U.S. Rep. Paul D. Tonko, a nationally recognized expert on energy issues, gave the keynote talk, “The Smart Grid: Who Should Control Our Energy Future?” at the third annual Alumni and Friends Symposium April 9 through 11 at the College.
A smart grid delivers electricity from producers to consumers using technology to optimize the use of less expensive power from alternative sources.
Congressman Tonko is a member of the House Committee on Education and Labor and serves on the subcommittees for Higher Education and Healthy Families and Communities. He is also a member of the Committee on Science and Technology. As a member of the New York State Assembly from 1983 to 2007, he served as chairman of a standing committee on energy; after leaving the Assembly, he was president and CEO of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).
Throughout the weekend, guests participated in a series of workshops to examine major issues surrounding America’s development and implementation of a smart electrical grid and propose solutions.
A panel discussion, “Implementing the Smart Grid,” featured David Pacyna ’83, senior vice president and general manager of Siemens Energy Inc.; Kannan Tinnium of General Electric Global Research; Martin Insogna, of the New York State Department of Public Service; Randy A. Bowers, New York Independent System Operator, Inc.; Mary E. Reidy, Smart Technology Center, National Grid; and Ron Ambrosio, IBM Global Research leader, Energy and Utilities Industry.
Richard H.K. Vietor ’67 presented a case study, “Cape Wind: Offshore Wind Energy in the U.S.A.” Vietor is the Paul Whiton Cherington Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Graduate School of Business Administration and senior associate dean for the Asian Initiative.
Gary Cohen ’78, IBM general manager, Global Communications Sector, led a session, “Smart Grid Opportunities and Challenges.”
Last year’s symposium on health care reform featured Ezekiel Emanuel as keynote speaker. Now serving as a health care expert for the White House, he is the brother of Rahm, President Obama’s chief of staff.
The first Alumni and Friends Symposium, held in June 2007, was modeled after the “Moral Dilemmas of Governing” class led for many years by Byron Nichols. Twenty former students of Nichols, a popular political science professor from 1968 to 2008, returned to Union for a spirited discussion on the moral and political issues surrounding illegal immigration.
The program is designed to re-engage alumni in the intellectual life they enjoyed at Union.