Making power systems worldwide stable,
reliable, secure, and sustainable. About Us
Dr. Qing-Chang Zhong is an IEEE Fellow and an IET Fellow. He holds the Max McGraw Endowed Chair Professor in Energy and Power Engineering and Management at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA. He was educated at Imperial College London (PhD, 2004, awarded the Best Doctoral Thesis Prize), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (PhD, 2000), Hunan University (MSc, 1997), and Hunan Institute of Engineering (Diploma, 1990).
He served as a Distinguished Lecturer for IEEE Power Electronics Society, IEEE Control Systems Society, and IEEE Power and Energy Society. He (co-)authored four research monographs: Power Next Generation Smart Grids (Wiley-IEEE Press, 2020), Control of Power Inverters in Renewable Energy and Smart Grid Integration (Wiley-IEEE Press, 2013, translation in Chinese), Robust Control of Time-Delay Systems (Springer-Verlag, 2006), and Control of Integral Processes with Dead Time (Springer-Verlag, 2010).
He proposed the SYNDEM grid architecture for the next-generation smart grids based on the synchronization mechanism of synchronous machines, which unifies and harmonizes the interface and interaction of power system players with the grid to achieve autonomous operation without relying on communication networks. This line of research has been featured by IEEE Power Electronics Magazine as a cover story, by Energy News Network as Game Changer for Grid, by IEEE Spectrum as a vision for a harmonious grid, and by IEEE PES Task Force on Primary Frequency Control as the Path to the Future.
He is truly globalized. Before relocating to Chicago, he spent about 14 years in the UK, as Research Associate at Imperial College London, Senior Lecturer at University of Glamorgan and University of Liverpool, Chair Professor in Control Engineering at Loughborough University, and Chair Professor in Control and Systems Engineering at The University of Sheffield, and one year in Israel at Technion -- Israel Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral researcher. He delivered 200+ invited talks in 20+ countries, including delivering a semi-plenary talk on SYNDEM smart grids at the 20th IFAC World Congress, which is the world's largest conference in control and systems engineering.
He served on the Steering Committee of IEEE Smart Grid and is a Vice-Chair of IFAC TC on Power and Energy Systems. He was a Senior Research Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering/Leverhulme Trust, UK (2009-2010) and the UK Representative to the European Control Association (2013-2015). He served as an Associate Editor for IEEE Trans. on Automatic Control, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Trans. on Control Systems Technology, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, IEEE Access, and European Journal of Control. He also served as grant reviewers for funding bodies from USA, UK, China, Singapore, Finland, Kuwait, Italy, Netherlands, Israel and other countries.
His current research focuses on control and systems theory, power electronics, and the seamless integration of both to address fundamental challenges in energy and power systems.
Dr. Zhong's vision is to holistically tackle three global challenges:
1) Climate Change, through large-scale utilization of renewable energy;
2) Grid Stability and Security, through his synchronized and democratized (SYNDEM) grid architecture and technologies; and
3) Energy Freedom, through empowering billions of people with access to low-cost clean electricity.
Here is a version written by Keith Schneider, a New York Times correspondent since 1982.
Zhong did not advance to the uppermost echelons of global energy innovation by privilege of birth or happy accident. Raised in a rural area of Sichuan, China, his family was poor. His prospects for attending a university were slim. For this reason, his family sent him to a technical secondary school in Xiangtan instead of high school. Having his trajectory pointed in that direction for him, his chances of getting a college education were practically zero.
During the technical school, though, Zhong excelled and was promoted to attend college-level courses. After graduation, he began his career as a technician. He soon started his first entrepreneurial endeavour by filing for a patent in 1991. Zhong successfully commercialized it --- manufactured and sold 120 units quickly. The invention stirred enough market interest that the radio station of Xiangtan City promoted the product for one month for free.
Zhong realized that he could achieve even more than he thought and developed these six words as his mantra. Control yourself. Challenge yourself. Excel yourself.
In 1994, Zhong returned to university to study for a Masters degree. One of the entrance requirements was passing a national exam that included knowledge of English. His first foreign language was Japanese, so learning English was nearly Mission Impossible. He tried unsuccessfully to find an English tutor, but in the end he taught himself. He mastered the language portion and was admitted to Hunan University, the best institution of higher learning in the province, with the highest total score among all applicants to the university that year.
In 1997, Zhong temporarily left his wife, Sue, and his one-year old daughter in Hunan and went to Shanghai to earn a PhD degree. After receiving his doctorate in 2000, Dr. Zhong went to Israel for a postdoctoral position. This time, he was accompanied by his family.
