Month: May 2023

By Nicole Wyatt

It wasn’t just the PGA TOUR Champions that hit the links for the 2023 Regions Tradition. This year, everyone got a chance to pick up a club.

Inspired by the 2022 Regions Tradition Celebrity Pro-Am participation of adaptive golfer Chris Biggins, Regions Disability Services and Outreach Manager Kathy Lovell worked with United Ability to get those with all abilities onto the greens.

“I love doing things that are different and offering hope for individuals with disabilities to be able to try new things,” Lovell said. “We had this vision, and it is so wonderful to put that vision together with great partners, great coaches and great support.”

I love doing things that are different and offering hope for individuals with disabilities to be able to try new things.
Kathy Lovell, Regions Disability Services and Outreach Manager

The vision was to show United Ability adult participants that they, too, can play golf. Biggins, along with military hero and sports enthusiast Noah Galloway, Cairns Cup Champion Chris Osborne and Miles College Golf Coach Leonard Smoot came together to present a golf clinic to nearly two dozen participants at the Regions Tradition.

“For them to get to experience the beauty of all of this, getting instruction and encouragement and the hands-on learning is something they’ve never had before,” said David Barry, director of Communications and External Affairs for United Ability. “This is such an amazing opportunity for adult participants in our program to get outdoors, to exercise and to connect to their community, which is part of our mission and vision.”

For Biggins, it means sharing his love of golf even further.

“Golf is a sport that’s made me a person beyond my disability. I’m not a disabled person when I’m on the golf course, I’m a golfer,” Biggins said. “We want to grow the game of golf, we want to show that it’s something that people with disabilities, without disabilities can enjoy and bring them into the world that I’ve found so much love in.”

Golf is a sport that’s made me a person beyond my disability.
Chris Biggins

Lovell said based on the excitement of the participants, she believes the love of the game has permeated the clinic.

“To see the smiles on the faces and to hear the clapping, we’re having fun and that’s what it’s all about: giving back to the community and making a difference in the lives of everyone within our community,” Lovell said.

“I hope they take away that anything is possible and that they’re encouraged by the words they heard because I know Chris, Noah and the others, they’ve all experienced disability in one form or another but yet they’ve overcome it,” Barry said. “Now they’re living their best life which is what we hope the adults in our program do is live their best life every single day and being here makes that happen.”

Smokey tailpipe emissions may soon be a thing of the past, as the heavy transport vehicle market catches up with the electric car market to lower their contribution to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Private sedans and light-duty trucks lead the vehicle electrification race, leaving much upside opportunity for heavy transport fleets such as trucks and buses to catch up.

In the United States, data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reveals that while overall GHG from passenger cars and light-duty trucks declined over the past decade, medium and heavy-duty trucks and buses still chugged out well over 200 teragrams of C02 over the same period (see Figure 1).

In Europe, the transportation industry must urgently decarbonize its trucks and buses to achieve the Paris Agreement target of keeping global warming below 2°C. Although these two heavy road vehicles represent only 2% of vehicles on the road, they emit a quarter of all transport-related GHG. That is according to a study by the non-profit research organization International Council on Clean Transportation.

These data points bode well for automakers who are investing in electrifying their heavy transport vehicle models to tap into the electric truck market growth. Worth only US$2.4 billion in 2022, this market is expected to surpass $15.6 billion by 2030, says a Precedence Research report.

While China takes the lead with the highest number of electric truck registrations globally, supported by a strong EV battery manufacturing industry, other regions are rapidly stepping up their learning curves.

Longer range, faster charging, V2G-enabled

One of the biggest challenges in electrifying heavy vehicles is extending the driving range per hourly charge. Unlike designing passenger sedans, engineers working on the next electric truck model must ensure the battery has enough electric power to ferry heavy loads over longer distances. They also need to factor in fast-charging capabilities and future-proof these electrified fleets for a vital vehicle-to-grid (V2G) role, where EV batteries can serve as mobile power banks on wheels.

