For three years, the University of Arkansas has partnered with the University of South Carolina in a National Science Foundation industry/university cooperative research center known as Grid-Connected Advanced Power Electronics Systems, or GRAPES. As 2011 closes, GRAPES is proud to announce that two new industry partners have joined the center, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Industrial Technology Research Institute. Oak Ridge and the Industrial Technology Research Institute join 18 other industrial partners and one government partner in supporting the research of nine faculty members at the University of Arkansas and the University of South Carolina in the area of grid-connected power electronics.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory was opened in 1943 and is currently managed by UT-Battelle, a partnership of the University of Tennessee and Battelle Memorial Institute. Today Oak Ridge is the Department of Energy’s largest science and energy laboratory, supporting missions in scientific discovery and innovation, clean energy and nuclear security.