Akhyurna Swain - ECE PhD Student of the Month - August 2022
Akhyurna Swain is a Ph.D. student in the Helen and John C. Hartmann Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology. Currently, she works in the Sensor Research laboratory under the advisory of Dr. Philip Pong. Her research area focuses on the development and deployment of wireless sensor networks and smart sensors for online health monitoring, fault detection, and predictive maintenance of the power system.
What do you think would be an impactful move in your research area?
Production and supply of clean energy coupled with energy security is the need of the hour. To realize this, the landscape of the electrical power systems is constantly evolving and moving towards power system digitalization. Power system monitoring is now more essential than ever to understand the complex and dynamic behavior of the evolving power systems structures. Fusion of modern sensor technology with the current power system monitoring is essential to realize effective sensing and processing of grid parameters. This is important to decipher critical real-time information of the power system leading to accurate fault detection and localization, condition monitoring, outage management, fault forecasting, and predictive maintenance.
Further, integrating machine learning and IoT into sensing technology is essential to improving the sensing process. In particular, it can efficiently coalesce the sensed raw grid parameters for synchronized data collection and transmission with embedded intelligence, big data analysis, artificial intelligence, and edge computing, thereby reducing the outage management time, the operations and maintenance costs and boosting up the holistic asset utilization of the power system. These advances can directly aid the development of the traditional electrical grid into microgrids, penetration of distributed and renewable energy sources, the addition of power electronic devices and nonlinear loads, and its transformation into smart grids in the future.
What is a mesmerizing moment during your time so far in the ECE Department at NJIT?
I have had a wonderful time working in the ECE department at NJIT during my short one-year period. My advisor Dr. Philip Pong has been very resourceful and kind to me. Further, all the faculties and staff of the ECE department have been very helpful to me. Thanks to them, I could start and navigate through my Ph.D. journey with ease, especially during the tough period of Covid-19.
One of the most mesmerizing moments I have had so far is participating in the ECE Ph.D. contests that the department organizes every semester. It is a great place to learn about research areas of other Ph.D. students in the department as well as interact with the faculties. Last semester the theme was to argue against a research topic, which made the contest quite interesting. I am also elated to be selected as a finalist in the contest.
Where do you hope to see yourself after graduation?
I want my research to make a difference in the lives of people. In my home country India, 100% electrification has still not been achieved. I believe every human being has the right to have access to energy. Further, I believe we should develop new technologies to help increase reserves for renewable energy sources to reduce our carbon footprint and make our environment pollution free. After graduation, I hope to join a good research laboratory and continue to work on the development of sustainable energy sources for my research cause. The success of my seniors here at NJIT gives me hope and optimism for my future.
Winning a fellowship/scholarship for graduate studies can be quite challenging for international students. Please share your experience pursuing and being awarded the NJ Wind Institute Fellowship.
I am quite elated to receive the NJ Wind Institute Fellowship. I thank my adviser, Dr. Philip Pong, for encouraging me and guiding me throughout the application process. I also thank Dr. Sotirios Ziavras and NJIT for presenting me with this golden opportunity.
The NJ Wind Institute Fellowship by the New Jersey government is a commendable effort toward promoting research in sustainable energy to develop the state’s offshore wind energy sector. Their purpose lies at the heart of my research interests, and hence I was motivated to apply for the fellowship. Pursuing the fellowship has been a very fruitful experience for me. I learned how to present my ideas concisely and write good research proposals for fellowship applications. I also learned how to defend my ideas in front of the interviewing committee, especially to the interviewers who do not share the same research areas as me. I am excited to be a part of the NJ Wind Institute and collaborate with other researchers and engineers in the wind power industry. I hope to learn more from them and hone my skills to help me perform better research in the future.