Meeting the needs for longer range, faster charging, and future-ready V2G capabilities starts at the battery cell chemistry level. Depending on the battery performance specifications, cell developers need to analyze how each electrochemical cocktail will perform (see examples in Figure 2).

EV battery cells come in different form factors: cylindrical, pouch and prismatic. These cells are connected to form modules and packs. An electric truck can have as many as 20,000 to 30,000 cylindrical cells organized into huge battery packs, with each pack weighing as much as a grand piano.

The different cell chemistries come with trade-offs in weight, capacity, performance, fast-charging capability, packaging, and recyclability. Some battery types require different battery management and thermal management systems, which may add cost and specific packaging requirements to the heavy vehicle. This is where testing at the battery module and pack levels is essential to ensure these heavy-duty electric fleets perform as expected, especially on long-haul journeys.

It is common for electrified heavy vehicles to use battery packs of 800 V and higher. Developing such powerful battery solutions can be costly due to energy consumption, cooling costs, and safety considerations.

This is where regenerative power and new wide bandgap (WBG) power semiconductors such as silicon carbide (SiC) chips enable more efficient battery testing technology. These WBG power devices reduce switching and conduction losses, improving thermal management.

Coupled with regenerative technology, the battery testing process can now recycle as much as 96% of the energy used in testing back to the grid instead of losing it as dissipated heat, which will incur immense air-conditioning cooling costs.

In the foreseeable future, electric transport fleets with high-capacity battery packs will play a key role in enabling the V2G vision.

These battery packs can alleviate concerns of insufficient battery energy storage systems as more renewable energy supplies from wind and solar connect to the grid. The batteries can store excess energy generated by renewable energy sources, and sink the electricity back to the power grid during peak power utilization periods.

The electrification of heavy vehicle fleets holds much potential to contribute to a cleaner transportation future, while helping to lower carbon emissions. Keysight is committed to helping automakers and battery manufacturers with their design and testing needs. Check out our available online resources or contact us to discuss your needs.

The Fort Hills Cares Committee, a group made up of frontline workers and management representatives at our Fort Hills operations, has led a renewed focus on health and safety priorities across the site. Click this link to learn more about their efforts.

“We struggled with attendance at the Fort Hills Joint Worksite Health and Safety committee — a lot of it was down to meeting fatigue from the pandemic and other challenges,” says Jason Wyman, who took over as the management co-chair for the committee in mid-2021. “The committee is structured to focus on health and safety priorities across the site. Its work is important enough that every worksite in Alberta is legislated to have one with representatives from management and the frontline workforce.”  Instead of accepting the status quo, the committee took a new focus and a unique name — the Fort Hills Cares Committee — with some fresh faces around the table of six management and 10 worker representatives from each business area and shift.

It was one of those regular meetings on the calendar where participants didn’t always see the point of attending, let alone participating.

“We struggled with attendance at the Fort Hills Joint Worksite Health and Safety committee — a lot of it was down to meeting fatigue from the pandemic and other challenges,” says Jason Wyman, who took over as the management co-chair for the committee in mid-2021. “The committee is structured to focus on health and safety priorities across the site. Its work is important enough that every worksite in Alberta is legislated to have one with representatives from management and the frontline workforce.”

Instead of accepting the status quo, the committee took a new focus and a unique name — the Fort Hills Cares Committee — with some fresh faces around the table of six management and 10 worker representatives from each business area and shift.

“We wanted to reset the team and bring in different ideas and energy,” says Jason, Director of Tailings Operations at Fort Hills. “We knew we needed a cultural change and saw the committee as a great opportunity to strengthen Human and Organizational Performance principles, which are being introduced across the company to help build a stronger safety mindset, within Suncor’s business. We wanted feedback from our frontline workers and to create a venue to put chronic health and safety issues on the table and jointly solution them.”

The Fort Hills Cares Committee went out of its way to meet with frontline workers and share its mission.

