Discovering Power in the Past: The Algorithms and Power Systems Architecture Project

Public Historians at Work

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A historian and two engineers walk into a conference….

Rather than the start to a joke, this is a core component of the project, "Algorithms and Power Systems Architecture: Using Historical Analysis to Envision a Sustainable Future.” Led by Dr. Julie Cohn, a research historian (Center for Public History, University of Houston), and two electrical engineers, Dr. Daniel Molzahn (Assistant Professor in the School of Electorical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Tech) and Dr. Sairaj Dhople (Oscar A. Schott Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota), this interdisciplinary team is united by a shared vision that building the power grid of the future depends on a thorough understanding of the past and the people and ideas behind the technology. In their conversation recorded in January 2024, Drs. Cohn, Molzahn, and Dhople discuss one portion of the project: collecting oral histories from academic and industry leaders in electrical and power systems engineering. From the inclusiveness of their methodology to the enthusiastic response of the engineering community, it is evident how productive these kinds of partnerships between the humanities and STEM can be.
Check out the project: https://sites.google.com/view/power-systems-history/home
Learn more about the project leads:
Dr. Julie Cohn - The Grid: Biography of an American Technology (MIT Press, 2017)
Dr. Daniel Molzahn - https://molzahn.github.io
Dr. Sairaj Dhople - https://cse.umn.edu/ece/sairaj-dhople

The Center for Public History at the University of Houston. https://uh.edu/class/cph