Researchers at UTD Wind are constantly discovering new ways to advance the wind energy industry. Projects are often interdisciplinary and in collaboration with other universities. Below is a list of active projects, with links to project descriptions. If you have an idea for a project or would like to collaborate with the center, please contact us.
Major Active Projects
“A Low-Cost Floating Offshore Vertical Axis Wind System,” D. T. Griffith, M.A. Rotea, DOE/ARPA-E, Amount: $7,720,000, April 2020 to July 2027. Project page.
“Rapid Optimization of Curing Cycle in Large-Scale Composite Blade Manufacturing Enabled by A Smart Digital Twin,” D. Qian, H. Lu, Department of Energy, Amount: $2,721,445, January 2024 to December 2027.
“UTD Center for Wind Energy,” M. Rotea, J. Pancrazio, K. Yousefi, Department of Energy, Amount: $1,600,000, November 2023 to October 2024.
“Remote Smart Monitoring of Offshore Wind Plant Components,” M. Rotea, J. Zhang, D.T. Griffith, Ocean Energy Safety Institute, Amount: $499,648.
“REU site: Research Experience for Undergraduates in Wind Energy Systems,” S. Leonardi, A. Malik, National Science Foundation, Amount: $391,703, April 2022 to March 2025. Project page
“Nuclear-Renewable-Storage Digital Twin: Enhancing Design, Dispatch, and Cyber Response of Integrated Energy Systems,” J. Zhang, Idaho National Laboratory (INL) LDRD / Department of Energy (DOE), Amount $388,000, October 2021 to September 2024.
“Aerodynamic Performance of Rotor Blades in Air-Sand Two-Phase Flows,” Y. Jin, US Army Research Lab
Amount: $359,737 March 2024 to February 2027.
“Ocean Energy Safety Institute 2.0 – Offshore Wind Energy,” M.A. Rotea, D.T. Griffith, S. Leonardi, J. Zhang, Dept. of Interior and Dept. Of Energy (via prime TAMU/TEES), Amount: $148,000.00, September 2021 to May 2026. Project page
“Learning on Graphs for Resilience Decision-Support in Real-World Networks,” J. Zhang, Y. Gel, Office of Naval Research (ONR), Amount $808,762, May 2021 to April 2025.
“CAREER: Scalar Transport in High Reynolds Number Boundary Layer with Heterogeneous roughness and Source Flux: Modeling Marine Aerosol in Coastal Regions”, G.V. Iungo, National Science Foundation, Amount: $ 502,482, January 2021 to January 2025. Project page
“Phase II I/UCRC UT Dallas: Center for Wind Energy Science, Technology and Research (WindSTAR),” M.A. Rotea, D.T. Griffith, G.V. Iungo, S. Leonardi, NSF, $546,941, December 2019 to November 2024. Project Page
Major Past Projects
“STTR Phase I: Extremum Seeking Control of Wind Turbines and Wind Farms,” N. Fine, M.A. Rotea, National Science Foundation (NSF), Amount: $256,000, April 2022 to August 2023. Project page
“Machine Learning-based Real-time Optimal Switchings of Reconfigurable Microgrids,” J. Zhang, U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC), Amount $213,591, January 2021 to January 2023.
“EAGER: Collaborative Research: Blockchain Graphs as Testbeds of Power Grid Resilience and Functionality Metrics,” Y. Gel, J. Zhang, National Science Foundation (NSF), Amount $186,729, November 2020 to October 2023. Project page
“Deep Learning-based Reliability and Resilience Enhancement of Future Navy Ships and Their Integration into Power Networks under Extreme Events,” J. Zhang, Office of Naval Research (ONR) Young Investigator Award, Amount $509,115, July 2020 to July 2023.
“Upscale: 20MW Floating Offshore Wind,” D.T. Griffith, Institute for Energy Technology (Norway), $100,119, January 2020 to December 2023. Project page
“Multi-Timescale Nuclear-Renewable Hybrid Energy Systems Operations to Improve Electricity System Resilience, Reliability, and Economic Efficiency,” J. Zhang, Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy, Amount $777,482, October 2019 to September 2023.
“Texas Wind Energy Center,” M.A. Rotea, D.T. Griffith, S. Leonardi, $700,000, Strategic Center Investment Seed Grant, UT Dallas, July 2019 to June 2023.
“Active Aerodynamic Load Control for Wind Turbines,” D.T. Griffith, M.A. Rotea, G.V. Iungo, Aquanis/ARPA-E, $1,296,148, March 2019 to October 2023. Project page.
“EAGER: Real-Time: Decision and Control of Complex Engineered Systems Enabled by Machine Learning and High-performance Computing,” M.A. Rotea, S. Leonardi, National Science Foundation (NSF) , $299,941, September 2018 to August 2022. Project page
“EAGER: Collaborative Research: Local Topological Properties of Power Flow Networks, and Their Role in Power System Functionality,” Y. Gel, J. Zhang, National Science Foundation (NSF), Amount $ 154,105, September 2018 to August 2021. Project page
“Coordinated Ramping Product and Regulation Reserve Procurements in California Independent System Operator and Midcontinent Independent System Operator Using Multi-Scale Probabilistic Solar Power Forecasts,” J. Zhang, Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office, Amount $180,000 (federal) + $59,085 (cost share), July 2018 to December 2021. Project page
“Solar Uncertainty Management and Mitigation for Exceptional Reliability in Grid Operations,” J. Zhang, Department of Energy (DOE) Solar Energy Technologies Office, Amount $135,000 (federal) + $21,930 (cost share), July 2018 to September 2021. Project page
“Genesis and Dynamics of very-large-scale Motions in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer and their Interactions with Utility-scale Wind Turbines”, G.V. Iungo, National Science Foundation, Amount: $298,093, September 2017 to August 2022. Project page
“50 MW Segmented Ultralight Morphing Rotors for Wind Energy,” D.T. Griffith, University of Virginia/ARPA-E, $427,435, April 2016 to May 2022. Project page.