

The Southern California User Group met January 25 to hear a presentation by Herminio Abcede, Principal Technical Specialist at Fluor Corporation, and chairman of the user group.

His presentation discussed how to perform Short Circuit Duty calculations for Generator Circuit Breakers in accordance with the requirements of ANSI Std C37.013. Specifically, the discussion focused on the calculations for generator short circuit contribution for both an unloaded and fully loaded generator prior to the occurrence of the fault. The phenomenon, called “delayed current zero” in the generator contribution, will also be covered. Ideas on how the effects of arcing can be included in the present algorithm were solicited from the group and discussed.

The agenda included:

• Generator SC Current Characteristics
• The “Delayed Current Zeros” Phenomenon
• Influence of TRV on CB SC current interruption
• ETAP GCB Duty Calculation (ANSI SC Duty module)
• Comparison of Switchgear CB and GCB Capabilities
• CB SC Duty Evaluation for GCB Application Using ETAP Results
• Suggestions for Enhancements

Job Seeker Tips – Landing Your Dream Job at a Technology Company (Or Any Company for That Matter)

In a tough job market, it is important to make sure that you stand out in the crowd.  With recruiters receiving more resumes per position than ever before, putting your best foot forward is of the utmost importance.  Below are some tips to help you achieve success in the search for your dream job.

1. Tailor your resume to fit the job description.  Read the job description thoroughly, and then add any relevant experience that you may have overlooked when you wrote your resume. Many job seekers waste their time by spamming out their resume to irrelevant jobs.  Spend your time wisely by tailoring your resume to jobs that you are genuinely interested in and also create powerful cover letters that express your interest in both the position and the company.  Looking for a job is a full time job in itself, treat it that way.  Expect to spend a few hours a day, at minimum, searching career websites and targeting companies that contain job openings in your preferred field.

2. Network! The internet should be your primary venue for seeking employment, especially in the technology field.  If you have not already, join professional groups and organizations relevant to your field, spruce up your LinkedIn account, and touch base with previous colleagues and peers in the industry.  College job boards are also a great resource, as many recruiters will work with colleges that have degree programs relevant to their industry.

3. According to a recent survey by Saddleback College, the # 1 mistake that candidates make on their resume is spelling and grammatical errors.  It is important to always proofread your resume and then have another person read through it as well.  You may be a qualified applicant, but poor formatting or simple grammatical mistakes can be distracting for recruiters and could mean that your resume is overlooked as a result.

4. Be on time for your interview.  Showing up for the interview 5-10 minutes early is ideal.  Showing up exactly on time or late, makes it seems like you are unprepared.  No one wants to hire an individual that is punctuality challenged.  Another big mistake by candidates during an interview is to not ask any questions.  Asking relevant questions about the company or the specific position shows that you have done some research and are interested in learning more.  It is also always a good practice to send a follow up thank-you email to the individuals at the company that you met with.

For a listing of all current openings at OTI, please visit our careers page and send resumes to careers@etap.com for immediate consideration. Good luck!

Irvine User Group Meeting – November 17

On November 17^th, the Southern California ETAP User Group met at OTI’s headquarters in Irvine to learn from guest speaker Daleep Mohla, a recognized P.E. and IEEE Fellow.

Approximately 25 individuals representing 7 different companies came to learn about “Considerations When Applying High Resistance Grounding to Reduce the Possibility of an Arc Flash Event.”  Mr. Mohla also presented possible upcoming changes to NFPA 70E 2012 and how they may affect Arc Flash Analysis.  Mr. Mohla gave a captivating and informative presentation on the dangers inherent in electrical engineering and the criticality of effective fault analysis.

ETAP extends its thanks to Mr. Mohla for his presentation. Be sure to join us at our next User Group. You can find them at http://etap.com/training/events.htm.

ETAP Technical Paper Takes First Place at 2010 CNPCI Conference

The accolades just keep piling up for ETAP and its skillful engineers- another technical paper of ours was awarded 1^st place.

From November 11^th to 12^th, Shenzhen played host to the 2010 China National Petroleum and Chemical Industry Electrical Technology Annual Conference.

