Mark earned a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Electrical Engineering. He is an active member of the Utilimetrics Education Committee and has presented numerous papers at various conferences, including Distributech, AMRA, and TechAdvantage.

REPRESENTATIVE EXPERIENCE

• Assisted with development of Meter Data Management system requirements and vendor selection criteria for New Brunswick Power
• Helped to establish Meter Data Management Roadmap for Great River Energy and its member cooperatives
• Developed requirements and assisted implementation of integration of a bill payment kiosk to the billing system for Brunswick Electric Membership Cooperative
• As Marketing Director for DCSI/Aclara Technologies, helped develop overall strategy based on industry requirements for Demand Response and Home Area Networking
• Developed requirements and implementation plan for first electricity prepayment system utilizing and fully integrating with AMI technology
• Architected and developed some of the first systems capable of delivering real time energy usage information to utility customers through the use of meter communications and in home display devices.
• Served several progressive utilities, including PacifiCorp, Hydro Quebec, Ameren UE, Oncor and Duke Energy, as well as a number of electric cooperatives and several utilities in New Zealand

UISOL Solution: Working closely with partner TIBCO, UISOL delivered services including business process modeling and analysis, requirements specifications and systems integration architecture/design. UISOL also completed data modeling, developed a set of CIM messages, implemented test strategy, and built the production integration environment.

Benefits and Results: The project was successfully delivered into production and WAPA met its objectives for a scalable and robust integration with SMUD. UISOL has been contracted by WAPA to provide additional services and support to for projects including a technology platform upgrade.

UISOL Solution: The MRTU program was launched by CAISO to implement better flexibility and control over competitive electric wholesale market design functions. It involves a number of new systems to provide added functionality and/or to replace legacy CAISO systems, as well as the integration with other existing CAISO systems requiring varying degrees of enhancement. The net result is a set of integrated new and existing systems that provide a new competitive market for CAISO. Approximately 30 systems, applications, and databases will be integrated as part of MRTU into the new market design. To assure long-term viability and flexibility of the new market design, a Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) will be used for system integration. Various integration technologies will be assembled to achieve the SOA. System interfaces will be exposed as services that are based upon industry standards such as Web Services and the IEC Common Information Model.

Benefits and Results: The CAISO, UISOL, and a UISOL business partner comprised the MRTU system integration team. The system integration implementation was divided in two stages. In stage one UISOL helped set up the SOA infrastructure and implement it using a pilot. Stage two then used the delivered infrastructure to implement the rest of MRTU system integration. UISOL provided support for phase one of this project including consulting on use of CIM in data architecture and service definitions, system integration testing strategy and plans, and test environment design recommendations.

UISOL Solution: Working closely with PG&E staff, UISOL performed a needs assessment, developed requirements specifications and a high-level design and delivered an implementation roadmap for the PG&E IDSM clearinghouse. Project services provided by UISOL included development of requirements specifications, process modeling and simulation, system architecture, roadmap development and system data model. Selected systems involved in the project included SAP, Oracle CCB, and Aclara/Nexus.

Benefits and Results: The IDSM Clearinghouse will facilitate coordination of energy efficiency efforts of PG&E, local government initiatives, and third party partnerships. IDSM will streamline transactions among parties and will generate reports for PG&E and program participants.

UISOL Solution: UISOL performs compliance testing and interoperability testing. Compliance testing seeks to verify that the vendor software imports and exports the data required, and in the format defined by the specification, which is based on XML Schemas. Software may be tested for batch compliance, web services compliance, or both. Interoperability testing seeks to verify that two pieces of software, often from different vendors, interact in a manner that provides useful business function for an electric utility using MultiSpeak-defined functionality.

Benefits and Results: Since beginning work as certified test agent, UISOL has completed the successful integration tests between over 20 systems and vendors. This program helps provide member cooperatives and other users of the specification with a certified and efficient approach to integration for a wide range of key systems that support a range of business processes and functionality including:

• Customer Billing
• Connect / Disconnect / Power Limitation
• Call Handling
• Customer Relationship Management
• GIS
• Engineering Analysis
• Finance and Accounting
• Load Management
• Load Profile
• Meter Reading
• Outage Detection & Analysis
• SCADA

UISOL Solution:  By working with OMS and mobile data experts at UISOL, KCPL was able to continue an ongoing OMS upgrade and mobile integration project and deliver the system to production for users on time and as planned. In addition, UISOL provides ongoing 24×7 system support for this mission critical platform.

Benefits & Results: As the result of the services and support provided by UISOL, KCP&L was able to complete delivery of an ongoing system project without interruption, saving months of project delivery time and associated expenses. The resulting system in production ensures that KCPL can provide its customers with reliable power service and rapid and safe restoration of power during system disturbances. During this project, UISOL provided testing of key system integration components and services for production cutover. UISOL provides ongoing maintenance and support of the system and the associated integration.  UISOL worked with KCP&L systems including Oracle OMS, Intergraph Mobile Data, and IBM Websphere.

Since 1999, the MultiSpeak integration specification has helped vendors and utilities develop interfaces so that software products from different vendors can interoperate without requiring the development of extensive custom programming. As a result, MultiSpeak has lowered the cost and risk of application integration for utilities. Since 2005, UISOL has completed certification testing for over 20 vendors and systems in its role as MultiSpeak independent certification agent.
UISOL Vice President Terry Nielsen remarked, “We’re delighted to extend our contract relationship with MultiSpeak.

UISOL drives open integration standards as a foundation of our smart integration approach that lowers the cost and increases the flexibility of the services and solutions we deliver to our utility industry customers.”

