Ian Grant named TVA Engineer of the Year
Ian Grant, an engineer at TVA for the past two decades who works on transmission and power control, has earned the utility’s highest engineering honor.
Grant is being recognized as the 2020 winner of the Ike Zeringue Engineer of the Year award, which is named after the former TVA president, and will be one of the top 10 finalists for the Federal Engineer of the Year award to be presented in February.
Grant’s work at TVA helps guard against massive power failures that could cost billions of dollars in lost economic activity. He leads TVA’s research on electromagnetic pulse effects, including establishing a grid response model to severe geomagnetic disturbances such as solar storms and initiating a geomagnetically induced current blocker to meet Department of Energy
requirements.
“TVA employees are the best in the nation, and each year, we have the distinct pleasure of recognizing an individual who exemplifies excellence in the engineering field and commitment to TVA’s mission of service,” TVA President Jeff Lyash said in announcing the award. “Ian’s leadership to protect the nation’s electric grid is a direct link to helping TVA deliver reliable, lowcost, clean energy — a key factor when companies choose to relocate or expand in our region.”
Lyash said Grant helps make sure TVA’s transmission system operates at the highest levels of reliability – 99.999% power reliability since 2000.
With other top utility and academic reseachers, Grant has published 10 Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers authorized papers on transmission, energy storage and other utility programs and challenges.
“Ian has distinguished himself as an industry leader whose research is being used to keep electricity flowing to our homes and businesses,” said Aaron Melda, TVA’s senior vice president for transmission and power supply. “More important, his work contributes directly to securing the United States’ bulk-power system from events that could significantly degrade critical infrastructure or disable large portions of the electrical grid.”
Grant is a graduate of the University of New Zealand and holds a master of engineering from the University of New South Wales. A highlight of Grant’s 50-year engineering career before he joined TVA was working on NASA’s Apollo 16 mission.