Get to know the researchers: Francisco Neto
Solving the world’s present problems requires innovators and creative thinkers. This is especially true in the area of energy and the power grid. As the power industry pivots to decentralized and green energy, thinkers like Francisco Neto at Burns & McDonell are needed to solve challenges by bringing their unique perspectives to global problems.
Francisco’s career started when he graduated with a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kansas in 2013. Since then, he has been in the engineering consulting industry for 10 years. He spent the first 4 years of his career at Burns & McDonnell involved in telecommunications projects. During this time, his engineering and design experience spanned through microwave backbone, fiber and MPLS networks, and a power resiliency effort consisting of the addition of generators and battery storage in substation yards.
In 2017, Francisco started a major shift in his career when he took a field assignment opportunity in California to be involved in a grid-wide Hosting Capacity Analysis (HCA) project with more than 20 engineers. During this time, he started gaining very useful distribution grid experience that now includes feeder model validation, feeder design, load capacity and resiliency studies, smart inverter studies, OH and UG distribution line engineering and design, and construction coordination with field personnel. He has been involved in Distribution ever since.
Francisco has brought this large range of experiences in telecommunications and distribution to the U.S.-India CollAborative For Smart DiStribution System With Storage (UI-ASSIST) consortium, which is a six-year, $30 million project to help advance the development of the power grid. This project is split up in 11 different themes that each comprise a different topic and/or research area. Francisco has been involved, for the most part, in themes 2 for Distribution System Modeling and Benchmark system development, 5 for Cybersecurity, and 8 for Lab Testing and Validation.
As part of UI-ASSIST, Francisco has presented two workshops to expand on the capabilities of our Kansas City Networks, Integration and Automation Lab, the Houston PowerAlly Power Management System Lab and our other regional labs. The main goal of these workshops was to increase collaboration with the many parties involved in UI-ASSIST through the increased use of our labs.
Francisco also wrote, in collaboration with Washington State University and some other engineers at Burns & McDonnell, a report on Alternative Communication Technologies and Cybersecurity Considerations in Distributed Energy Resource (DER)-Rich Distribution Systems. DER refers to small generation units that are located on the consumer’s side of the meter. Some examples include roof top solar photovoltaic units, wind-generating units and battery storage. This report is split into three main parts discussing communications, networking and cybersecurity, as they relate to DER-rich systems. It focuses on comparing the features of currently available communication and networking technologies, analyzing their metrics, and exploring how to protect the assets involved in this communication interchange from cybersecurity threats. The report concludes with a cybersecurity framework that details the cybersecurity subcategories and describes the guidance associated with each.
This report has led to an additional workshop to summarize the key points in the report while promoting discussions between the consortium members and also led to the use of the Burns & McDonnell lab to develop test scenarios discussed in the report. These test scenarios have the main goal of determining additional metrics associated with each communications technology included in the report. The testing is ongoing and will result in an additional report to summarize the teams’ findings.
Outside of work, Francisco enjoys both playing and watching soccer. He still follows the team from his hometown in Brazil and has gone to great lengths to be able to watch every single game of the season. He also plays in the Lawrence-KS Adult Soccer League on the weekends. He enjoys spending time and playing with his 4 year-old daughter Alice and going to movies and eating at nice restaurants with his wife Abby.