Group AIA flips switch on US headquarters
President of Catalonia, Spain's leading technology region, inaugurates San Francisco offices, sees AIA's power grid management solution in action at PG&E
San Francisco, January 18, 2002 -- Group AIA, an emerging leader in technology innovation for the electric industry, opened its first U.S. office today in the heart of San Francisco's financial district. The President of Spain's Catalonia region, Jordi Pujol-Soley, joined Group AIA CEO, Regina Llopis-Rivas, at the inauguration ceremonies. Grupo AIA, Group AIA's parent company, is headquartered in Barcelona, the capital of Catalonia.
AIA's solution enables electric utilities, independent system operators (ISOs) and regional transmission organizations (RTOs) to more efficiently manage power grids and more quickly restore power after blackouts. PG&E is the company’s first U.S. customer.
“As the demand for electrical power grows in the U.S., utilities are struggling to meet customers' needs. And they're forced to rely on an aging network of transmission lines across the nation,” said Llopis-Rivas. “We are introducing a solution to the U.S. electric industry that, through real-time intelligent observation, dramatically improves efficiency and reliability without requiring a major capital investment to the power grid.”
“We have a new approach to the energy challenges faced by California and many other states,” said AIA General Manager Eric Freeman. “The key is providing system operators with an accurate real-time view of the grid so they can anticipate problems, prevent blackouts, more quickly restore lines and get maximum performance out of the existing infrastructure.”
Pujol-Soley and Llopis-Rivas also met with PG&E CEO Gordon Smith and other senior company officials. They toured the utility’s operations center and discussed PG&E's use of AIA's technology. PG&E, which owns and operates more than 18,000 miles of electricity transmission lines in Northern and Central California, uses AIA solutions to manage the flow of power on those lines.
Group AIA offices are located at 100 Bush Street, Suite 1700, San Francisco, CA, 94104-3919.
Group AIA
Founded in 1988 and based in Barcelona, Spain, Grupo AIA is a technology and software development company that specializes in solving complex problems for the telecommunications, banking and energy industries. The company is known throughout Europe for developing innovative solutions in areas such as electricity demand forecasting, intelligent observation and management of electrical grids and river basin hydro-generation optimization. The company employs more than 100 physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists, electrical and telecommunication engineers.
AIA's energy management division has developed new technology for real-time intelligent observation and management of electricity flow. Public and private power companies use the company's solutions to dramatically improve efficiency of electricity generation, transmission and distribution.
In 2002, the company launched its U.S. operations with the formation of Group AIA, headquartered in San Francisco. Group AIA initially will focus on selling the company’s energy products to utilities, independent system operators and other organizations involved with management of electricity grids throughout North America.
Regina Llopis-Rivas, Co-Founder and CEO, Group AIA
Dr. Llopis-Rivas founded Group AIA and serves as the company's chief executive officer.
She was professor of Mathematics at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Venezuela and visiting professor at Universidad Católica in Chile and the IBM Research Center at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She was also director of the Parque Cientifico de la Universidad de Barcelona (University of Barcelona’s Scientific Research Park), and was chosen to serve as an advisor to FECYT, Spain's recently-established national foundation for science and technology. She holds a PhD in mathematics applied to artificial intelligence from University of California, Berkeley.
Antoni Trias-Bonet, Co-Founder, Vice President of Research and Development, Group AIA
Dr. Trias-Bonet is the main developer of AIA's algorithm for real-time grid observation. He was professor of physics at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Venezuela, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Spain was a visiting professor of physics at the Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, the Physics Institute of Montevideo, Uruguay and the State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook. He is also the author of more than 50 international research publications in high-energy theoretical physics. He holds a PhD in Physics from Universidad de Barcelona, Spain and has completed post-doctoral studies at University of California, Berkeley.
Eric Freeman, Vice President and General Manager, Group AIA, U.S. Operations
Mr. Freeman leads Group AIA's sales, marketing and operations in the U.S. Prior to joining AIA, Freeman was CEO and founder of Cybermoola Inc., and previously held senior marketing and business development positions with technology companies including Oracle and Intershop Communications. He is fluent in Spanish and holds a Master of Arts degree from New York University and a Master's of Business Administration from the Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Contacts:
Eric Freeman
EleQuant
415-981-7000
eric.freeman@elequant.com