Professor Maryam Saeedifard, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA.
Unlocking the Potentials of Multi-Terminal High-Voltage DC Grids in Future Power Systems
High Voltage DC (HVDC) transmission is a long-standing technology with many installations around the world. Over the past few years, significant breakthroughs in the voltage-sourced converter technology along with their attractive features have made the HVDC technology even more promising in providing enhanced reliability and functionality and reducing cost and power losses. Concomitantly, significant changes in generation, transmission, and loads such as (i) integration and tapping renewable energy generation in remote areas, (ii) need for relocation or bypassing older conventional and/or nuclear power plants, (iii) increasing transmission capacity, and (iv) urbanization and the need to feed the large cities have emerged. These new trends have called for Multi-Terminal DC (MTDC) systems, which when embedded inside the AC grid, can enhance stability, reliability, and efficiency of the present power grid. The strategic importance of MVDC and HVDC grids is evidenced by the number of worldwide projects currently in their advanced planning stage, e.g., European “Supergrids” and the Baltic Sea project along with several projects in the US and China. This presentation is focused on opportunities brought by the MTDC grids and addressing the technical challenges associated with operation and control of those grids in future power systems.
About Professor Saeedifard
Maryam Saeedifard received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Toronto, in 2008. Since January 2014, she has been with the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, where she is currently a professor and holds a Dean’s professorship. She is the recipient of Roger Webb’s Excellence in Mentorship Award from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2023, the 8th Nagamori Awards from Nagamori Foundation in 2022, Roger Webb’s Outstanding Mid-Career Faculty Award from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2021, U.S. Clean Energy Education and Empowerment (C3E) Technology Research & Innovation Award from the Department of Energy in 2021, First Place Prize Paper Award from the IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics in 2022 and 2021, Best Transactions Paper Award of the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics in 2018 and 2016, IEEE J. David Irwin Early Career Award in 2018, U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Frontiers in Engineering in Education in 2012, U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Frontiers in Engineering in 2011, Excellence in Research Award from the Office of Vice President in Research at Purdue University in 2012 and 2011 and IEEE Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronic Engineer Award in 2010. She is an IEEE Fellow and is currently serving as a Co-Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics. Her research interests include power electronics and its applications in terrestrial and mobile power systems.
John McDonald, P.E., IEEE DLP, Smart Grid Business Development Leader for GE’s Grid Solutions business, USA.
Grid Modernization: Technological Advancements Beyond Smart Grid
This talk will familiarize participants with a vision for Grid Modernization, focusing on technological advancements beyond Smart Grid. The technological advancements include discussions of key industry/societal trends, Smart Grid concepts, holistic solutions, integration of microgrids and distributed generation, and Advanced Distribution Management System (ADMS) software applications. The talk will also cover feeder automation business models, managing different types of data, big data, analytics, enterprise data management, Smart Grid standards and interoperability, and Smart Grid deployments and lessons learned.
About Professor McDonald
John D. McDonald, P.E., is Smart Grid Business Development Leader for GE Vernova’s Grid Solutions business. John has 49 years of experience in the electric utility transmission and distribution industry. John received his B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. (Power Engineering) degrees from Purdue University, and an M.B.A. (Finance) degree from the University of California-Berkeley. John is a Life Fellow of IEEE (member for 52 years), member of IEEE-HKN (inducted 52 years ago) and Tau Beta Pi (inducted 50 years ago), and was awarded the IEEE Millennium Medal, the IEEE Power; Energy Society (PES) Excellence in Power Distribution Engineering Award, the IEEE PES Substations Committee Distinguished Service Award, the IEEE PES Meritorious Service Award, the 2016 CIGRE Distinguished Member Award, the 2016 CIGRE USNC Attwood Associate Award, the 2021 CIGRE Honorary Member Award and the Smart Energy Consumer Collaborative (SECC) Lifetime Achievement Award. John is Past President of the IEEE PES, the VP for Technical Activities for the US National Committee (USNC) of CIGRE, the Past Chair of the IEEE PES Substations Committee, the IEEE Division VII Past Director, and a member of the National Academy of Engineering. John was on the Board of Governors of the IEEE-SA (Standards Association), is an IEEE Foundation Director and Chair of its 50th Anniversary Celebration Committee and is a Founding Board Member of the SECC. John received the 2009 Purdue University Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award and the 2023 Purdue University Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award. John teaches Smart Grid courses at the Georgia Institute of Technology and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a Smart Grid course for GE, and Smart Grid courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer (since 1999). John has published one hundred fifty papers and articles, has co-authored five books and has one US patent.
Professor Rome Ortega, ITAM, CDMX, MEXICO.
