Featured Speaker: Sascha Von Meier, Independent Consultant

This talk will introduce complex numbers as a tool for the analysis of electric grids. Mathematically, alternating voltage and current from the wall outlet looks approximately like a sine or cosine—but with some important caveats. We will encounter Euler’s formula, phasors, and techniques for manipulating quantities like electric power transfer with convenient shortcuts. We’ll also highlight some of the surprises that can occur when the physical world doesn’t quite match the idealized mathematical model.