Lehigh University
Integrated Networks for Electricity Research Cluster
Integrated Networks for Electricity
Exploring the flow of electricity, information, and money in advanced power networks
Faculty Participants
Lehigh faculty actively engaged in the INE cluster include the following: |
Rick Blum Electrical and Computer Engineering Email | Website Rick Blum's research focus is on using Signal Processing and Communication theory to solve problems related to smart electrical grid systems. In one set of investigations, his group has been using hypothesis testing to detect failures and intrusions in smart grid systems. A smart electrical grid system implies the use of sensors at many nodes of the network. Each sensor gauges critical quantities and uses communication links to send these measurements to a control center. These measurements should be consistent with accurate mathematical models for these smart grid systems. Here, Prof. Blum's research attempts to detect failures or intrusions by detecting changes in the mathematical model describing the smart grid system that imply physical changes in the system or alteration of measurement packets. The results are new hypothesis testing methods which perform nearly as well as an unachievable optimum genie-based test that knows the exact value of the change in the mathematical model. Recent investigations imply that existing measurement devices, currently installed in the existing grid, can sample fast enough to achieve nearly identical performance to systems which sample much more rapidly in many scenarios of practical interest. More recently, Prof. Blum has been studying joint design of the communications and the processing typically employed in the networks monitoring a power system. For example, his group has been examining the impact of imperfect communications on power flow calculations. Resource allocation and optimum processing of the original measurements are studied to achieve the most accurate calculations. |
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Liang Cheng Computer Science and Engineering Email | Website Liang Cheng, associate professor of computer science and engineering, leads the efforts of Lehigh's LONGLAB (Laboratory of Networking Group) at Lehigh University. Cheng is an expert on networking systems, and his research interests related to smart grid include distributed real-time and embedded systems, system management and security. His work is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, Agere Systems, Inc. and East Penn Manufacturing Co., Inc. |
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Mooi Choo Chuah Computer Science and Engineering Email | Website Mooi Choo Chuah, associate professor of computer science and engineering, runs the Wireless Infrastructure and Network Security Laboratory (WiNSLab) at Lehigh University. She is also the Co-Director of Lehigh's Computer Engineering program. Chuah is an expert on future wireless data system design. Her research group designs next generation internet features and security solution for heterogeneous networked systems. Her research interests related to smartgrid include designing next generation integrated information and power system that incorporates future internet features, security design for future integrated power systems e.g. features that enable secure sharing of power system measurements, communication and network protocols to facilitate smartgrid operations (e.g., demand response system, automatic control of voltage and frequency using PMU measurements.) Her research is supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the Army Research Laboratory (ARL), Cisco etc. |
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Shalinee Kishore Electrical and Computer Engineering Email | Website Shalinee Kishore is studying several aspects of smart grid systems, leveraging her expertise in Communications and Network Engineering. Her research group is designing communication and network protocols to facilitate smart grid objectives, such as demand response, load shaping, real-time flow measurements, grid visualization, etc. In addition, her group is developing models and algorithms for smart energy management systems that facilitate demand responsive behavior at load sites. Part of this work examines the interface between demand responsive customers and the electricity market, e.g., studying how and when aggregation can aid in making effective demand response bids. Prof. Kishore is also interested in the role of energy storage systems in future power systems. In particular, she is studying the impact of storage systems on power flows and the electricity market, as well as how communication protocols can be designed to manage these systems at various scales. |
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Alberto Lamadrid Economics Email | Website Alberto Lamadrid is an assistant professor of economics with Lehigh's College of Business and Economics, and he is associated with the University's Integrated Networks for Electricity research cluster. His interests lie at the intersection of energy and electricity economics, complex stochastic dynamic systems, and mechanism design. His work focuses on the development of methodologies and tools that allow for study of the decision making process in the electrical network for operations, planning and regulation with large scale penetration of renewable energy sources. His methods use continuous and discrete optimization, geographic information systems, statistical analysis and engineering models that reflect the physical behavior of the system. |
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Nader Motee Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Email | Website [Profile Forthcoming] |
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Ted Ralphs Industrial Systems and Engineering Email | Website Dr. Ralphs' research focuses mainly on various aspects of mixed-integer linear programming. He maintains a balance between theory, computation, and application, with an aim of bridging the gap between theory and practice. Projects explore theoretical and computational aspects and analysis of mixed-integer linear programs, including the implementation of parallel algorithms and the use of high-performance computing platforms. Dr. Ralphs tackles parallel processing challenges by writing "scalable" algorithms that determine how to move data around so each processor is always doing something useful to contribute to the overall computation. Dr. Ralphs is a co-founder and co-director of the Computational Optimization Research at Lehigh (COR@L) Laboratory and chairs Lehigh's High-Performance Computing Steering Committee. Courses taught by Dr. Ralphs include an introduction to mathematical programming, integer programming, nonlinear programming, and algorithms in systems engineering. |
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Eugenio Schuster Mechanical Engineering and Mechanics Email | Website Prof. Eugenio Schuster leads Lehigh University’s Laboratory for Control of Complex Physical Systems. He is an expert in control theory with emphasis on nonlinear and saturated control; distributed parameter control; system modeling and identification; fault detection and isolation; industrial automation. Current efforts focus on the application of advanced control techniques to complex energy systems, such as nuclear fusion reactors (control of plasmas and magnetohydrodynamic flows), coal-based power plants, and residential heating/cooling systems. He is particularly interested in dynamic control problems associated with the integration into the grid of distributed power sources, particularly those based on renewable resources (hydro, wind, solar, biomass, etc.), as well as in real-time, fault-tolerant optimization of energy generation and utilization. Prof. Schuster is currently serving as Chair of the IEEE Technical Committee on Power Generation and Control. The research work within his laboratory has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development through the Pennsylvania Infrastructure Technology Alliance (PITA), the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), and private companies. |
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Larry Snyder Industrial and Systems Engineering Email | Website Larry Snyder's research uses tools from operations research (OR) to address a variety of optimization problems related to smart grids. His research group is developing optimization models and algorithms for dispatch and scheduling problems within the grid (both for service providers and for consumers) in order to design or react to demand-response programs, pricing structures, and other pricing signals that service providers use to shape load profiles. Another avenue of research involves location and dispatch of electricity storage devices (e.g., batteries) in the grid in order to level both the supply and the demand of electricity. Dr. Snyder’s smart grid research draws on his research expertise in mathematical models for supply chain management. His research on stochastic facility location and multi-echelon inventory optimization problems finds natural analogies in network design and storage optimization problems in smart grids. |
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Parv Venkitasubramaniam Electrical and Computer Engineering Email | Website Parv's research interests are in the areas of network security and privacy. His research group uses tools from information theory and signal processing to analytically study the relationships among privacy and performance that arise in smart electrical grid systems. Significant information about consumers' daily activities is required to fully realize the benefits of smart metering and demand response systems, and this could be construed by consumers as a violation of their privacy. By developing quantitative measures for privacy in these contexts and applying tools from statistical signal processing and stochastic control, Parv's group studies the trade-offs between achievable privacy and quality of service metrics such as user fairness, cost benefits and efficiency. |