State Observation of Power Systems Equipped with Phasor Measurement Units
The problem of effective use of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs) to enhance power systems awareness and security is a topic of key interest. The central question to solve is how to use this new measurements to reconstruct the state of the system. In this talk we present the first solution to the problem of (globally convergent) state estimation of multimachine power systems equipped with PMUs. We consider the cases where the system is described by the third or fourth order flux-decay model. For the first model we show that it is possible to recover algebraically part of the unknown state. Unfortunately, this property is lost in the more accurate fourth order model, and we are confronted with the problem of estimating the full state vector. The design of the observer relies on two recent developments proposed by the authors, a parameter estimation based approach to the problem of state estimation and the use of the Dynamic Regressor Extension and Mixing (DREM) technique to estimate these parameters. The use of DREM allows us to overcome the problem of lack of persistent excitation that stymies the application of standard parameter estimation designs. Simulation results illustrate the latter fact and show the improved performance of the proposed observer with respect to a locally stable gradient-descent based observer.
About Professor Ortega
Romeo Ortega was born in Mexico. He obtained his degree in Electrical Mechanical Engineering from the Faculty of Engineering at UNAM, Mexico, his Masters in Engineering from the Leningrad Polytechnic Institute, USSR, and his Doctorate in Engineering from the Grenoble Polytechnic Institute, France, in 1974, 1978, and 1984, respectively. He worked at the Faculty of Engineering at UNAM and CINVESTAV of IPN until 1989. He was a Visiting Professor at the University of Illinois, USA, in 1987-1988, at McGill University in Canada in 1991-1992, and a Fellow of the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at the University of Sophia, Tokyo, Japan, in 1990-1991. He worked as the Research Director of the National Council of Scientific Research (CNRS) of France at the Signals and Systems Laboratory of Supelec in Gif-sur-Yvette from 1992 to 2020. He is currently a full-time professor at ITAM, Mexico. His research areas are nonlinear and adaptive control, with an emphasis on engineering applications.
Dr. Ortega has published 6 books and over 370 articles in international scientific journals, with an h-index of 89 on Google Scholar and 70 on Scopus. He is an Emeritus Member of the National System of Researchers and a member of the Mexican Academy of Sciences. He has been an IEEE Fellow Member since 1999 (life since 2020) and an IFAC Fellow since 2016. He has served as Chairman on several IFAC and IEEE committees and conferences and has participated in various editorial bodies of international journals. He is currently the Editor-in-Chief of the “Int. J. Adaptive Control and Signal Processing” and Senior Editor of the “Asian J. of Control,” both published by Wiley.
His latest book is “PID Passivity-based Control of Nonlinear Systems with Applications” by R. Ortega, J. Romero, L. Borja, and A. Donaire, published by J. Wiley and Sons in 2021.
Professor Paras Mandal, University of Texas at El Paso.
Electrified-Transportation for Grids of the Future: Feasibility of In-Motion EV Charging Infrastructure
As transportation networks continue to advance in their electrification to accommodate Electric Vehicle (EV) charging, there is potential for hazardous effects to occur within electric distribution grids. This is especially true with a new form of charging system known as Dynamic Wireless Power Transfer (DWPT), where EVs are capable of charging their on-board Energy Storage System (ESS) while they are traversing through a transportation infrastructure. This infrastructure utilizes Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) architectures to direct energy through multiply embedded Transmitter (Tx) pads within a roadway network and by installing Receiver (Rx) pads underneath the chassis of each EV. In this presentation, an overview of DWPT networks and their impacts on the grid will be elucidated to provide a comprehensive understanding of the challenges associated with them. Several of these challenges include, but are not limited to, EV traffic flow approximations, EV charging behavior while in-motion, and EV discharging behavior while in-motion. Furthermore, potential electric load demands mitigation strategies will be presented to demonstrate the sustainability of DWPT systems to be efficiently integrated into power distribution system operations.
About Professor Mandal
Dr. Paras Mandal received his Ph.D. degree (electrical engineering) from The University of the Ryukyus, Japan, in 2005. He is currently a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) and Director of Power & Renewable Energy Systems (PRES) Laboratory within the ECE Department at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). Prior to joining the UTEP in 2011 as an Assistant Professor, he was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Calgary and University of New Brunswick, Canada; Research Fellow at the University of Tasmania, Australia; Research Professor at Yonsei University, South Korea; and JSPS Postdoctoral Fellow at The University of the Ryukyus, Japan. His research interests primarily focus on the broad area of Electric Power and Renewable Energy Systems for enhancing grid reliability, resiliency, and security. His research group (PRES Lab) at UTEP addresses technological challenges associated with planning and operations of electric energy systems; electricity market; renewable integration and forecasting; distributed energy resources; intelligent system applications, data-driven modeling, grid modernization, electrified transportation, grid resilience under extreme weather events, and cyber physical systems and security for smart grids including cyber-attack detection and mitigation of critical anomalies. His research has been supported by the U.S. funding agencies such as National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, Department of Education, and others. He is a Power Thrust Co-Lead of the National Science Foundation’s flagship Engineering Research Center (ERC) for Advancing Sustainability through Powered Infrastructure for Roadway Electrification (ASPIRE). He has authored around 200 scientific articles and proven technical, academic and leadership skills with various awards and honors. He was the recipient of the best papers award by IEEE, and Young Engineer award from The Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan (IEEJ). He participates and assumes leadership roles in multiple professional groups within the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES). He is a Chair of IEEE PES Power and Energy Education Committee (PEEC) Award Subcommittee, Secretary of IEEE PEEC Student Meeting Activities Subcommittee, and member of various PES subcommittees.
