Dr. Alexis Kwasinski received the best technical paper award at the 29th International Telecommunications Energy Conference (INTELEC) for the paper entitled Telecom Power Planning for Natural and Man-Made Disasters. The paper, co-authored by Dr. Philip Krein from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, discusses a planning framework to reduce telecommunication network power supply vulnerability during natural and man-made disasters. One of the alternatives suggested in the paper is to use of alternative distributed generation technologies, such as photovoltaic panels, small wind generators, microturbines, and fuel cells, to diversify energy supply. During the presentation of the award, Mr. Grossoni—INTELEC 2007 Chairman—highlighted both the technical value and the social implications of the framework suggested in the paper.

INTELEC is one of the three main annual conferences supported by the IEEE Power Electronics Society. The conference is the main forum dedicated to the analysis and discussion of issues related with telecommunications and data-networks energy systems technologies, and related devices and circuits.