Massoud Amin
Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota
Dr. Massoud Amin, IEEE and ASME Fellow, is a professor of electrical & computer engineering (ECE), and a University Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Minnesota. He is currently on leave from the Technological Leadership Institute (TLI.umn.edu), where he served as the Director and the Honeywell/H.W. Sweatt Chair in Technological Leadership (during March 2003 – Oct. 2018), in part, to complete his forthcoming book on “Powering Progress and Fueling Prosperity: Resilience & Sensitivity in Face of Chaos,” to continue his R&D in this area and to develop/deliver training, simulations, and new courses with a focus on proactive resilience and security of Complex Interdependent Networks/Systems.
He is the Chairman Emeritus of the IEEE Smart Grid, and, from June 2010 to August 2017, was a member of the Texas Reliability Entity (as board chairman), a utility industry regional entity that oversees reliability of ERCOT. From January 2013 to August 2017, he also served as a board member of the Midwest Reliability Organization (MRO, which oversees the reliability of the MISO region). Previously, he served on the Board on Infrastructure and the Constructed Environment (BICE) at the U.S. National Academy of Engineering (2001-07) and on the Board on Mathematical Sciences and Applications (BMSA) at the National Academy of Sciences (2006-09).
Before joining the University of Minnesota in March 2003, Dr. Amin was with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in Palo Alto, Calif. where he served as Lead, Mathematical & Information Sciences, and as Area Manager of Infrastructure Security, Grid Operations/Planning, and Energy Markets. After 9/11, he directed all security-related R&D for U.S. utilities. He has led research, development, and deployment of smart grids, and the enhancement of critical infrastructures’ security during this period. In addition, Dr. Amin pioneered R&D in smart grids in 1998, and led the development of 24 technologies that transferred to industry. He is considered the father of the smart grid (https://tli.umn.edu/tli-blog/inspiration-behind-smart-grid-series-defining-moments). He received several awards including six EPRI Performance Recognition Awards for leadership in three areas, the 2002 President’s Award for the Infrastructure Security Initiative, and twice received the Chauncey Award, the Institute’s highest honor.
He has been recognized by his alma maters, receiving the 2011 Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award at Washington University, and the 2013 Outstanding Senior Alumni Award at the University of Massachusetts. He was the inaugural Thought Leader of the Year, Energy Thought Summit 2015 (ETS ’15); inducted into the University of Minnesota’s Academy of Distinguished Teachers (2008); President’s Award for the Infrastructure Security Initiative, EPRI (2002) twice – received the Chauncey Award, EPRI; Professor of the Year, Washington University in St. Louis (1992-1995). He is the author of more than 200 peer-reviewed publications, editor of seven collections of manuscripts, and served on the editorial boards of six academic journals.
Dr. Amin’s professional contributions have primarily been in three areas:
- defense networks, combat & logistics systems – C4I (1982-1997)
- modernization, efficiency, security & resilience of interdependent national critical infrastructures, including power, energy, communications, finance, and transportation (1997-present), and
- technology/business/policy foresight & strategy (1997-present).
Dr. Amin holds B.S. (cum laude), and M.S. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, and M.S. and D.Sc. degrees in systems science and mathematics from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. In summary, Dr. Amin has made transformative contributions in the areas of defense, critical infrastructures, technology, policy, and business. His passion is developing leaders and powering progress.
Robert B. Catell
Chairman of the Board of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC), Stony Brook University
Mr. Catell was formerly the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of KeySpan Corporation and KeySpan Energy Delivery, the former Brooklyn Union Gas. His career with Brooklyn Union Gas started in 1958. Following National Grid’s acquisition of KeySpan Corporation, Mr. Catell became Chairman of National Grid, U.S. and Deputy Chairman of National Grid plc.
He currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center (AERTC) at Stony Brook University, the National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium, the New York State Smart Grid Consortium, Cristo Rey Brooklyn High School, and Futures in Education Endowment Fund.
Mr. Catell serves on the Board of the following not for profit organizations: Colin Powell School for Civic and Global Leadership, Department of Education; Diocese of Rockville Centre, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, St. Francis Hospital Foundation, and the New York City Police Foundation.
He also serves on the Board of the following business organizations: A+Technology & Security Solutions, Inc., Applied DNA Sciences Inc., BioRestorative Therapies, Long Island Angel Network (LIAN), Long Island Association (LIA), National Petroleum Council, ThermoLift Inc., and the Water Company, LLC.
