Junbo Zhao

Assistant Professor, Associate Director- Eversource Energy Center

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

Junbo Zhao is an Associate Director of Eversource Energy Center for Grid Modernization and Strategic Partnerships and assistant professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Connecticut. He was an assistant professor and research assistant professor at Mississippi State University and Virginia Tech from 2019-2021 and 2018-2019, respectively. He received the Ph.D. degree from Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Virginia Tech, in 2018. His advisor is Prof. Lamine Mili (IEEE Life Fellow). He did the summer internship at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2017. He is the Principal Investigator for a multitude of projects funded by the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, National Laboratories, and Eversource Energy.  He is now the chair of IEEE Task Force on Power System Dynamic State and Parameter Estimation and IEEE Task Force on Cyber-Physical Interdependency for Power System Operation and Control, co-chair of the IEEE Working Group on Power System Static and Dynamic State Estimation, the secretary of IEEE PES Bulk Power System Operation Subcommittee and IEEE Task Force on Synchrophasor Applications in Power System Operation and Control. He has published three book chapters and more than 100 peer-reviewed journal and conference papers. He serves as the Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, North America Regional Editor of the IET Renewable Power Generation, and subject editor of IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution. He has been listed as the 2020 and 2021 World’s Top 2% Scientists released by Stanford University in both Single-Year and Career tracks. He is the receipt of the Best Paper Awards of the 2020 and 2021 IEEE PES General Meeting (3 papers), 2021 IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2021 IEEE Sustainable Power and Energy Conference, IEEE I&CPS Asia 2021, and the 2020 Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy, Top 3 Associate Editor award of IEEE Transactions Smart Grid in 2020, the 2020 IEEE PES Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award, and the 2021 IEEE PES Chapter Outstanding Volunteer Award.

Research Interests

My research interests are cyber-physical power system modeling, monitoring, uncertainty quantification, learning, dynamics, stability control, and cyber security with DERs. The topics include but are not limited to:

• Power system modeling, estimation, identification, and synchrophasor measurement applications
• Power system uncertainty quantification, cybersecurity, and resiliency
• Power system dynamics and stability control with inverter-based resources
• Big data analytics, machine learning, and robust statistical signal processing for smart grid
• Power distribution system/microgrid analysis, optimization, and control with high penetration of DERs