Active Power Donates Equipment to Louisiana State University to Expand Research and Development Efforts

The Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) Department at Louisiana State University recently acquired an equipment donation from Austin, Texas based Active Power, inventor and manufacturer of flywheel based uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems. The equipment was donated on April 21, 2009.

"Active Power's generous contribution will prove vital to the enhancement of the Electrical Power Research Laboratory,” said Jorge Aravena, Louisiana State University ECE Department Interim Chair. "The advancements Active Power has made with flywheel technology is impressive and the fact the company was willing to donate one of its flywheels to our department will help both our near and long term research efforts.”

The donation, which included a flywheel and power electronics modules, is necessary in the revitalization of ECE’s Power Program spearheaded by Professor Leszek Czarnecki. In the near term, the donated equipment will allow for the completion of an ECE doctoral student’s dissertation project, "Compensation of Fast Varying Loads.” Active Power’s contribution will also play a key role in the research and development of compensators.

"Many of Active Power’s initial product concepts originated at the university level before we commercialized our technology so we understand the importance of collaboration between university and industry,” said Karl Schuetze, vice president, Engineering at Active Power. "We’re excited to have the opportunity to donate a flywheel and additional equipment to the department’s Power Program.”

The flywheel is an energy storage device that stores energy as its speed increases and expends energy as its speed decreases. Active Power utilizes flywheel energy storage in UPS applications to provide power protection to mission critical environments including data centers, healthcare facilities, manufacturing plants and broadcast stations. Founded in 1992, Active Power has shipped more than 2,100 flywheels with deployments in more than 40 countries. As a result, the company’s flywheel technology has aggregated more than 55 million hours of field runtime.

About Active Power

Active Power (NASDAQ: ACPW) provides efficient, reliable and green critical power solutions and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems to enable business continuity in the event of power disturbances. Founded in 1992, Active Power’s flywheel-based UPS systems protect critical operations in data centers, healthcare facilities, manufacturing plants, broadcast stations and governmental agencies in more than 40 countries. With expert power system engineers and worldwide services and support, Active Power ensures organizations have the power to perform. For more information, please visit www.activepower.com.