As a part of the "Dr. Anwarul Abedin Lecture Series", a regular development initiative of the American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB), a seminar titled " SMART Power Flow Controllers – A Necessity for Future Power Grid " was organized by Faculty of Engineering (FE). The seminar was presented by renowned researcher Dr. Kalyan Sen (Fellow of IEEE, Fulbright Scholar (US), GIAN Scholar (India), IEEE PES Distinguished Lec.). Dr.Kalyan Sen is also the President & Chief Technology Officer of Sen Engineering Solutions, Inc.

The seminar was held at AIUB Auditorium on February 1, 2023, from 12:30 PM- 2:00 PM with more than 150 participants. Prof. Dr. ABM Siddique Hossain (Professor and Dean, Faculty of Engineering, AIUB) inaugurated the seminar with a welcome speech. He emphasized the importance of power grid control and smart infrastructure in eradicating problems.  Following that the honorable speaker of the seminar Dr. Kalyan Sen discussed the history of technology advancement and spoke of his research and academic experiences. He compared traditional power grids vs modern power grids and identified the challenges brought upon by the latter, such as lack of steady power sources, need for bidirectional controllers and complications related to rights-of-way. He clarified the consequences of free power flow by using the 2003 blackout incident that spanned from New York to Canada. He also briefly discussed the role of autotransformers and phase angle regulators.  Finally, he discussed the role of SMART power flow controllers (SPFC) in future grids and emphasized the importance of cost-effectiveness, component non-obsolescence and interoperability in designing SPFCs.   Prof. Dr. Md. Abdur Rahman (Pro Vice-Chancellor, AIUB) delivered the closing speech and thanked the speaker for his inspiring talk. He also encouraged the students to pursue innovation as engineers. Lastly a token of appreciation was presented to the honorable speaker and a group photo was taken concluding the seminar.