Simulation to Lab Demo to Field Demonstrations Lessons Learned from International Research Collaborations

In 2017, the US-India collAborative for smart diStribution System wIth STorage (UI-ASSIST) was announced as the third collaborative project between Department of Science & Technology, GOI through Indo-US Science and Technology Forum and US Department of Energy under the Joint Clean Energy Research and Development Center program. UI-ASSIST is a $30M, 6-year research project to leverage expertise in universities, national laboratories, research centers, electric utilities, and technology providers in the two countries to collaboratively develop local solutions with global impacts related to advanced green distribution systems, including microgrids, and to develop a future workforce that considers international perspectives. The UI-ASSIST team brings together 14 partners in India and 15 partners in the US for ambitious technology advancement goals. This panel will discuss the lessons learned over the first five years of the collaboration related to moving R&D into field demonstrations, international collaborations and workforce development.