Junbo Zhao

Overview

Junbo Zhao is the Todd M. Cook and Elizabeth Donohoe Cook Associate Professor of Engineering at Dartmouth, a role he has held since September 2025. He directs the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Northeast University Cybersecurity Center for Advanced and Resilient Energy Delivery (CyberCARED) and is also a research scientist at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

Before joining Thayer, Junbo was the Castleman Term Professor in Engineering Innovation at the University of Connecticut. There, he led the CREATE Lab: Cyber-Physical Resilience Empowering A Transformative Energy Future, and will transition the lab to Dartmouth Engineering. 

Zhao earned his PhD from the Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Virginia Tech. His research focuses on power and energy system modeling and monitoring, renewable energy integration, reliability and resilience, data analytics, dynamics and stability control, and cybersecurity.

An active member of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES), Zhao currently serves as an officer on several committees and subcommittees. He has authored four book chapters and more than 200 peer-reviewed journal and conference publications.

Research Interests

Power and energy system modeling and monitoring; renewable energy integration; reliability and resilience; data analytics; dynamics and stability control; and cybersecurity

Education

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

Awards

• NSF CAREER Award, 2025
• Best Paper Award (11 papers), IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting, 2020–2025
• IEEE PES Technical Committee Prize Paper Award, 2023–2025
• Fellow, Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Class of 2024
• 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

• Editor-in-Chief, International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, 09/2025-present
• 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

• S Vahedi, JB Zhao, B Pierre, F Lei, E Anagnostou, K He, C Jones & B Wang. “Wildfire and power grid nexus in a changing climate.” Nature Reviews Electrical Engineering 2(4):225–243, 2025. [Selected by Editor-in-Chief as the April cover article]
• T Su, JB Zhao, A Gomez-Exposito, Y Chen, V Terzija & J Gentle. “Grid-enhancing technologies for clean energy systems.” Nature Reviews Clean Technology 1:16–31, 2025
• T Su, T Wu, JB Zhao, A Scaglione & X Le. “A review of safe reinforcement learning methods for modern power systems.” Proceedings of the IEEE 113(3):213–255, 2025 [Cover article]
• B Tan, JB Zhao & Y Chen. “Scalable risk assessment of rare events in power systems with uncertain wind generation and loads.” IEEE Trans Power Systems 40(2):1374–1388, 2025
• Y Liu, A Rouhani, JB Zhao, J Zhang, GJ Warchol & K Scott. “Data-enhanced robust distribution system state estimation for realistic systems with line parameter corrections.” IEEE Trans Power Systems, 2025
• T Su, JB Zhao, Y Yao, A Selim & D Fei. “Safe reinforcement learning-based transient stability control for islanded microgrids with topology reconfiguration.” IEEE Trans Smart Grid, 2025
• H Wang, Y Yao, JB Zhao & F Ding. “Data-driven mean-corrected recursive estimation–based optimal DER dispatch for distribution system voltage control.” IEEE Trans Sustainable Energy, 2025
• A Srivastava, JB Zhao et al. “Distribution system behind-the-meter DERs: Estimation, uncertainty quantification, and control.” IEEE Trans Power Systems 40(1):1060–1077, 2025 [2025 IEEE PES Technical Committee Prize Paper Award]
• D Cao, JB Zhao, W Hu, Y Pei, Z Chen & Q Huang. “Physics-informed graphical representation–enabled deep reinforcement learning for robust distribution system voltage control.” IEEE Trans Smart Grid 15(1):233–246, 2024 [2024 IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid Best Paper Award]
• A Selim, JB 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 15(4):4077–4089, 2024
• K Ye, JB 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 38(3):2868–2879, 2023 [2023 IEEE PES Technical Committee Prize Paper Award]
• JB Zhao (TF Chair), A Exposito, M Netto, L Mili, A Abur, V Terzija, I Kamwa, B Pal, AK Singh, J Qi, Z Huang & AP Sakis Meliopoulos. “Power system dynamic state estimation: Motivations, definitions, methodologies and future work.” IEEE Trans Power Systems 34(4):3188–3198, 2019

Courses

Books

Robust Dynamic State Estimation of Power Systems

Elsevier Science Publishing Co Inc, 2024

News

Dartmouth Engineering Faculty Bring Expertise to CERAWeek
Apr 07, 2025