He Chairs the Advisory Board for Applied DNA Sciences Inc., and serves on the Advisory Board for: Advanced Power North America (APNA), CAI Investments, EC Infosystems, Gold Coast Bank, Our Energy Policy Foundation, Posillico Inc., the President’s Advisory Council at Adelphi University, and VNG.CO.
Mr. Catell is an Executive in Residence at Hofstra University and was named the first “John J. Phelan, Jr. Fellow” of the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business at Adelphi University.
Mr. Catell is a former Chairman of Alberta Northeast Gas Ltd., the American Gas Association, Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, KEYERA Energy Management Ltd., Long Island Association, Partnership for New York City, Inc., U.S. Energy Association (USEA), Business Council of NYS, the Advisory Board of the City College of New York’s School of Engineering, the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, and Winthrop Hospital Board of Regents.
Mr. Catell is a former board member of: the Brooklyn Public Library Foundation, City College of New York 21st Century Foundation, Edison Electric Institute (EEI), Energy Association of NYS, Long Island Foreign Affairs Forum, National Grid Foundation, New York Academy of Sciences, New York State Economic Development Power Allocation Board (EDPAB), New York State Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA), Tomorrow’s Hope Foundation, the advisory board of the Center for Urban Sciences & Progress (CUSP), HeartShare for Human Services, and the Brooklyn Law School (Member Emeritus).
Mr. Catell is a member of the Association of Energy Engineers, CUNY Business Leadership Council, National Society of Professional Engineers, NYS Society of Professional Engineers, and the Society of Gas Lighting.
Mr. Catell received both his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering from the City College of New York and is a registered Professional Engineer. He has attended Columbia University’s Executive Development Program, and the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School.
Bill Hederman
Senior Fellow, University of Pennsylvania
Bill Hederman is a Senior Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Kleinman Center for Energy Policy. There, he teaches energy policy to grad students from each of Penn’s graduate schools, teaches utility executives through the Wharton Executive Ed program, conducts research on energy cybersecurity and the challenges of changing business models for electric and gas utilities, and advises 3 startup companies, one providing advanced encryption that has been evaluated as secure in a post-quantum computer world. He also teaches and is a Senior Scholar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Prior to joining Penn’s faculty, Bill served as a Senior Advisor and direct report to Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz and served as his analytic lead on the DOE in-country team that went to Ukraine at the request of Ukrainian President Poroshenko to help Ukrainians free themselves from their dependence on Russian natural gas and electricity and to prepare for possible emergencies in the first winter after the Russian supported invasion of Ukraine.
His earlier experience included being a Vice President at Columbia Energy Group’s transmission pipeline companies, and as the founding Director of FERC’s Office of Market Oversight and Investigations that was set up after the Enron and California electricity crises. His career started at Bell Labs.
Bill’s training includes electrical engineering degrees from Notre Dame and MIT and a public policy degree from Cal Berkeley.
Paul Hibbard
Principal, Analysis Group, Inc.
Paul Hibbard is a Principal at Analysis Group, a Boston-based economic and financial consulting firm. Paul is a former Chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities, and has held positions in both energy and environmental regulatory agencies in Massachusetts. Paul has also served on the New England States’ Committee on Electricity, the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board, and the Executive Committee of the Eastern Interconnect States’ Planning Council. In private practice, Paul provides technical, economic and policy analysis and strategic advice to public and private sector participants in the natural gas and electric industries.
Paul holds a B.S. in Physics from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and an M.S. in Energy and Resources from the University of California at Berkeley.
Mark Johnson
Managing Director, T&D World & Utility Analytics Institute | Informa
Mark Johnson is Managing Director of Informa’s Power practice, which encompasses the Utility Analytics Institute and T&D World. Mark has had a long career in energy, working as a consultant with Stone & Webster Management Consultants, RCG Hagler Bailley, and leaving to Co-found Energy Central in 1996. Mark founded UAI in 2011 with the goal to build a community for utilities to share information and insights around the quickly evolving topic of analytics. UAI has grown to encompass 145 operating companies total, including 37 investor-owned utilities, 42 public power utilities, and 10 utility cooperatives. As of October 2018, he is also the Managing Director of T&D World. Mark earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering at the University of Wyoming and completed graduate studies from New Mexico State University’s Electric Utility Management Program.
Jeffrey S. Katz
Head of Grid Technology, Energy, Environment and Utilities industry, IBM Corporation
Jeffrey S. Katz is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is a member of the IBM Academy of Technology. He is a co-chair of the Industrial Internet Consortium’s Energy Task Group, and is a member of the Internet2 working group on the Internet of Things.
