Austin February 2018 Luncheon

"Assessing the Livability and Technological Compatibility of an Independent, Interactive, and Sustainable Water and Power Home Utility System"

Dr. Brian Ancell will discuss a Texas Tech project that aims to develop a transformational home water and power utility model and is intended to bring several economic, environmental, and sustainability benefits to residents of West Texas. The majority of both power and water will be generated and stored onsite, and probabilistic forecasts from the Texas Tech University operational weather prediction system will serve as a key input to help guide smart utility use. The work will focus on developing and testing an interactive home utility management system with actual residents, and will take steps to prepare the home to infiltrate the local mainstream home market.

Dr. Brian Ancell came to Texas Tech University in January of 2010 from the University of Washington where he received a Ph.D. in Atmospheric Sciences. His work focuses on the simulation and predictability of the atmosphere, and many of his projects involve the understanding of the specific mechanisms through which chaos reduces the quality of forecasts of high-impact features such as severe thunderstorms and wind power. Dr. Ancell maintains a regional, high-resolution atmospheric prediction system that both provides valuable guidance to the National Weather Service and is being commercialized toward use in the agricultural, alternative energy, and transportation sectors. Dr. Ancell also studies inadvertent weather modification, for which he is attempting to understand how changes made to the atmosphere through human activities such as irrigation, urban development, and wind farms evolve downstream to produce nonlocal changes to our weather.  Much of Dr. Ancell's current work focuses on integrating probabilistic weather forecast information into technologies that can mitigate issues involved with utility vulnerability and environmental impacts.  One primary project involves the development of a home utility management system that generates and stores both water and power onsite, and includes a key social science aspect instrumental to its development.