Over 200 industry experts descended upon the conference which covered a variety of topics and fields such as oil, chemical, petroleum, and manufacturing. Also at the conference, technical papers were presented to the many onlookers.

Our very own Dr. J.J. Dai co-authored a paper with ETAP user Guangzhou Petrochemical Plant entitled “Study of Selecting Electrical System Operation Mode of a Petrochemical Plant Using Load Flow and Short-Circuit Analysis.” J.J., along with OTI Far East and a slew of other competitors, was vying for the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Science and Technology Award/Outstanding Paper Award. Proving that ETAP has engineers par excellence, J.J.’s paper was awarded 1^st place, a huge honor for the ETAP team.  ETAP has now won this award for several consecutive years, testament to ETAP’s talented engineers.

Congratulations to J.J. and OTI Far East for their outstanding accomplishment and for being wonderful global representatives of ETAP!

October – Prize Month

October has just ended; what a great month – great birthdays, great parties, Halloween celebrations in the U.S., and the appearance of beautiful fall colors in parts of the world. However, October was also Nobel Prize month, where each year, early in the month, these prestigious prizes are awarded in several technical areas – chemistry, physics, medicine – as well as economics, literature and peace. Over the years, several electrical engineers have been honored:

John Bardeen was an American physicist and electrical engineer, the only person to have won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice: first in 1956 for the invention of the transistor; and again in 1972 for a fundamental theory of conventional superconductivity known as the BCS theory. The transistor allowed the Information Age to occur, and made possible the development of almost every modern electronic device, from telephones to computers.

Bardeen’s developments in superconductivity, which won him his second Nobel, are used in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In 1990, Bardeen appeared on LIFE Magazine’s list of “100 Most Influential Americans of the Century.” After attending the University of Wisconsin and Princeton, Bardeen was most closely associated with Bell Labs, and two other Big Ten universities – Minnesota and Illinois.

Another Nobel Laureate electrical engineer was Dennis Gabor, a Hungarian-British electrical engineer and inventor, most notable for inventing holography, for which he later received the 1971 Nobel Prize in Physics. Gabor matriculated at the Technical University of Berlin and the Technical University of Budapest. He was associated with the Imperial College-London and British Thomson-Houston (BTH), the latter being a British engineering and heavy industrial company.

Sir Godfrey Newbold Hounsfield was an English electrical engineer who shared the 1979 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his part in developing the diagnostic technique of X-ray computed tomography (CT). His name is associated with the Hounsfield scale, a quantitative measure of radiodensity used in evaluating CT scans. His career was spent at EMI Ltd.

Finally, the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Jack St. Clair Kilby for his invention of the integrated circuit in 1958 while working at Texas Instruments (TI). He is also the inventor of the handheld calculator and thermal printer. Kilby’s alma maters include the University of Illinois and the University of Wisconsin.

Consider the contributions each of these outstanding engineers and their colleagues have made to our progress.  Electrical engineering software could hardly have achieved the important role it plays today without many of the achievements of these electrical engineers.

Vary Your Drivers – and I Don’t Mean in Golf

Adjustable speed drives (ASD) control the speed of electrically powered equipment such as motors. Many industrial processes operate at different speeds during the course of a day or a production run. Assembly lines that change product manufacturing speeds are prime candidates, as are upstream oil & gas (exploration & production) drilling operations. ASDs can save energy by varying the speed where adjustment of flow, from say a pump or a fan, is appropriate.

In ventilation systems for large buildings, variable-frequency motors on fans save energy by allowing the volume of air moved to match the system demand. A Sybase data center installed ASDs and reduced fan power by over 80%.

One of the drawbacks of using large ASDs, cited several years ago in the oil & gas field, was the effect of harmonics on the electrical system. Several members of Operation Technology, Inc. authored a paper presented at the recent IEEE PCIC conference in San Antonio. The paper discussed the selection and installation of medium voltage ASDs and how to validate the entire installation through computer simulation after the drive has been selected. These power system studies become valuable in terms of seeing the net effect on the entire network and avoiding costly disruptions.