California’s utilities are using drones, sensors, artificial intelligence, and machine learning to reduce wildfire risk in ways that would seem like science fiction a few years ago.

Their project prevents mylar balloons from causing a blackout or fire when they float into a power line.

“The hacker can ramp down or up the DC power. We monitor those. If the behavior is not consistent with normal operation, we stop the command from being executed.”

“In nuclear construction, inspecting by removing samples from the structure is not desirable. That is when nondestructive evaluation becomes a key factor in allowing us to inspect.”

“We’re extending our modeling tools to be able to capture this new set of technologies, thinking about where they might be in 10, 20 or 30 years.”

“The RealWear device is a voice activated technology that reduces costs and make us more effective. At its core, it’s a safety technology that makes people hands free.”

“These automations are going to help Ameren save costs and in turn help reduce the bills for Ameren customers.”

“All of what we would do if we were in the plant, we can do right there in the virtual space. As an instructor, I can sit and watch everybody. The workers loved it.”

Through these profiles we aim to learn what drove the innovation, what's its essential benefit, and what aspect of their accomplishments did the innovators find most rewarding?

We selected the most outstanding in these ten categories: distributed generation, drones, environmental protection, microgrids, renewables integration, reliability and resilience, robotics, transmission, virtual reality, and wearables.