He was chair of the Smart Grid Session of the Yale Alumni in Energy conference in 2012, and was a co-chair of the IEEE 2030 Standard on Smart Grid Interoperability Guidelines, IT Task Force. He was on the External Advisory Board of the Trustworthy Cyber Infrastructure for the Power Grid, and is on the Advisory Board of the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center. He was on the “Networked Grid 100: The Movers and Shakers of the Smart Grid in 2012” list from Green Tech Media. He was appointed to the IEEE Standards Association Standards Board for 2014. He is an Open Group Distinguished IT Specialist and an IBM Thought Leader level Distinguished IT Specialist, as well as the holder of an IBM First Plateau Invention Achievement Award. He co-chaired the first IEEE Power and Energy Society workshop on Big Data in Utilities in September 2017, and the first PES workshop on Utility Cybersecurity in December 2017. He has given several industry keynote presentations, including the 2017 ISA Power Industry Division and the inaugural 2016 National Renewable Energy Lab Cyber Security workshop.
Prior to IBM he was the Manager of the Computer Science department at the U.S. Corporate Research Center of ABB, and then of ALSTOM.
He is an author on seven patents, in tele-medicine, robotics and computer vision, intelligent electric power distribution, energy aware cloud computing, with others pending. He has a Commercial General Radiotelephone license from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, belongs to Sigma Xi, and is a member of Mensa.
Jeff has organized or taught several volunteer activities around robotics for education, including FIRST, FIRST Lego League, and VEX Robotics. Jeff is also a long time amateur (ham) radio operator. He was a Region 1 finalist in the Johns Hopkins National Search for Computing Applications to Assist Persons with Disabilities. He is the Connecticut District Vice President of the Yale Science and Engineering Association, and is also a Fellow of that organization.
Research Gate
He can be reached at jskatz@us.ibm.com.
Sai Akhil Reddy Konakalla, Ph.D.
Senior Technology Architect, PXISE Energy solutions, LLC
Dr. Konakalla works at PXISE Energy solutions, LLC, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) as a Senior Technology Architect where he leads the company’s development of optimization, data analysis and product robustness. He also oversees PXISE’s on-field deployment from the stand-point of controls, optimization and robustness. Sai holds a doctoral degree from Dynamic Systems group at University of California San Diego, where he studied controls and modeling of electric power systems, especially using Synchrophasor data to analyze grid events occurring in the Western Interconnection (WECC). His vision is to solve real life problems in the fields of science, technology and business management using various scientific approaches and advanced algorithms.
Dr. Konakalla have authored over 10+ research articles in the domain of controls of power systems and published 4+ patents in various fields. He is also a reviewer of different IEEE journals and conferences such as IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, IEEE Transactions on Industry Informatics, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grids, IEEE Industry Applications Magazine and International Conference on Renewable Energy Research and Applications (ICRERA) to name a few.
Joberto S. B. Martins
Professor, Computer Science, Salvador University – UNIFACS
PhD in Computer Science at Université Pierre et Marie Curie – UPMC, Paris, PosDoc at ICSI/ Berkeley University and Senior Researcher at Paris Saclay University – France. Invited Professor at HTW – Hochschule für Techknik und Wirtschaft des Saarlandes (Germany) (since 2004) and Université d’Evry. Full Professor at Salvador University on Computer Science, Head of NUPERC and IPQoS research groups with research interests on Machine Learning, Cognitive Management, Resource Allocation, SDN/ OpenFlow, Smart Grid and Smart Cities. IEEE Senior member at IEEE Smart Grid Research and IEEE Smart City Technical Activities Committees and former Chair of the IEEE CGAA (Committee on Global Accreditation Activities).
John D. McDonald, P.E.
Smart Grid Business Development Leader, GE’s Grid Solutions
John D. McDonald, P.E., is Smart Grid Business Development Leader for GE Power’s Grid Solutions business. John has 44 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, 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, and the IEEE PES Meritorious Service 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, and the IEEE Division VII Past Director. John was on the Board of Governors of the IEEE-SA (Standards Association). John was elected to Chair the NIST Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) Board from 2010-2014. Currently, John is on the NIST Smart Grid Advisory Committee (SGAC) to provide updates on NIST Smart Grid activities and the intersections with Cyber-Physical Systems program activities, and to discuss development and stakeholder engagement for the NIST Framework and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, Release 4.0. John received the 2009 Outstanding Electrical and Computer Engineer Award from Purdue University. John teaches a Smart Grid course at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a Smart Grid course for GE, and Smart Grid courses for various IEEE PES local chapters as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer. John has published one hundred papers and articles and has co-authored five books.
