Dr. B. Don Russell, professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University, has been named a Distinguished Member by the Council of Large Electric Power Systems (CIGRE). The award was presented in Washington, D.C. at the annual meeting of the United States Committee of CIGRE.
The designation of distinguished member is given to those few individuals who have demonstrated long-term commitment to CIGRE’s objectives of improving the reliability and availability of electric power worldwide.
Russell, the Harry E. Bovay, Jr. Chair Professor in the department, has served as a member of the administrative committee of CIGRE, chair of the technical committee for the United States and currently serves as vice president for administration of the United States CIGRE Secretariat. He previously received the Atwood Award from CIGRE.
Russell is a University Distinguished Professor and Regents Professor of The Texas A&M University System, and serves as director of the Power Systems Automation Laboratory in the department. He is a member and vice chair for membership of the National Academy of Engineering and is past president of the IEEE Power and Energy Society. He is in his 39th year on the faculty of Texas A&M.
Russell is internationally recognized for his development of automated techniques for detecting arcing faults and failures on electric power systems. His recent work has emphasized predictive diagnostic tools for detecting failing power system equipment before catastrophic failure. This will allow utilities to repair systems before an outage occurs. His work is currently being extended to detect power system failures that cause wildfires, an area of great importance given the increasing drought conditions in the United States.
CIGRE is an international organization of 90 countries with each country represented by a national committee. It is the largest international technical organization in the electric power industry.