This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Erich Gunther, 57, born on December 14, 1958 and passed away on June 18, 2016. We will remember him forever.
Tributes
Leave a tributeWho moved beyond the shade to free new thoughts
Where walls would pause a ray to penetrate
Hold high reason and burst forth energy
In truth he bathed to wrap our lives with joy.
Dear Friends,
We are all deeply shocked to hear of the sudden loss of Mr. Erich Gunther and we would like to extend our deepest sympathy on behalf of Japan Smart Community Alliance.
Very sincerely yours,
Makoto WATANABE
Secretary General
JSCA Secretariat
May his soul rest in peace.
Srini
Erich's impact is immense! As individuals who knew him and for every inhabitant of Earth, present and future, we are better off because of Erich!
Though it is a small token of recognition, if we can try to estimate Erich's impact on the electric grid efficiency, microgrids, DER, et al., I'd be glad to lead a push to get quantity of "Rosenfelds" awarded to him through DoE/National Lab system. A "Rosenfeld" is a unit of energy efficiency, equal to electricity savings of 3 billion kilowatt-hours per year.
http://newscenter.lbl.gov/2010/03/09/the-rosenfeld-unit-of-energy-efficiency/
My thoughts and prayers are with Erich's family and friends.
Erich, we miss you.
I so enjoyed just getting to know you and will forever miss your unique outlook on this industry that you so loved. You taught me something new every time we talked and I truly looked at you as a visionary for the work you did.
My thoughts and prayers are with your family.
I have seen Erich on 3 simultaneous conference calls while answering emails - many times, in fact. Everyone wanted a piece of him - and he was happy to give it to them. He couldn't say no. And, he engaged in everything he did with the best of intentions and an energy that made all of us watch in wonder.
We all lost a dear friend. It isn't right and it makes no sense at all. There is a real emptiness that is hard to believe or accept. We are going to miss you. Safe travels, my friend.
Mark
I was shocked to hear this news. Thank you so much for your mentorship in my advancements in the field of cyber security in the energy and utilities sectors. I will be missing you.
The smart grid field and its members globally are indebted to you for the commitment you had made to the advancement of the field. It will be very hard to fill this vacuum.
I pray God to make Your Soul Rest in Peace.
Ramesh
I have great admiration for your vision, work and leadership.
Thoughts to your relatives.
Eric
The man was amazingly engaged: on dimensions of time, space and technical depth in so many forums that it makes me dizzy to contemplate them all. I smile a bit thinking about the number of organizations, standards groups, thought leadership circles, national and international conferences, issue forums, and commercial and government confidants writing in remembrance about Erich’s leadership, personal touch, and critical role he played in helping them understand and navigate their own complex landscape. If we printed them all out, I expect the stack would rival the three-foot-high one he often cited that comprised the important parts of the standard for the USB port - that paragon of interoperability that makes “plug and play” understandable.
I was walking near the beach with my wife and two daughters Monday night, and was treated to the sight of a beautiful yellowish full moon rising over the ocean, still low in the sky and creating a path of light on the water. That led me of course to thinking of the word moonshine, which of course led me to think of Erich. For all I know he made it as biofuel for his aircraft hobby, but it tasted good too! (Apple pie scented contrails??) Anyway, I got a bit sadder thinking that he was no longer alive to see such a sight, but chances are he would not have been looking at the moon. He would be at some late evening meeting, some large communal dinner, some gathering being part of a vibrant exchange of ideas. Erich, an architect of many things, was an architect of salon culture in our world, an essential ingredient to any human endeavor some laptop-at-night-in-the-hotel-room people should try. Wikipedia states: “A salon is a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held partly to amuse one another and partly to refine the taste and increase the knowledge of the participants through conversation….Salons, commonly associated with French literary and philosophical movements of the 17th and 18th centuries, were carried on until as recently as the 1940s in urban settings.” As an instigator or as a participant, Erich was a man in his element in these settings, and my fondest memories of him are from times like these.
