ABB Energizes Tennessee Tech University's Power Engineering Program


Raleigh, NC - February 29, 2008 - ABB, the leading power and automation technology company, announced it has donated IED 670 power relay equipment and other power products to Tennessee Tech University for use with students and employees of its recently-opened TVA Power Relay Laboratory in Cookeville, Tennessee.

Tennessee Tech's new $500,000 TVA Power Relay Lab, in conjunction with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), will bring both academic and real-life experiences together for electrical, power and computer engineering students at the university.

In addition to the ABB-provided relays and power equipment, the new lab will feature substation digital relay and switching equipment. This equipment is similar to what TVA selected when it replaced its legacy electro-mechanical substations with multifunction digital relays. Tennessee Tech undergraduate and graduate students will be able to set and test digital relays, select voltage transformers, determine relay and transformer taps, conduct research, test protection design schemes and use power system protection technology in a world-class laboratory environment.

"We are grateful to ABB for providing some of the best power relay equipment in the industry for our Power Relay Lab," said James Peterman, chairman of TTU's Industrial Advisory Board for the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. "Our power engineering program will be greatly enhanced by these ABB multi-function relays, as well as first-hand relay engineering knowledge from ABB.

"This support will benefit our students for years to come," Peterman continued, "as they prepare to serve the power industry throughout the region and the world. Tennessee Tech University's relationship with ABB and TVA demonstrates the value and mutual benefit of industry partnerships."

The ABB IED 670 power relay product series provides reliable, efficient and flexible protection, monitoring and control for all applications in sub-transmission and transmission systems. The IED 670 series meets all of the high requirements of the IEC 61850 standard, and are interoperable with other IEC 61850-compliant IEDs, tools and systems. IED 670 products provide extensive communication capabilities and interfaces that provide unrivaled compatibility for both new and retrofit installations.

"ABB is dedicated to building up the next generation of electrical and power engineers," said Mike Barnoski, head of ABB's Power Systems division in North America. "By partnering with top universities and providing students with real-life experience using the most up-to-date power products and technology used to reliably and efficiently light up the world's largest power grids, it is our hope that many talented engineering students will be inspired to pursue a career in the electric power industry."

About ABB

ABB (www.abb.com) is a leader in power and automation technologies that enable utility and industry customers to improve their performance while lowering environmental impact. The ABB Group of companies operates in around 100 countries and employs more than 111,000 people. The company's North American operations, headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, employ about 12,000 people in 20 manufacturing and other major facilities.

For more information, please contact:

ABB Media Relations
Bill Rose
Tel: 919-807-5743
bill.rose@us.abb.com
Raleigh, NC

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