UCONN students securely stream PMU data to cloud for 2021 senior capstone project

For the third year in a row, students studying computer science and engineering at the University of Connecticut (UCONN) completed a senior design capstone project sponsored by ISO New England. This year, UCONN seniors Mike Rossi, Brandon Mino, and Cory Harrington helped to securely stream Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) data to the cloud, providing the potential to support operational continuity in the event of a disturbance to the on-premises infrastructure.

“Real-time operation and control are essential to keeping the lights on for bulk power systems,” said ISO Lead Analyst Song Zhang. “The on-premises systems that power system control centers rely on, though configured for high redundancy, may still be subject to failures under extreme conditions. With vast resources and resilient infrastructure, cloud technology can provide a backup solution for core control functionalities in the event of a catastrophic disruption to the on-site systems.”

ISO New England conducted industry-leading research with UCONN to validate the effectiveness of streaming PMU data to the cloud with an extra layer of cybersecurity protection, and the students made it a reality, working under the supervision of Zhang and ISO Advanced Technology Solutions Manager Xiaochuan Luo for up to 20 hours a week (100% remote, due to the pandemic) from September to April.

You can learn more about the project by viewing the students’ presentation.

ISO New England congratulates these talented, hard-working seniors for a job well done!