The Grainger Power Engineering Software Laboratory was established in 1988 with funds from the Grainger Foundation, and has been upgraded continuously since then. It is located near the office areas on the third floor of Everitt Laboratory. The laboratory has eleven computers connected both locally and to the campus network. Operating systems include Windows 2000, Windows XP and Linux. Printers, scanners, and other auxiliary equipment is available.
A major objective of the laboratory is to provide access to an extensive library of commercial software and large-scale databases for power area applications and to provide a test bed for developing in-house software for the power community. Some of the commercial software packages currently in use include Mathematica, PECO, ETMSP, ATP, MatrixX, SYMNON, IPFLOW, SSSP, INSITE, Matlab, Mathcad, Dymola, and PowerWorld. In-house programs are written largely in Delphi (an object-oriented visual development tool from Borland) and Matlab.
The Grainger Electrical Machinery Laboratory is located on the ground floor of Everitt Laboratory. This facility is primarily for undergraduate teaching and is used for ECE 431, ECE 469, and project courses such as ENG491FC1 and FC2. Ten self-contained machinery workstations are available. Each has an integral horsepower machine set, digital wattmeters, oscilloscope, optical tachometer, torque sensor, and electronic support instruments. Transformers, resistor units, capacitors, SCR circuits, power FET units, and inverters are used by students in an extensive array of experiments. The facility has a dedicated 225 KVA three-phase supply and a 50 kW d-c rectifier bank. The laboratory provides a safe and comprehensive setting for hands-on experimentation and instruction.
In 2002 and 2003, the equipment used for ECE469 was upgraded. See details on the Blue Box projects.
The Advanced Power Applications Laboratory is located adjacent to the Grainger Electrical Machinery Laboratory. This laboratory serves as a general research facility for all hardware aspects of power electronics, machines, and power systems. The lab shares motor test sets with the Electrical Machinery Laboratory. Additional equipment is available for the study of harmonic effects, high-performance switching converters, and digitally controlled drives. This laboratory has extensive computer facilities that communicate with the Grainger Power Engineering Software Laboratory through the building network. Current projects include harmonic effects in uninterruptible power systems, high-performance distributed power supplies, advanced ac motor controllers, and electric vehicle drives.
Information for student users of the laboratory facilities, as well as other procedures for graduate students, can be found on our Policies and Procedures page.