Partnering to Benefit the Grid Research Community
GridBright, Inc.
GridBright specializes in secure and sustainable grid technology. It provides comprehensive utility control room solutions, renewable and storage interconnection solutions, cybersecure systems integration, and related advisory services. Our customers include some of the largest utilities and renewables developers in North America. GridBright also works closely with the US Department of Energy, and in collaboration with over 50 organizations across the power industry, to address some of the most pressing challenges of the energy transition.
GridBright developed the BetterGrids repository and founded BetterGrids Foundation with funding from DOE ARPA-E. GridBright hosts and operates the BetterGrig.org WEB site and the repository and administers the data curation process for the repository. A number of GridBright employees volunteer time, skills and experience to the repository operations and administration of BetterGrids Foundation. GridBright, Inc. is also a financial contributor to BetterGrids.org.
Qualus
Qualus is a leading power consulting, engineering, and technical services firm partnering with utility, commercial, industrial, and government clients to provide robust solutions to the increasingly complex power infrastructure challenges. The firm plays a vital role in the modernization of the electric power infrastructure, decarbonization of the economy, and the broader energy transition. With a focus on quality and technical excellence, our team of highly skilled professionals provides end-to-end services to clients across the United States.
In October 2023 Qualus acquired GridBright, Inc., that originally developed the grid data repository, and has been supporting the evolution and maintenance of the repository on a voluntary basis.
Opus One Solutions
Opus One Solutions is a software engineering and solutions company with the vision of a digitalized, decentralized and decarbonized planet. Its intelligent energy networking platform, GridOS®, optimizes complex power flows so that it can deliver real-time energy management and integrated planning to distribution utilities and other managers of distributed energy assets. GridOS is modular, scalable, and integrates seamlessly with existing data systems to unlock greater potential for distributed energy resources, including renewable generation, energy storage, and responsive demand. GridOS also facilitates the management of microgrids — from homes to businesses to communities — for unparalleled grid resiliency and value to the electricity customer.
Opus One integrates their GRIDOS-Integrated Distribution Planning (IDP) capability with the BetterGrids repository supporting the amplification of repository use among their network of network planning and operations community participants. A number of Opus One Solutions employees volunteer time, skills and experience to the repository operations.
Access to the freeware version of the GridOS Integrated Distribution Planning (IDP) tool: https://www.opusonesolutions.com/idp-signup/
DataCapable
DataCapable Inc focuses on closing the communication gap between businesses and the communities they serve with a focus on critical events that impact the safety of people, places and assets. The DataCapable Platform is powered by patented artificial intelligence machine-learning algorithms and skilled human-in-the-loop analysts focused on increasing safety and communication through real-time discovery, contextualization, reporting and visualization, and includes five platform components that work in unison; Threat Detection and Contextualization, industry-leading Outage + Event Maps, live app-free Field-View Video, a dynamic Energy Efficiency Portal, as well as a unique Community Portal for civic/utility operations and emergency management coordination.
DataCapable employees volunteer time, skills and experience to the BetterGrids Technical and Grant Committees. DataCapable has been a financial contributor to BetterGrids.org.
The Hoveida Family Foundation
The Hoveida Family Foundation is a philanthropic organization dedicated to the promotion of scientific and engineering education and research in order to make the world a better place for all humanity.
The Hoveida Family Foundation is a private philanthropic organization based in the State of Washington. It provides grants for scientific causes which would make people’s lives better and those causes that positively impact the environment. The Family has prospered through science and engineering education and applying that education to entrepreneurial endeavors, creating world-class engineering businesses to create Family’s wealth. In return, the Family has dedicated part of this wealth to support Sciences and Scientific philanthropic causes. You can learn more at https://hoveidafoundation.org
About Bahman Hoveida
Mr. Bahman Hoveida is a senior electrical engineer who has been applying his engineering and entrepreneurial skills to solve crucial problems for electrical utilities in the USA and Internationally. After working in varying capacities at Harris-GE, Control Data-Siemens and Energy Control and Consultants/KEMA, Mr. Hoveida founded Open Systems International, Inc. (OSI) in 1992. His drive for technical excellence, pragmatic and practical solutions, superb customer service, unwavering ethics, and integrity, and fostering a nurturing and technically challenging work environment for his company’s employees has been imperative in the growth of OSI. Mr. Hoveida retired from OSI in 2021 and began this charitable foundation, as well as mentoring and investing in entrepreneurial startups related to science and engineering – especially those focused on power and energy. In addition to leading the Hoveida Family Foundation, he is also President and Founder of Accurant International, https://accurantllc.com/.
The Vojdani Family Trust
The Vojdani Family Trust has made annual donations to the BetterGrids Foundation since 2017. Its Trustee, Dr. Ali Vojdani, serves as the BetterGrids Foundation President on a volunteer basis.
Rimation
Rimation is a custom solutions engineering firm that specializes in embedded electronics design, application software development, and renewable systems integration. We are a global innovator of technologies that embrace new concepts + the unknown. Our clients range from individual entrepreneurs to yacht manufacturing firms to the U.S. Department of Energy as well as U.S. Department of Defense contractors. Notable projects we have brought to reality include: Shock-hardened missile electronics; Peer-to-peer energy trading & energy management platform with blockchain-based smart contracts for microgrid and demand-response applications; as well as one of the world’s first containerized Hydrogen compression & extraction systems built for the largest natural gas distribution utility in the US. At Rimation, we make Imaginations Reality.
Rimation supports BetterGrids’ mission of furthering research and education in grid optimization, resiliency, and distributed resource integration by contributing to the BetterGrids Grid Data Repository as well as the BetterGrids Technical Committee.