RCES researcher and ELITE Grid lab manager Pasan Gunawardena recently took part in the Global Energy Show Canada 2025, one of North America’s flagship gatherings for innovators shaping the clean-energy future. Stationed at the University of Alberta booth, Pasan championed the U of A’s mission to accelerate the clean-energy transition and presented our latest power-system research related to smart-grid controls and microgrid design.
Throughout the three-day event, Pasan served as both exhibitor and volunteer, helping to keep the show running smoothly while forging new links between RCES and industry leaders. As part of the Energy Influencer Program, he engaged with officials from the Alberta government as well as private company representatives from the smart grid, microgrid, and oil and gas industries to explore:
• reliable power architectures for next-generation AI data centres,
• battery-energy-storage systems (BESS) engineered for Alberta’s extreme cold,
• demand-response strategies tailored to energy-intensive sectors such as bitcoin mining, and
• technology-incubator pathways that pair university labs with private-sector pilots.
These vibrant discussions opened the door to potential partnerships that will help translate RCES innovations into real-world, resilient energy solutions.