BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A University of Vermont professor has won a $400,000 National Science Foundation Career Award for his research proposal on "smart" electrical grids.

Dr. Paul Hines, a professor in the College of Engineering and Mathematics Sciences, has proposed research on "harnessing smart grid data to enable resilient and efficient electricity."

He says the research would study ways to use smart grid data to find patterns of vulnerability in power systems, and would use the results to reduce the risk of cascading power blackouts.

Hines says the award provides the unique opportunity to conduct research that will hopefully lead to technology that can make power grids more resilient, including the ability to better incorporate variable power sources, such as wind power.