{"id":271582,"date":"2026-05-15T00:23:07","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T00:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/271582\/"},"modified":"2026-05-15T00:23:07","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T00:23:07","slug":"a-futuristic-approach-to-minimizing-power-outages","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/271582\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018futuristic\u2019 approach to minimizing power outages"},"content":{"rendered":"

A team of University of Miami industrial engineering students is helping to keep power flowing to the people.\u00a0<\/p>\n

With overgrown vegetation encroaching on electrical lines being one of the primary causes of power outages in the state, the students have partnered with Florida Power and Light (FPL) on a project that will help the utility company conduct more strategic and effective tree-trimming measures\u2014and it all starts with remote sensing technology.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aerial drones equipped with Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) devices create 3D digital twins of overhead infrastructure and the environment, allowing FPL to see where trees are growing too close to power lines and where trimming is needed most.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But such data, which is collected annually and covers thousands of miles of power lines, only reveals where vegetation is growing today, not where it will grow tomorrow.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, that\u2019s where we come in,\u201d said Gabriella Bueno, a senior industrial engineering major in the University\u2019s College of Engineering<\/a>. \u201cAs part of our capstone project, FPL provided us with multiple years of LiDAR data and tasked us with analyzing it to create models that predict vegetation growth rates in the future. And with that data, FPL can plan maintenance earlier and concentrate their tree-trimming efforts to areas that need it most.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

So far, Bueno and the other members of her team\u2014Abril Orejon Salas and Braydon McCullough\u2014have tested their predictive models using LiDAR data on vegetation growth rates from only two years. But as data from other years is incorporated and tested, their predictive models will become more accurate, allowing FPL to become more proactive in tree-trimming maintenance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Current vegetation trimming has traditionally followed set three- and six-year cycles. But with predictive modeling of vegetation growth rates, the long-term goal, Bueno explained, is for FPL to shift from cycle-based trimming to an approach that targets high-growth, high-risk areas sooner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFast growing species like palms or bamboo don\u2019t always align neatly with a fixed trimming cycle,\u201d said Erin Schreck, vegetation operations lead for FPL\u2019s east region. \u201cSome areas could benefit from attention sooner, while others may not pose the same level of risk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

To improve the accuracy of their predictive models, the students have also examined how rainfall and other environmental factors can influence vegetation growth rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThese students are the analytical engine behind the work,\u201d said Tiffani Rodriguez, lead project manager in operations services at Juno Beach, Florida-based NextEra Energy. \u201cThey\u2019re working with real FPL data and tackling real operational challenges.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Bueno and her industrial engineering team, the semester-long project brought classroom concepts to life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile learning about modeling and data analysis in class is incredibly useful, being able to apply what we\u2019ve learned to a hands-on, real-world project has taken that learning to another level,\u201d Bueno said. \u201cWorking alongside a team like FPL\u2019s, who are so knowledgeable, supportive, and willing to guide us through every step, has made this project even more educational.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A team of University of Miami industrial engineering students is helping to keep power flowing to the people.\u00a0…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271583,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[123,125,124],"class_list":["post-271582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami","tag-miami","tag-miami-headlines","tag-miami-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271582\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}