Planning: E-RISE: Strategic Technology Advancements for Resilience in North Dakota Energy Systems

This planning project will support the development of a full EPSCoR-Research Incubator for STEM Excellence project in the state of North Dakota. During the planning stage, the project will identify key risks to energy systems in North Dakota and build jurisdiction-wide collaborations across the state. It will search for advanced theories, emerging technologies and tools to strengthen resilience and reliability against extreme weather and cyber threats. To achieve this goal, this project will define priority research areas in enhancing physical, energy-water, and cyber resilience for North Dakota’s energy systems through assessing research capacity, identifying gaps, and outlining practical solutions. It will also explore strategies to strengthen workforce resilience supporting North Dakota’s energy sector. This project will therefore make efforts to support innovation, improve infrastructure reliability, and reduce economic losses from natural and human-caused disruptions. These benefits can extend to all counties in the state and offer insights for broader national applications. Led by North Dakota State University, this project plans to build partnerships with University of North Dakota, Bismarck State College, Minot State University, and Nueta Hidatsa Sahnish College, and engage academic institutions, industries, and communities to expand STEM participation for a skilled and inclusive workforce.

This planning project will establish a jurisdiction-wide collaboration to design a comprehensive research infrastructure focused on enhancing energy resilience and reliability in North Dakota. It will define the scope, priorities, and coordination mechanisms needed to support a future large-scale research and education initiative as an NSF EPSCoR Research Incubators for STEM Excellence (E-RISE) proposal. The intellectual contribution of the planned initiative will include the development of integrated, use-inspired, and bottom-up frameworks that couple physical, water, and cyber resilience of energy systems under extreme conditions. The project will investigate potential solutions that advance knowledge in modeling interdependent energy systems, artificial intelligence, data-driven analysis, risk assessment, and resilience optimization, with an emphasis on scalable and transferable approaches that engage key stakeholders. This project will include capacity assessments, scenario development, and iterative planning processes guided by advisory committees and external facilitation. Led by North Dakota State University and collaborated with academic institutions and industry partners across the state, this effort will also integrate research with workforce development, industry engagement, and cross-sector partnerships to build a sustainable research ecosystem.

This project is supported by the EPSCoR Research Infrastructure Improvement Program: EPSCoR Research Incubators for STEM Excellence (E-RISE). E-RISE supports the development of sustainable research infrastructure and capacity in EPSCoR jurisdictions through collaborative, hypothesis-driven, or problem-driven research and workforce development to improve competitiveness in selected STEM fields.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

Award Number: 2554166
Principal Investigator: Ying Huang
Funds Obligated: $99,690
State: ND