Modeling control of the electric power grid on the brain

Posted: Wed, May 19, 2010

May 16-19, the Coulter Department hosted a meeting of research collaborators intent on studying living neural networks (LNNs) of rat brain cells in BME Associate Professor Steve Potter’s lab to see how those cells process dynamic situations, adapt and learn. From those studies, the researchers hope to create a "biologically inspired" computer program to manage and control complex power grids. Their project “Neuroscience and Neural Networks for Engineering the Future Intelligent Electric Power Grid” is being led by Ganesh Kumar Venayagamoorthy, Missouri University of Science and Technology, in collaboration with co-PIs Potter, Ron Harley, Georgia Tech Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Donald Wunsch, Missouri S&T. The study is funded by the NSF Office of the Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation. View a video of Steve Potter discussing LNNs at http://brain2grid.com/movies/