Strategic Roundtable on Shaping Future Energy Systems with Grid Enhancing Technologies
8 – 9 June 2026, Agile Strategy Lab, NJIT, Newark, New Jersey
Partnership of Industry-Government-Academia to Develop an Actionable Plan to address the challenges in Reliability, Capacity and Cost Control
Hosted by the Center for Grid Enhancing Technologies for Future Energy Systems Integration and Transmission (NJIT & Rowan University)
FREE REGISTRATION
Event Flyer
Strategic Roundtable – Background and Purpose
NJIT and Rowan University have jointly initiated the establishment of the Center for Grid Enhancing Technologies for Future Energy Systems Integration and Transmission (GET-FIT) under the National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry–University Cooperative Research Center (IUCRC) Program (NSF Award #2515138 and #2515218). The Center is currently in its Planning Phase, with the goal of advancing to the Full Center Phase. As part of the NSF IUCRC Planning Grant process, the Strategic Roundtable serves as the two-day Planning Workshop that anchors the NSF IUCRC Planning Grant stage, bringing together prospective Industry Advisory Board (IAB) members from industry, utilities, system operators, technology companies, and government agencies to help refine the Center’s research roadmap, project portfolio, and long-term partnership model. This event is also a key customer discovery and member recruitment milestone, helping align Center capabilities with shared industry needs.
GET-FIT is designed to build a sustained partnership among industry, government, and academia to address critical challenges in modern electric power systems, including grid resilience, transmission expansion, renewable integration, and emerging grid-enhancing technologies. As part of this effort, this Strategic Roundtable brings together leaders from industry and government to share insights on current challenges, future needs, and priority areas for innovation. Input from participants will directly inform the Center focus, value propositions, potential research projects, and a research roadmap of strongest interest to industry members.
We invite you to join this discussion and contribute your perspective to help shape an actionable and impactful plan for the GET-FIT Center. We also hope this engagement will provide an opportunity to explore future collaboration and your partnership as a Center Member.
Agenda
| <<Day 1>> | |
| 8:30am – 9am | Registration, Breakfast, Poster Session |
| 9am – 9:10am | Welcome Remarks (Atam Dhawan, Senior Vice Provost for Research, NJIT; Sean Fischer, Assistant Vice Chancellor (Strategy & Collaborations), Rowan University) |
| 9:10am – 9:40am | Vision, Capabilities and Value Proposition of the Center (Philip Pong, Jie Li) |
| 9:40am – 10:25am | NSF IUCRC Presentation (Seetha Raghavan, NSF Program Director) |
| 10:25am – 10:35am | New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (Zenon Christodoulou, Commissioner) |
| 10:35am – 10:45am | New Jersey Economic Development Authority (Dan Fatton, Director, Clean Energy) |
| 10:45am – 11:00am | Coffee Break, Networking |
| 11:00am – 11:10am | PJM (Hong Chen, Principal Engineer) |
| 11:10am – 12:10pm | NJIT & Rowan Faculty Project Presentations:
|
| 12:10pm – 1:00pm | Lunch, Networking, Poster Session |
| 1:00pm – 3:20pm | NJIT & Rowan Faculty Project Presentations:
|
| 3:20pm – 3:35pm | Coffee Break, Networking, Poster Session |
| 3:35pm – 4:35pm | Industry Closed Workshop: Industry – Led Discussion of Projects and Brainstorming of Company Needs and Challenges That Need to be Addressed by the Center (Facilitator: Aaron Berner, Senior Manager, PJM) |
| 4:35pm – 4:50pm | Summary of Day 1 and Preview of Day 2 activities (Center Director) |
| 4:50pm – 6:20pm | Dinner, Networking, Poster Session |
| <<Day 2>> | |
| 8:30am – 9am | Registration, Breakfast, Poster Session |
| 9am – 9:15am | Opening by NJIT |
| 9:15am – 10:15am | Project PI Response to Feedback from Industry Workshop (PI-Led and Facilitated): Projects I to X (5 mins each) |
| 10:15am – 10:45am | Director Response to Feedback from Industry Workshop (Director-Led and Facilitated): NJIT & Rowan |
| 10:45am – 12:00pm | NSF Closed Session with Industry, Ranking Projects |
| 12:00pm – 12:30pm | Next Step, Action Items & Closing Remarks |
| 12:30pm – 1:30pm | Lunch, Networking, Poster Session |
| 1:30pm to 3:30pm | Optional one-on-one discussion with potential members |
Participating Organizations from Industry/Government (growing list)
- New Jersey Board of Public Utilities
- PJM
- New Jersey Economic Development Authority
- Orange & Rockland Utilities
- PSE&G
- Atlantic City Electric
- Princeton Plasma Physics Lab
- Aerodefense
- Lakeland Electric
- New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation and Technology
- LB Electric
- New Jersey Offshore Wind Alliance
- DGX Security
- IJB Electrical Contractor
- PECO Energy
- SEL
- NEC Labs
- Form Energy
- Elyte Energy
- JPMorganChase
- National Laboratory of the Rockies
- Electric Bridge Consulting
- 100% Energy Club
- Siemens
- Con Edison
- LineVision
- Innovation Norway
- Matrix New World Engineering
- net.America
- T3 Creators Collective
- Greener by Design LLC
- Goode Education Group
- Chebra Consulting Group
- TS Conductor
- GridGPT.ai
- Smart Electric Power Alliance
- Taj Mahal Electrical
- Wilson Career
Participating Faculty
| Jie Li | Hierarchical MARL-Based Approach for Wholesale and Retail P2P Market Coordination |
| Philip Pong | Pervasive Contactless Synchrowaveform Measurement Platform for Future Grid Visibility and Asset Intelligence |
| Huaxia Wang | AI-Driven RF Sensing and Cybersecurity for Protecting Power Infrastructure from Drone Threats |
| SangWoo Park | Physics-Informed Dynamic Line Rating with Segment-Level Thermal State Estimation |
| Chen Shen | Acoustic-Based Structural Health Monitoring Techniques for Power Transmission Infrastructure Drone-Based Acoustic Sensing for Rapid, Remote Inspection of Grid Infrastructure |
| Josh Taylor | Optimal power system planning |
| Behrad Koohbor | Predictive Tools, Monitoring, and Repair Strategies for Wind Energy Components |
| Marcos Netto | What would it take for a New Jersey transmission operator to unlock the next-level system dynamic monitoring? |
| Mohsen Azizi | Enhancing Grid Reliability through Predictive Maintenance and Fault Prognosis |
| Pramod Abichandani | Drones and robotics applications in power systems |
| Marie Casanova | Workforce Training in Modern Power Industry |
Hotel Suggestion and Direction
Participants may consider TRYP by Wyndham Newark Downtown.
Parking and Walking Direction
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