Using a fully automated test harness, UISOL performs testing requested by system vendors and issues compliance certificates for conforming software. In recent years, the list of certified MultiSpeak interoperable systems has grown to include a wide range of advanced metering, outage management, SCADA and customer information systems.

Bob Saint, NRECA’s MultiSpeak program manager said, “The utility members of our collaborative gain significant added value from projects that incorporate certified interoperable vendor products. Our continuing partnership with UISOL enables a cost effective approach to our ongoing independent certification testing program.”

Nielsen concluded, “UISOL commits to the advancement of MultiSpeak not only in our role as compliance testing agent, but also in our capacity as a certified MultiSpeak system integrator for utilities of all sizes.”

About UISOL

Utility Integration Solutions, Inc. (UISOL) is the utility industry business integration specialist. UISOL offers a range of services to help its clients transform their business performance through the power of smart integration for market operations, advanced metering, smart grid systems, meter data management and more. Visit www.uisol.com or call 925-939-0449.

UISOL CONTACTS:

About the MultiSpeak Initiative

The MultiSpeak Initiative fosters business process improvement and simplifies data integration at electric cooperatives through collaboration between NRECA and more than 40 software companies and consultants who serve electric utilities. MultiSpeak has released a series of specifications that enable popular utility software applications to exchange data in a predetermined manner.

MultiSpeak3, the latest release, has defined 30 interfaces that encompass nearly every commonly used software application deployed at electric distribution co-ops, including automatic meter reading, customer information system, customer relationship management, engineering analysis, load management, mapping, outage management, SCADA, and staking. To view the specification and for more information, visit www.multispeak.org.

MultiSpeak CONTACTS:

LAFAYETTE, CA – May 14, 2008 Utility Integration Solutions, Inc. (UISOL), the utility industry business integration specialist, announced today that it recently completed shipment of its latest release of CIMvian to global users. 

CIMvian is USIOL’s free to license IEC Common Information Model management tool that helps utilities expand their use of CIM with capabilities for network visualization, connectivity analysis, and editing of CIM schemas and XML files.

The rapidly growing CIMvian user community is comprised of dozens of utilities and technology providers from across the USA and international locations including Russia, France and South Africa among others. CIMvian allows users to graphically browse, edit, search, and validate their CIM XML model files while providing an environment that ensures common information model maintenance for multi-system deployments.

A leading proponent of utility open integration standards, UISOL has carefully built a reputation for its successful delivery of business transformation integration services. “We built and maintain CIMvian to support our own integration teams and we made it available for free license in keeping with our belief that open standards, particularly the IEC CIM, must underpin the successful realization of the smart grid vision taking hold across the utility industry,” said UISOL CEO Ali Vojdani.   

Ali Vojdani, a PhD in electrical engineering with over 27 years experience in the utility industry, co-founded UISOL six years ago to serve the unique integration and business process management needs of utility companies and independent system operators. UISOL has since grown rapidly and now serves over 40 customers worldwide. 

At the invitation of ABB, UISOL will be exhibiting and demonstrating CIMvian at the upcoming ABB User Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico, June 1-4, 2008. For additional information on CIMvian email cimvian@uisol.com.

About UISOL 

Utility Integration Solutions, Inc. (UISOL) is the utility industry business integration specialist. UISOL offers a range of services to help its clients transform their business performance through the power of smart integration for market operations, advanced metering, smart grid systems, meter data management, and more. Visit  www.uisol.com; or call 925-939-0449.

CONTACTS:

UISOL Media Relations:
Don McDonnell
don@themcdonnellgroup.com
404-583-0003

UISOL Sales:
Mark Triplett
mtriplett@uisol.com
916-247-5171

UISOL Founder and CEO Ali Vojdani was selected in the Vision category – as an industry professional who demonstrates a vision of connectivity between various industries, technologies, and energies through advocacy, promotion, educational, and training efforts.

Ali Vojdani, a PhD in electrical engineering with over 27 years experience in the utility industry, co-founded UISOL six years ago to serve the unique integration and business process management needs of utility companies and independent system operators. UISOL has since grown rapidly and now serves over 40 customers worldwide.

“We are honored to be recognized along with such a distinguished list of fellow nominees,” said Mark Triplett, UISOL’s Chief Operating Officer. “You’ll never meet a harder working CEO than Ali and it’s gratifying to see his vision taking shape and the whole company receiving peer recognition for their efforts.”

UISOL’s second finalist ranking came in the ‘Open Initiative’ category, for its work implementing the Demand Response Business Network (DRBizNet) in California.

DRBizNet offers the potential of a flexible and intelligent demand response network based on open standards for data exchange and business process integration. The Open Initiative category recognizes those who launch key initiatives “to enable or otherwise forward the subject of connecting intelligent systems.”

Since formation in 2002, UISOL has carefully built a reputation for its successful delivery of business transformation integration services. In 2007, while achieving a 100% satisfaction rating, UISOL more than doubled its revenues and staff drawn to the company’s culture of innovation and expertise.

The Buildy winners will be chosen by attendees at Connectivity Week, May 20 – 22, 2008 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, a national convention which draws leaders from many sectors of the energy industry. For more information visit: www.connectivityweek.com.

About UISOL

Utility Integration Solutions, Inc. (UISOL) is the utility industry business integration specialist. UISOL offers a range of services to help its clients transform their business performance through the power of smart integration for market operations, advanced metering, smart grid systems, meter data management and more. Visit HYPERLINK www.uisol.com or call 925-939-0449.

CONTACTS:

UISOL Media Relations:
Don McDonnell
don@themcdonnellgroup.com
404-583-0003

UISOL Sales:
Mark Triplett
mtriplett@uisol.com