Sketching the Invisble

Sketching the Invisible: Student Views from a Power Systems Journey

An energy revolution is underway, and needs to accelerate to support climate and economic goals. But the general citizenry does not understand our current energy systems, particularly the seemingly invisible phenomena of electricity, and its generation, distribution, and use. Addressing this challenge is the purpose of a grand challenge course called "Power Systems Journey: Making the Invisible, Visible and Actionable." Co-instructors, Jonee Kulman Brigham and Paul Imbertson have curated an exhibit focused on sketches made by their students in the class.

The sketches follow the student's journey from the lighting system in the Bell Museum, upstream to various power plants and transmission lines of the electric power grid, to a substation, and back to the Bell Museum where the electric light meets its final use. This experiential exploration of our current electric power grid gave students a foundation of understanding about the grid's challenges and opportunities. Based on this and other explorations summarized in the exhibit, students proposed and promoted solutions for the electric grid of the future as part of society's energy transition in progress.

The exhibit opens Wednesday, December 4, 2019. There is a public reception Thursday, December 5, 2019 from 4pm - 6pm with a brief program at 5:00 pm. The location is Institute on the Environment, Commons Meeting and Art Space, LES Building, 1954 Buford Avenue, St. Paul Campus, University of Minnesota. Confirm open hours at http://environment.umn.edu/commons

Learn more about the course at www.powersystemsjourney.net

Sketching the Invisible, Student Views from a Power Systems Journey

Curated by Jonee Kulman Brigham and Paul Imbertson

Student Contributors:

Harith Al Maskari, Mohammed Al-Hinaai, Mohammed Almadani, Lilli Ambort, Mike Anderson, Adugna Berkessa, Hannah Bodmer, Corey Bracken, Chanyoung Cheong, Jose Coelho Neto, Alise Cook, Neva Hubbert, Philip Hult, Brody Hultman, Lucas Jackson, Elizabeth Levang, Braden Lindberg, Melissa Linville, Parisa Mokhtari, William O'Connor, Sheila Peyraud, Priyanka Saglani, Chi Vang, Jie Yang, Abdul A'zim Bin Zamri, Xiaohang Zhi

Acknowledgements:

We would like to thank the Bell Museum and Amber Kastner for providing a such meaningful interpretive hub for the class to launch their exploration of the electric grid, for guidance on informal public science communication, and for inviting students to host a “Power Pop-Up” exhibit in the Imagine the Future Gallery. We would also like to acknowledge the many partners and friends of the class who offered tours, conducted experiential climate simulations, and shared their wisdom in guest lectures: Brian Henke, Kabir Dogubo, Mike Asmussen, David Christiansen, Kevin DeRuyscher, Michael Noble, Julia Nerbonne, Massoud Amin, Beth Mercer-Taylor, Aaron Hanson, Stuart Hansen, Anders Sonnenburg, and Lisa Chaput. We thank the Grand Challenge curriculum program which made this class possible, the Institute on the Environment for hosting this exhibit, and our teaching assistant, Anders Hopkins. Most of all, we wish to thank our students for going on this journey together with us as we learn from the energy systems and stories of the past and imagine new energy stories about an electric grid that supports our just and sustainable energy transition to a new future.