I thought momentarily of ways we remember people we respect, and briefly imagined “The Erich Gunther Award”. Yes, The Erich Gunther Award would be bestowed each year upon the individual who best embodied Erich’s work ethic, tireless dedication, intellect, technological know-how and expert grasp of the human dynamic in advancing energy systems the world over. The problem is, I’m not sure anyone could win it…ever. When I heard about Erich’s passing and the shock and personal tragedy worked their way through my mind, one of my next (slightly ashamed) thoughts was, how are we going to replace him? We can’t – not for a long while – it will take a dozen or more people to fill those voids from a professional standpoint, and it won’t be the same. When a very large tree in a forest falls, it isn’t “replaced”. Other smaller trees fill the space and the forest moves on, but if that was one of your favorite trees, you’ll know where it once stood every time you walk by. I will miss my friend Erich Gunther.
Rest easy my friend.
We have great admiration for your vision, work and leadership.
Your vision's followers from Calgary, Canada
Dalibor (Dali) Kladar
Kladar Virtual Automation
Aspecto Canada
Your legacy will continue and your passion will be remembered by each and all of us.
My professional career was all about leading edge ideas, and Erich was very effective at shooting them down... then there would be a "But ya know..." and brilliance would ensue. Erich was all about unifying his community and helping all to understand and advance. He could represent so many points of view so ably and build a consensus path forward. It is no wonder that he held so many prestigious offices and that Enernex is (and will remain) so highly regarded.
Raising a Gunther Beer in memory of a legend I was privileged to call friend.
It was a cold rainy evening in Chicago when we rode the train to O'Hare together. We talked about the differences in working for a vendor and being a consultant. I said "I think I would like to try it from your side of the podium." You said, you might be able to arrange it. The rest is history. We tried to persuade state commissions to prepare for the world of interoperability and we succeeded in raising awareness. Neither of us knew how long the process would take. Sorry EnerNex ran out of time and resources to continue the project. It wasn't your fault. Be at peace, my friend. You will always be remembered.
Your work, life, and friendship touched so many. You will be forever missed. We've created this site to honor you my friend as a recognition that you have left a legacy by impacting and imparting your wisdom, joy, and enthusiasm in all of us.
Psalms 94:19 When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.
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NIST JUNE 2016 News Letter
The smart grid community was deeply saddened last week by the untimely death of one of its pioneers, Erich Gunther.
“Erich was an exceptional talent, collaborator, and dear friend to me and many others at NIST,” said Dr. David Wollman, Deputy Director of NIST’s Smart Grid and Cyber-Physical Systems Program Office. “Many of us, both on the NIST Smart Grid team and in the Community Resilience Program, had the great privilege of working closely with Erich in recent years. He brought a rare combination of intelligence and passion—of head and heart—to his work, his hobbies, and, most of all, to the many communities he touched. We offer our deepest condolences to his family, his friends, and his co-workers at Enernex.”
Among the many tributes appearing online last week, these two may be of special interest to the readers of this newsletter:
Sharon Allan, President of the Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP), initiated an Erich Gunther memorial website at forevermissed.com, and many members of the smart grid community have been contributing their tributes, pictures, and stories. NIST launched the SGIP as a public-private partnership in 2009, and Erich Gunther (and Enernex) played crucial roles in its formation, growth, and evolution. “Smart Grid Today” established a public link to a special issue remembering Erich Gunther. The issue contains links to every story that was ever published with Erich Gunther’s name in it. (There are more than 50 stories, dating back to 2009.) “The stories are open to the public and offered in honor and celebration of his life as a true leader, visionary and mentor to the smart grid industry and the broader electricity industry.
News Story by GTM by Eric Wesoff
Some sad news. Smart grid industry pioneer Erich Gunther passed away "unexpectedly on June 18 at the age of 57," according to a release from EnerNex, the company he co-founded and where he served as chairman and CTO.
It's shocking. Erich was a long-time friend of GTM. We were supposed to be seeing and hearing from him this week at our upcoming Grid Edge World Forum. He will be missed. But all of us in this industry share Erich Gunther's life's mission of advancing the modernization of the electrical grid.
The last discussion I had with him was about an article he wanted to write for GTM on potential new regulatory rules that would allow utilities to take bigger technology risks.
Gunther worked with some of the world’s largest utilities and vendors on "how to plan, architect, deploy, test and scale smart grids from end to end. He was part of the original team that developed EPRI’s IntelliGrid Architecture and helped oversee its development through its first major application at Southern California Edison for the utility’s AMI and Smart Grid programs."
According to EnerNex, "Gunther was a licensed private helicopter and instrument-rated fixed-wing airplane pilot and aircraft owner, as well as an accomplished home brewer and grill master."
He will be missed.