A resident of Astoria, Queens has won a prestigious award for helping develop a system energy companies can use to evaluate their substation cyber security protections. 
Arman Shiplu, a section manager in Con Edison's Protective Systems Testing department, was named a winner of the Technology Transfer Award from the Electric Power Research Institute.
Photo: Arman Shiplu of Con Edison
Shiplu, who has worked for Con Edison since June 2002, was one of three Con Edison employees who earned a Technology Transfer Award for their work on the project. The system they developed can help energy companies plan investments to protect their systems and customers.
The others on the project were William Vesely, a project specialist in Control Systems Engineering, and Selena Ley, a technical specialist in Corporate Security.
In addition, two Con Edison researchers were honored for other projects.
James Skillman, a customer project manager in Distribution Planning, helped develop a model that uses data such as energy prices, borrowing costs, the cost of solar panels and local income levels to predict the number of customers who will choose solar over a given period of time.
Energy companies like Con Edison can use the information to help plan how they deploy and manage solar energy on their electric-delivery systems in ways that keep service reliable for all customers.
Andrew Reid, a senior planning analyst in Distributed Resource Integration, won for research into the planning, designing and operation of microgrids.
Microgrids are local energy networks that are able to separate from the larger electrical grid during extreme weather events or emergencies, providing power to individual customers and crucial public services such as hospitals, first responders, and water treatment facilities.
"Rapid advances in technology give us new ways to serve customers, but also challenge us to understand complex, new concepts," said Tim Cawley, the president of Con Edison. "The work our researchers have done with EPRI will help Con Edison and other energy companies keep their service safe and reliable as customer needs and technology continue to evolve."
