In an awards ceremony held recently, the TAG Smart Energy Society honored GE Energy and John McDonald (News - Alert), the company has announced.

“GE is honored to earn the Smart Grid Company of the Year award from Georgia's TAG Society,” said Bob Gilligan, vice president of GE's Digital Energy business based in Atlanta. “We have a unique opportunity to modernize our electrical infrastructure to unleash an entirely new way of life for people around the world. Infusing technologies to manage electric demand – and supply – will help turn our greatest energy challenges into lasting solutions by empowering consumers and improving power reliability.”

To empower smart homes, smart grids and sustainable energy, GE Energy's $15 million, 10,000-square-foot Grid IQ Experience Center showcases the automation and information technologies developed locally. To help explain exactly what the smart grid is, and why it's the future, The Grid IQ Experience Center includes video demonstrations and interactive displays, the company stated in a press release.

McDonald teaches at GE Energy and the Georgia Institute of Technology (News - Alert) and actively participates on the Department of Energy's Smart Grid Electricity Advisory Committee, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association Smart Grid Council, the GridWise Alliance, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association and is a power engineer by trade. McDonald is the chair of the Governing Board of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Smart Grid Interoperability Panel.

Recently, the company announced the availability of its latest software product, Proficy Historian 4.5. This Enterprise Historian solution collects, aggregates and organizes the massive amount of data that exists across organizations enabling effective decision-making and tight governance.

It is easily integrated into any company's enterprise systems portfolio through an open, flexible architecture that easily leverages existing investments. This Enterprise Historian solution collects, aggregates and organizes the massive amount of data.