Technical Research Thrusts

The Mission Campaign is organized around three research thrusts answering fundamental questions that are relevant to improving resilience among US energy systems and other critical infrastructures. An integrated portfolio of projects across these three thrusts will ultimately result in a cohesive set of capabilities .

Thrust 1: Science of Vulnerabilities

Question: What are the vulnerabilities and physical failure mechanisms of node electrical hardware and control equipment for intentional and sophisticated kinetic, EMP, GMD, and cyber attacks?

Outcome: New tools to assess vulnerabilities and risk in the energy and critical infrastructure system.

Related Projects

Thrust 2: Materials, Device, & Cyber Innovation

Question: What novel materials, devices, and cyber advances will most cost effectively increase resilience?

Outcome: New high-energy materials, cost effective physical and cyber solutions.

Related Projects

Nano structural Granular Metals for Improved EMP Protection
Discovery of New High-Frequency Magnetic Materials Enabled by Artificial Intelligence
Signal-Based Fast-Tripping Protection Schemes for Electric Distribution System Resilience
Solid-State Transformer Technology

Thrust 3: System-Level Threat-Informed Computational Science

Question: What are the critical elements of the electrical energy system, mechanisms of cascading failures, and potential approaches for a more resilient/secure architecture?

Outcome: Tools to analyze and asses how to optimize and deploy solutions for maximum benefit (economics, security, and resilience)

Related Projects

Technical Research Thrusts