John D. McDonald

This talk will familiarize participants with a vision for Grid Modernization, focusing on technological advancements beyond Smart Grid. The technological advancements include discussions of key industry/societal trends, Smart Grid concepts, holistic solutions, integration of microgrids and distributed generation, and Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) software applications. The talk will also cover feeder automation business models, managing different types of data, big data, analytics, enterprise data management, Smart Grid standards and interoperability, and Smart Grid deployments and lessons learned.

Biography:

John D. McDonald, P.E., is Smart Grid Business Development Leader for GE Vernova’s Grid Solutions business. John has 49 years of experience in the electric utility transmission and distribution industry. John received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. (Power Engineering) degrees from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. (Finance) degree from the University of California-Berkeley. John is a Life Fellow of IEEE (member for 52 years), member of IEEE-HKN (inducted 52 years ago) and Tau Beta Pi (inducted 50 years ago), and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal, the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award, the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award, the IEEE PES Meritorious Service Award, the 2016 CIGRE Distinguished Member Award, the 2016 CIGRE USNC Attwood Associate Award, the 2021 CIGRE Honorary Member Award and the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) Lifetime Achievement Award. John is Past President of the IEEE PES, the VP for Technical Activities for the US National Committee (USNC) of CIGRE, the Past Chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee, the IEEE Division VII Past Director, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. John was on the Board of Governors of the IEEE-SA (Standards Association), is an IEEE Foundation Director and Chair of its 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee and is a Founding Board Member of the SECC. John received the 2009 Purdue University Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award and will receive the 2023 Purdue University Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award. John teaches Smart Grid courses at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a Smart Grid course for GE, and Smart Grid courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer (since 1999). John has published one hundred fifty papers and articles, has co-authored five books and has one US patent.