After completing the contract in Israel, the Zhongs moved to England to accept an offer at Imperial College London for a second postdoctoral position. Dr. Zhong envisioned to become a full professor in 10 years. In order to accomplish that goal he studied at night for a second PhD degree while working as a postdoctoral researcher by day. Nine years later, Dr. Zhong was appointed to Chair Professor in Control Engineering at Loughborough University.
Just as important is what occurred two years ago. He made a breakthrough in his research and invented the synchronverter, the first-generation virtual synchronous machine. He knew this was revolutionary. While advancing the research, including building a $5 million lab at The University of Sheffield, he started exploring various ways for commercialization.
Dr. Zhong eventually realized that the best prospects for this lay across the ocean and launched the Go Global initiative. After nearly 14 years of work in the UK, he decided to move one more time, this time to the U.S. He was recruited to Chicago, a global hub, where he assumed Max McGraw Endowed Chair Professor in Power and Energy Engineering and Management at Illinois Institute of Technology.
After settling down, Dr. Zhong founded Syndem LLC in 2017. The company focuses on developing virtual synchronous machines to accelerate large-scale adoption of distributed energy resources and to make power systems autonomous without relying on communication networks. Within one year, he led his team to several achievements. Dr. Zhong accomplished the rare -- almost impossible -- task of leading his team to nearly break even in their first year while launching two products and securing contracted revenue for another year of operation.
Zhong lives in a Chicago suburb with Sue, herself an engineer, and their two daughters. Sue is a collaborating partner and engineer in Syndem. The older of their two daughters, Rui, now works for a top investment bank in the green technology sector and an accomplished visual artist. The younger, Lisa, is an energetic reader, dancer, and gymnast, eagerly awaiting attending high school in the U.S. She read over 800 books in 2018.
David Baker
David
E. Baker is President, Fremont St. Associates,
Executive Director, America's
Urban Campus, Managing Director, Smart Grid
Cluster. Through his consulting firm, Mr.
Baker oversees the operations of a consortium of
over 20 of Chicago's universities and colleges,
whose mission is to promote Chicago as a global
destination for higher education. He also
manages one of 11 U.S. Small Business
Administration regional innovation clusters,
focused on supporting start-ups in the grid
modernization space.
Mr. Baker served as Vice President for External
Affairs, Illinois
Institute of Technology from 1995 to
2016. He was responsible for the
University’s governmental relations, marketing
and communications, and trustee relations. He
managed all university strategic plans from 1993
through 2009. He helped to create the
Perspectives Charter Schools/IIT Math &
Science Academy.
Since 2001 he worked to create the University
Technology Park at IIT (UTP) of which he served
as founding Executive Director from 2006 to
2016. UTP received the Emerging Technology Park
of the Year Award in 2014, from the Association
of University Research Parks. Mr. Baker received
the 2016 Career Achievement Award from AURP for
his leadership in the technology park field. He
conducted workshops, seminars and consultancies
on tech ecosystem development in Spain, France,
Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Croatia, Trinidad
and China.
Prior to joining the University, Mr. Baker
served as President of The Illinois Coalition,
whose mission is to strengthen the Illinois
economy through science and technology.
From 1980 to 1989, Mr. Baker served as the
Executive Vice President of the Illinois State
Chamber of Commerce, the state’s largest
business advocacy organization. Mr. Baker
served as the 2012-2013 President of the
Association of University Research Parks. He
served as Chair of the Heidelberg Club
International of Chicago from 2008 to 2015. He
is a member of the Economic Club of Chicago. Mr.
Baker holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins
University School of Advanced International
Studies and an A.B. in History with a minor in
Economics from Stanford University. He is
married, has two children and lives in Chicago.
Robert C.W. Owen
Robert Owen, Director of Essaimage
Associates Ltd, graduated from the
University of Hertfordshire, UK (then called
“The Hatfield Polytechnic”) in 1978, with a
degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
He became a Chartered Engineer and full member
of the Institution of Engineering &
Technology (IET, formerly the IEE) in 1985.
