Junbo Zhao

Visiting Associate Professor of Engineering

Physics-Informed Deep Reinforcement Learning for Power System Optimization and Control from the MIT EESG Seminar Series, Spring 2022.

Overview

Junbo Zhao is a visiting associate professor at Dartmouth since July 2024. He is currently the director of DOE Northeast University Cybersecurity Center for Advanced and Resilient Energy Delivery (CyberCARED) and Castleman Term Professor in Engineering Innovation in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He is also a research scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Zhao received his PhD from the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research interests are cyber-physical power system modeling, estimation, security, dynamics and stability, uncertainty quantification, renewable energy integration and control, and machine learning. He is currently the officer of multiple IEEE PES committees and subcommittees and has published four book chapters and more than 200 peer-reviewed journals and conferences.

Research Interests

Cyber-physical power system modeling; monitoring; uncertainty quantification; learning; dynamics; stability control; cyber security with DERs

Education

BS, Electrical Engineering, Southwest Jiaotong University 2012
PhD, Electrical Engineering, Virginia Tech 2018

Awards

Gulf Research Program Early-Career Research Fellowship, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2024
Early Career Outstanding Engineer, US National Academy of Engineering Symposium, 2024
IEEE PES Technical Committee Distinguished Individual Service Award, 2024
IEEE PES Technical Committee Working Group Recognition Award for Outstanding Technical Report, 2024
IEEE PES Technical Committee Prize Paper Award, 2023
International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems Best Paper Award, 2023
IEEE PES Outstanding Working Group for Outstanding Technical Report Award, 2023
AAUP Research Excellence Award-Early Career, 2023
IEEE PES Outstanding Young Engineer Award, 2022
IEEE PES Connecticut Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award, 2022
IEEE Transactions on Power Systems Best Paper Award, 2021 & 2022

Professional Activities

Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2020–present
Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications, 2023–present
North America Regional Editor, IET Renewable Power Generation, 2020–present
Secretary, IEEE PES Distribution System Analysis Subcommittee, 2023–present
Webmaster of the IEEE PES Analytical Methods for Power Systems (AMPS) committee, 2023–present
Technical Committee Program Chair (TCPC), IEEE PES Renewable Systems Integration Coordinating Committee, 2024–present
Chair, IEEE PES Working Group on Distribution System BTM DERs: Visibility, Analytics and Control, 2023–present
Co-Chair, IEEE Working Group on Power System Static and Dynamic State Estimation, 2021–present
Committee Member, IEEE 2050 and Beyond Subcommittee
Chair/Co-chair of panel sessions, IEEE PES GM, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023
Organizing and technical program committees of various conferences, such as IEEE PowerTech, IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Conference, IEEE PES Gridedge Conference and Exposition, etc.
Panel reviewer for NSF, DOE, etc.

Selected Publications

B. Tan, J.B. Zhao, Y. Chen, "Scalable Risk Assessment of Rare Events in Power Systems with Uncertain Wind Generation and Loads," IEEE Trans. Power Systems, 2024.
H. Wang, Y. Liang, Y. Yao, J.B. Zhao, F. Ding, "Online Model-Free DER Dispatch via Adaptive Voltage Sensitivity Estimation and Chance Constrained Programming," IEEE Trans. Power Systems, 2024.
T. Su, J.B. Zhao, X. Chen, "Deep Sigma Point Processes-Assisted Chance-Constrained Power System Transient Stability Preventive Control," IEEE Trans. Power Systems, vol. 39, no. 1, pp. 1965–1978, 2024.
A. Srivastava, J.B. Zhao, et.al, "Distribution System Behind-the-Meter DERs: Estimation, Uncertainty Quantification, and Control," IEEE Trans. Power Systems, 2024.
A. Selim, J.B. Zhao, F. Ding, F. Miao, S. Park, "Adaptive Deep Reinforcement Learning Algorithm for Distribution System Cyber Attack Defense with High Penetration of DERs," IEEE Trans. Smart Grid, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 4077–4089, 2024.
K. Ye, J.B. Zhao, N. Duan, Y. Zhang, "Physics-Informed Sparse Gaussian Process for Probabilistic Stability Analysis of Large-Scale Power System with Dynamic PVs and Loads," IEEE Trans. Power Systems, vol. 38, no. 3, pp. 2868–2879, 2023.
J. Qiu, J.H. Zhao, F. Wen, J.B. Zhao, C. Gao, Y. Zhou, Y. Tao, S. Lai, "Challenges and Pathways of Low-carbon Oriented Energy Transition and Power System Planning Strategy: A Review," IEEE Trans. Network Science and Engineering, 2023.
B. Tan, J.B. Zhao, M. Netto, V. Krishnan, V. Terzija, Y. Zhang, "Power System Inertia Estimation: Review of Methods and the Impacts of Converter-Interfaced Generations," International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, vol. 134, no. 107362, 2022
X. Lei, Z. Yang, J. Yu, J.B. Zhao, Q. Gao, H. Yu, "Data-driven Optimal Power Flow: A Physics-Informed Machine Learning Approach," IEEE Trans. Power Systems, vol. 36, no. 1, pp. 346–354, 2021.
X. Lu, K. Hou, H. Jia, J.B. Zhao, L. Mili, D. Wang, "A Planning-oriented Resilience Assessment Framework for Transmission Systems under Typhoon Disasters," IEEE Trans. Smart Grid, vol. 11, no. 6, pp. 5431–5441, 2020.
J.B. Zhao, L. Mili, "A Theoretical Framework of Robust H-infinity Unscented Kalman Filter and Its Application to Power System Dynamic State Estimation," IEEE Trans. Signal Processing, vol. 67, no. 10, pp. 2734–2746, 2019.
J.B. Zhao (TF Chair), A. Exposito, M. Netto, L. Mili, A. Abur, V. Terzija, I. Kamwa, B. Pal, A.K. Singh, J. Qi, Z. Huang, A.P. Sakis Meliopoulos, "Power System Dynamic State Estimation: Motivations, Definitions, Methodologies and Future Work," IEEE Trans. Power Systems, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 3188–3198, 2019.