NEWS

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has selected Louisiana Tech University along with its partner, Sandia National Laboratory (SNL), to receive $1.432 million in funding to help modernize America’s aging power grid.

Under the leadership of Dr. Arun Jaganathan, member of Louisiana Tech’s Trenchless Technology Center and associate professor of Civil Engineering and Construction Engineering Technology, the University will play a critical role in developing technologies to reduce costs, increase speed, and improve the safety of undergrounding electrical utilities.

The Louisiana Tech team, which includes three students, will collaborate with the team at Sandia Labs in New Mexico to develop drill head integrated sensors to minimize damage to existing utilities and to track the drill head as it moves underground while installing new underground power lines. The resulting technology will improve horizontal directional drilling for rapid underground deployment of electrical utilities without digging large trenches.

This three-year grant, administered through DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, will enable undergraduate and graduate students the opportunity to put into practice the skills learned in both the classroom and in the research lab to develop new technologies for undergrounding.

“Students working on this project will be a big part of addressing the challenges the U.S. faces as it seeks to upgrade the way electricity is delivered,” said Jaganathan.

“The prestige associated with being chosen is truly reflective of the outstanding work and dedication by Dr. Jaganathan,” said Dr. Collin Wick, dean of the College of Engineering and Science. “When Congress sought to address the upgrade of the nation’s power grid, we were poised to jump in to help answer the call.”

Click here to learn more about this project funded through Grid Overhaul with Proactive, High-speed Undergrounding for Reliability, Resilience, and Security (GOPHURRS) program.