Professor Ani Gole, University of Manitoba
EMT Simulation Tools for the Emerging Power-Electronics Based Grid
Globally, the power grid is currently undergoing a significant transformation. The traditional centralized grid, primarily reliant on alternating current (AC) generators, transmission lines, and dispatchable energy sources, is giving way to a more adaptable and deregulated grid, which harnesses renewable energy sources, power-electronic converters, and intelligent control systems. These sweeping changes pose significant challenges for simulation and modeling tools.
This presentation will provide an overview of the new demands arising from the evolving grid structure, with a focus on electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulation tools. In today’s simulation landscape, there is a growing need to incorporate the cyber-physical control layer that interfaces with the electrical grid.
The talk will introduce methodologies for modeling extremely large systems and explore novel approaches that integrate multiple simulation tools on a unified computing platform. It will delve into emerging simulation platforms like real-time simulators, hybrid simulators, and power-hardware-in-loop simulators, shedding light on their significance in this evolving energy landscape.
About Prof. Ani Gole
Prof. Ani Gole is a Distinguished Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, at the University of Manitoba. He has over 35 years of experience in the development of modelling tools for power networks incorporating power-electronic equipment such as HVDC and FACTS converters. He is one of the original developers of the widely used PSCAD/ EMTDC simulation software. Dr. Gole has also made key contributions to the development of the real-time digital simulator RTDS from RTDS Technologies of Winnipeg, Canada.
Dr. Gole is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the IEEE. For his contributions to the modelling of Flexible Ac Transmission System (FACTS) devices, he received the IEEE PES Nari Hingorani FACTS medal in 2007.
Profesor Mariano Rivera, CIMAT
Avances en Generación de Datos Complejos mediante Autoencodificadores Variacionales
Los autocodificadores resultan de la combinación de dos redes neuronales: en codificador y el decodificador. El codificador tiene como objeto tomar los datos, generalmente, en dimensión muy alta y aplicarles una transformación no lineal para llevarlos a un espacio latente de menor dimensión. Luego el decodificador toma los datos codificados en el espacio latente y mediante otra transformación no lineal trata de recuperar los datos originales. La denominación “variacional” ocurre cuando se imponen penalizaciones o restricciones que regularizan el espacio latente. Por ejemplo, que el vector latente tenga una distribución normal con media cero y varianza uno. Esta restricción permite poder generar datos sintéticos a partir de muestrear la distribución simple de las variables latentes. En esta charla revisaremos variantes de VAE que imponen otras restricciones los vectores del espacio latente, como su cuantización, con el propósito de mejorar la generación de datos: que luzcan más realistas. Los VAE con vectores cuantizados son la base de los modelos modernos de generación de imágenes como Difusión Estable.
Acerda del Prof. Rivera
Investigador del Departamento de Ciencias de la Computación del CIMAT, donde ha laborado desde 1997. Investigador Adjunto del CICESE desde el verano del 2022. Doctor en Ciencias por el Centro de Investigaciones Ópticas AC (CIO) en septiembre de 1997. Miembro de la Sociedad Mexicana de Matemáticas y Miembro por Invitación de la Academia Mexicana de Informática. Ha realizado estancias académicas en el Departamento de Radiología de la Universidad de Pensilvania (Investigador Postdoctoral, 2001-2002), en el Departamento de Matemáticas de la Universidad Estatal de Florida (Profesor Visitante, Departamento de Matemáticas, 2008-2009) y en el Center National Supercomputadora del Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas de Potosí (Coordinadora Académica, 2017-2018). Sus líneas de investigación se centran en los temas: procesamiento y visión de imágenes, optimización numérica, aprendizaje automático. Con aplicaciones en metrología óptica, análisis de datos de teledetección y análisis de imágenes médicas. Ha publicado más de 50 artículos en revistas indexadas, incluidas Optics Letters, OLEN, IEEE-PAMI, IEEE-Transactions on Image Processing e IEEE-Transactions on Medical Imaging and Medical Image Analysis; para nombrar algunos. Tiene un número similar de artículos en congresos internacionales como: CVPR, ECCV, ICPR, BMVC e ICASSP. Es miembro del comité directivo del Pacific Rim Symposium on Image and Video Technology (PSIVT) y de los comités de programa de CVPR, NIPS, ACCV, ICPR, ECCV, ICRL, ICML, por nombrar algunos. Ha sido responsable de más de 10 proyectos de investigación y desarrollo tecnológico nacionales e internacionales.