Tom Murad, Ph.D., P.Eng. F.E.C., SM.IEEE
Country Lead – Engineering, Technology & Academic Relations; Head of Siemens Canada Engineering and Technology Academy
Dr. Tom Murad, Country Lead – Engineering, Technology & Academic Relations for Siemens Canada, and a member of PEO Engineering Order of Honour is a respected leader, thinker, and distinguished speaker on the topics of Engineering, Technology and Technical talents/skills development and education.
Joined Siemens Canada in 2010 and he is the founder of the Siemens Canada Engineering and Technology Academy “SCETA”, that he established and directed since October 2014. He is also serving as a member of various advisory Boards of Directors in the Industry and Academia.
Tom has about 40 years of Professional Engineering and Technical Operations Executive Management including Academic and R&D work in Electrical power, Industrial Controls and Automation.
Dr. Murad holds a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical & Electronics), and a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Power Electronics and Industrial Controls from Loughborough University of Technology in the UK, with a Leadership Program Certificate from Schulich Business School, York University in Ontario, Canada.
- Fellow of Engineers Canada “F.E.C”.
- Licensed P.Eng.; (PEO & OSPE) in Ontario; APEGA in Alberta, & NAPEG in the North Western Territories.
- Senior Member of IEEE, Member of Board of Directors – IEEE Canada & Chair of Executive committee – IEEE Toronto Section (2016-2017).
- Member of PEO Licensing “Engineering Experience Review”- ERC Committee Since 2002.
- Member of OSPE’s Hamilton- Halton Engineering week Committee.
- Member of Board of Directors – Canadian – German Centre for Innovation and Research.
- Member of Francophone Workforce Development Council (FWDC).
Dr. Laura L. Pullum
Sr. Research Scientist, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Dr. Laura L. Pullum is a senior research scientist in the Computer Science and Mathematics Division at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), with over 30 years’ experience. Her research is in software-based system dependability and intelligent systems. She currently conducts research in the evaluation, verification and validation of machine learning, artificial intelligence and complex computing systems. Prior to joining ORNL, she worked in industry, at a non-profit research institute, as a visiting professor, and as a small business owner.
Dr. Pullum has authored over 100 publications including books, book chapters, and peer-reviewed papers; holds a patent; serves on technical advisory boards; serves on the standards working group for IEEE P1012-201X Standard for System, Software and Hardware Verification and Validation; and serves as the IEEE Computer Society representative to the IEEE Smart Grid. She is a senior member of the IEEE Computer Society. Dr. Pullum also serves on the ASME V&V 50 Committee on Verification and Validation of Data-Driven and Hybrid Models and serves on the ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 42 on Artificial Intelligence.
Dr. Pullum holds a BS in Math; Masters degrees in Operations Research, Business Administration, and Geology; and a doctorate in Systems Engineering and Operations Research.
Barbara Bauman Tyran
President, Women’s Council on Energy & the Environment
Barbara Tyran has extensive federal / state government relations energy experience, including 20 years leading EPRI’s outreach efforts and nearly two decades with individual utility companies. For the past three years, Ms. Tyran has chaired the ISGT Advisory Committee, whose mission is to promote diverse, non-traditional energy stakeholder support of IEEE PES.
Dr. Qing-Chang Zhong.
Founder and CEO of Syndem LLC, McGraw Endowed Chair Professor of Energy and Power Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology
Qing-Chang Zhong, Fellow of IEEE and IET, received two Ph.D. degrees, one from Imperial College London in 2004 and the other from Shanghai Jiao Tong University in 2000.
He is the Founder & CEO of Syndem LLC, Chicago, USA and holds the Max McGraw Endowed Chair Professor in Energy and Power Engineering at Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. He serves/d as a Steering Committee member for IEEE Smart Grid, a Distinguished Lecturer for three IEEE societies (PELS/CSS/PES), an Associate Editor for IEEE TAC/TIE/TPELS/TCST/Access/JESTPE, and a Vice-Chair for IFAC TC Power and Energy Systems. He spent nearly 15 years in the UK and was the Chair Professor in Control and Systems Engineering at University of Sheffield before moving to Chicago. He was a Senior Research Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, UK, and the UK Representative to European Control Association. He proposed to continue adopting the synchronization mechanism of synchronous machines to unify the integration of non-synchronous distributed generators and flexible loads in a synchronized and democratized (SYNDEM) manner to achieve autonomous operation of power systems. He is the (co-)author of four research monographs.