Invited Speaker 1
Carlo Alberto Nucci (Professor, University of Bologna, Italy)
Title: Lightning-originated overvoltages appraisal for distribution lines
Brief Biography of Carlo Alberto Nucci
Carlo Alberto Nucci – Full professor, head of the Power Systems Laboratory of the Department of Electrical, Electronic and Information Engineering ‘Guglielmo Marconi’, University of Bologna. Author/co-author of over 300 scientific papers published on peer-reviewed journals or on proceedings of international conferences and of 13 book chapters with international diffusion on the following topics: power systems electromagnetic transients, with reference to lightning impact on power systems, power systems dynamics with reference to voltage stability and restoration after blackout, smart grids, energy communities and smart cities. Prof. Nucci is IEEE and CIGRE Fellow, has received some best paper/technical international awards, including the ICLP Golde Award and the CIGRE Technical Committee Award. Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Engineering (2008–2012). President of the Italian Group of University Professors of Electrical Power Systems – GUSEE (2012–2015). Coordinator of the Electrical Engineering Program at the University of Bologna (2012–2018). Chairman of Cigré Study Committee C4 ‘System Technical Performance’ (2006–2012). Editor in Chief of the Electric Power Systems Research journal, Elsevier (2010–2021). PES representative in the IEEE Smart City Initiatives Program (2014–2015). National representative in EU Mission ‘Climate Neutral and Smart Cities’ since November 2019. Member of the IEEE Fellow Committee for the years 2022 and 2023. Keynote plenary speaker and lecturer at 40 international conferences. Prof. Nucci is doctor honoris causa of the University Politehnica of Bucharest and Member of the Bologna Science Academy
Invited Speaker 2
Bo Zhang (Professor, Tsinghua University, China)
Title: Recent progress in experimental research on lightning transient characteristics of high voltage power grid in China
Brief Biography of Bo Zhang
He obtained his B.S. in 1998 and Ph.D. in 2003, both in electrical engineering from North China electric Power University. From 2003 to 2005, he was a post doctor at Tsinghua University, China. And then, he became assistant professor, associate professor and professor at the department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University. Bo Zhang is interested in the numerical calculation of electromagnetic problems in high voltage engineering. He published more than 100 peer reviewed papers in IEEE/IET and AIP journals. He co-authored a book “Methodology and Technology for Power System Grounding” published by IEEE and John Wiley & Sons Inc. Bo Zhang is the IEEE Senior Member, convener of CIGRE C4.50. He is the secretary of Asia-Pacific International Conference on Lightning. He was awarded the Excellent Youth Fund of National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2013, the 34th Scientific Committee Award of the International Conference on Lightning Protection in 2018, and the IEEE EMC Technical achievement award in 2019.
Invited Speaker 3
Mary Ann Cooper, MD (Emerita Professor, Director, ACLENet, USA)
Title: Lightning injuries – Their cause and some solutions
Brief Biography of Mary Ann Copper
Mary Ann Cooper, MD, an emergency physician by training, has received awards from both the medical and lightning communities internationally for her work with lightning injuries and injury prevention. In 2003, she was the first physician to be awarded Fellowship from the American Meteorological Society. She has served as a trainer for NOAA’s National Weather Service, is a founding member of Lightning Safety Week, and has given hundreds of interviews worldwide on lightning and lightning injury prevention.
Although retired from the University of Illinois in 2009 as Professor Emerita, Dr. Cooper continues working internationally to mentor young lightning scientists, research and prevent lightning injuries, and educate and raise awareness of lightning safety. She is the Managing Director of the African Centres for Lightning and Electromagnetics Network (https://ACLENet.org), a nonprofit dedicated to reducing deaths, injuries, and property damage from lightning across Africa.