“And we were very intentional in getting in front of workers at toolbox talks and area safety meetings to seek their input,” he says. “We made presentations at the lodges where Fort Hills workers stay while on their shift to encourage them to raise their concerns with their representatives on the committee. The committee’s employee co-chair JM Bilodeau started excellent outreach work and it has continued with Steven Rodger, who replaced him as co-chair in 2022.”

Speaking directly with the workforce highlighted some safety opportunities for the refreshed committee to address along with some solutions.

“We received feedback to establish a new emergency meeting point for the fuel depot at Fort Hills. We also widened mine roads in response to feedback about the sightlines at some mine intersections,” says Steven, a boilermaker who works in Extraction. “Addressing those concerns has helped the committee in its goal to improve the safety culture at Fort Hills.”

That work has extended to recognizing clever ideas put forward by the workforce.

“We created a championship belt similar to what you see worn by boxers or wrestlers and present it to somebody every month who have put forward a great idea to improve safety,” says Steven. “It’s all a part of bringing together front-line workers who are most familiar with the work with leadership, who can remove obstacles. That’s how you drive positive change.”

Energized by Edison

Shulie Tornel ENERGIZED by Edison Writer

From a young age, Janna Lee often visited Morro Bay with her family. She was captivated by the sleepy fishing village’s serene waters and spent hours on the shore exploring and picking out her favorite rocks. Family trips to state and national parks planted a seed in Lee that has bloomed into a deep fondness for the environment. 

Today, Lee devotes as much time as she can to community outreach and volunteering. She serves as the Aquarium of the Pacific’s Teen Science Café Leader and is co-president of Palos Verdes High School’s Science National Honor Society. 

“Instead of just focusing on getting good grades, she got involved with the Point Vicente Interpretive Center as a Junior Docent and the Aquarium of the Pacific. She wanted to broaden her opportunities,” said Jennifer Lee, Janna’s mother. “It took up every weekend. I would always ask, ‘Janna, don’t you need downtime to do other things?’” 

Her answer would always be the same, “Mom, my downtime is for the Aquarium of the Pacific and volunteering.” 

Lee plans to attend the University of California, Berkeley this fall. “I hope to study environmental science and policy, how humans interact with nature and how we can protect it,” Lee said. “I live by the ocean and I’ve visited every national park. I want to do something to give back to our planet.” 

Lee is among 30 high school seniors across Southern California Edison’s service area selected as 2023 Edison Scholars. The annual Edison International program recognizes students who are committed to working toward positive change in the world. Each Edison Scholar receives $50,000 to help them pursue a college degree in science, technology, engineering or math (STEM). The program is fully funded by shareholders. 

Steven Powell, SCE president and CEO, surprised Lee and her family during a recent lunch period to deliver the good news.

“For Southern California students, this scholarship can help close the gap in their financial ability to pursue the education they need to fulfill their dreams,” Powell said. “We are proud to help these students as they make their impact on the world and look forward to them joining us in building a clean energy future.” 

Scholars who meet the minimum requirements and complete the required screening are also eligible for a paid summer internship with SCE upon completing their first year of college. 

When classes at Palos Verdes High School moved to a virtual environment, Julie Maemoto, science teacher and advisor of the Science National Honor Society, fondly recalls meeting Lee in her anatomy and physiology honors class. 

“She stood out in a COVID year where students were behind the screen,” Maemoto said. “Her engagement in great discussions, in small groups and as a sophomore in a senior class made her a leader for me that year.”

Loraine Loh-Norris, a math teacher and Palos Verdes High School engineering department chair, expects Lee to embrace policy and law and find like-minded students in college. 

“This scholarship is going to allow her to take advantage of more opportunities in college. Hopefully, she’s going to help our world with our current climate and global issues and make a huge impact,” Loh-Norris said. 

Lee plans to do exactly that in college and beyond. “Plants can’t speak for themselves and I hope to advocate for them and the planet. I hope my future education and career will make a difference on our planet.” 

Learn more about the scholarship program at edison.com/edisonscholars

CONTRIBUTORS

PHOTO CREDIT: ERNESTO SANCHEZ

VIDEO CREDIT: ERNESTO SANCHEZ AND JOSEPH FOULK