It is with much sadness that we share with you that our treasured friend and colleague, Frank Lambert, died on July 27, 2021 after a long illness.

Lambert was a principal research engineer at Georgia Tech’s Center for Distributed Energy (CDE) and the National Electric Energy Testing Research and Applications Center (NEETRAC). He spent the first 23 years of his career at Georgia Power, where he worked in transmission/distribution system design, construction, operation, maintenance, and operations.

Along with 21 Georgia Power research engineers and technicians, Lambert joined Georgia Tech in 1996, after the equipment, buildings, and land associated with the Georgia Power Research Center was donated to Georgia Tech, and a new research center was established in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. That center was NEETRAC, an electric energy-focused research and testing center located in Forest Park, Georgia. 

Lambert’s own research interests were in power delivery systems, electric vehicles, sensors and communications systems for the smart grid, power flow control, and integration of renewable energy into the grid. In recent years, he joined CDE, a research center established by Georgia Tech and the Georgia Research Alliance to focus on developing technologies and holistic solutions that can transform electricity delivery and utilization. He retired from Georgia Tech in April 2018, but continued to work part-time with both NEETRAC and CDE. 

Lambert was serving as the president of the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) at the time of his passing. He had also served as its vice president for chapters from 2014-2017. Lambert had been a member of IEEE PES since he was a student at Georgia Tech and became involved with the Atlanta area chapter while working at Georgia Power. He served in all of the local chapter leadership positions, including as its chair. 

Lambert was a dedicated volunteer in his community and church. In 2013, he participated in a mission trip to Haiti and came back and shared his experiences with the Georgia Tech student branch of the IEEE PES. During the following year, Lambert and two students traveled back to Haiti to design a photovoltaic (PV) system for a new medical center in the remote mountainous village of Thoman.

In May 2016, he and a team of 22 Georgia Tech students returned to Thoman to install the system. They teamed with the Georgia Haitian American Chamber of Commerce, and in 2018, the group returned to Haiti to train 16 local Haitians in PV systems and business practices and to install 25 hut level PV systems that could be used for lighting and cell phone charging. Since then, work has continued to improve the hut PV system and to install PV systems in three schools and two churches. The team also developed PV systems to help local women create sewing businesses.   

Lambert was a proud Georgia Tech engineering alumnus, earning both his bachelor and master of science degrees in electrical engineering. He is survived by his wife, Karen, and his sons, John, Philip, and Ghaly. He was preceded in death by his daughter, Elizabeth. 

Funeral services were held on July 30 at Palmetto Baptist Church. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the Palmetto Baptist Church Building Fund or to ButGod Ministries. All of this information, including a tribute to Lambert, may be found at https://www.parrottfuneralhome.com/obituaries/Franklin-Frank-Lambert/#!/Obituary. 

Please join us in keeping the Lambert family in your thoughts and prayers during this very sad and difficult time.