His first employment was in the military
electronics field, working for Raytheon. After a
short period designing power supplies for London
Transport, he joined the Technical Sales
Department of Texas Instruments (TI)’s UK
Semiconductor Division. Across the next 15
years, he held Sales and Marketing positions for
Automotive, Consumer, Computer and Industrial
markets. He built TI’s first pan-European
support organization and in 1994 he accepted
TI’s invitation to build a new programme – The
European University Programme – and ran this for
TI until 2011. Across this period he became
known to more than 3,000 Lecturers and
Researchers across the region. The model he
built for this program became TI's template
worldwide, and it now spans the globe. In Europe
today there are 1,000+ TI-based DSP labs, used
by circa 34,000 students every year, and he led
the expansion of the programme to encompass
Analog, RF, and Microcontroller technologies. He
has personally visited more than 650
Universities around the world.
Robert now has two major clients:
- RS Components, the world's largest distributor of electronics and maintenance products, through his development of "RS University" - a global programme that enables Lecturers to harness RS's design tools and component support.
- Imagination Technologies, the IP company famous for its PowerVR GPUs and MIPS CPUs. He has established the "Imagination University Programme," which offers access to a current MIPS processor core for the teaching of Computer Architecture and SoC: System on Chip Design.
Robert is also actively involved in
student recruitment and training for companies
including Imagination, EnOcean, Caterva and
Conrad. He has developed a one-year model for
Internships that enables smaller and start-up
companies to develop a pipeline of talent.
Kate Barnard
Kate Barnard, former University Research Program Manager of Rolls-Royce, is Founder & Director of two successful start-ups, WhatBox Consulting Ltd and Enjoy The Air Limited, along with Non-Executive Director for Eye Dream and on the Strategy Board of the IMechE, one of the largest Global Professional Engineering Institutions.
Kate is a Professional Chartered Engineer, with a degree in Mechanical engineering, bringing together technical and entrepreneurship skills. Built on a foundation of over two decades as a manager in the engineering and technology group within Rolls-Royce Plc, she led one of the largest global industry-academic research networks, and drove multi-million pound, multi-national research programs. Her international experience included leading development & test programs for UK and US power plants.
Kate recognizes the linkage between new research, social progress and the sustainability of our planet and has become a key person of influence. She combines a strong commercial engineering background, with entrepreneurship, an extensive knowledge and network in the research system from academics to government agencies and influential leaders.
Kate is a Fellow of The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Women's Engineering Society and Association of Project Managers, an active Honorary Fellow in the Faculty of Engineering at The University of Nottingham, a published author and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Engineers.
Zhen(yu) Yu
Dr. Zhen(yu) Yu is currently Systems
Engineering manager for the C2000 MCU business
at Texas
Instruments, Inc. (TI). Zhen joined TI in
1995 as an Applications Engineer on the
Industrial and Automotive team in Automotive
MCU, the team that evolved into today's C2000
MCU business overtime. Zhen contributed
significantly to the definition, development and
support of the first and later C2000 MCU
products. Zhen is also instrumental to C2000's
worldwide successes, especially the successes in
China and Asia. He took an expat assignment in
Shanghai from 2003 to 2006 and contributed
significantly to C2000 business wins and
strategy then and later. Zhen also contributed
significantly to C2000's application technology
development and strategy. He developed some of
the earliest C2000 application reports, software
and demos. He provided critical technical and
business support to C2000's earliest and later
customers. In his role as digital power systems
team manager, digital power and motor control
systems team manager and systems engineering
manager for C2000, he led the development of a
long list of reference designs and EVMs, and was
critical in the formation and implementation of
C2000's application strategy. Zhen was also
C2000 Business Development Manager for China,
Asia and worldwide and C2000 Worldwide
End-Equipment marketing manager, contributing
significantly to C2000's business development
and EE successes.
Zhen was elected Member Group of Technical Staff
(MGTS) and Senior Member Technical Staff (SMTS)
in the early years at TI and is now Emeritus
SMTS.
Zhen received his Doctor of Science Degree in
Systems Science and Mathematics in 1995 from
Washington University in St. Louis, MO, and his
B.S. and M.S. degrees from Behang University in
Beijing. Zhen worked at Beihang's Third Research
Group as a Research Engineer from 1985 to 1989.
Jim MacInnes
Jim MacInnes is CEO & Co-owner
of Crystal Mountain, a 1500-acre four-season resort near Traverse City, Michigan. Crystal was named the #1 Resort in the Midwest in 2005 by the readers of SKI magazine and the resort's golf school is rated as a Top 25 golf school in the nation by the readers of Golf Magazine.
During his tenure at Crystal Mountain, Mr. MacInnes and his wife, Chris, have developed nearly $100 million of resort and recreational real estate projects. He was also involved in creating and managing Michigan Assurance Limited, a Bermuda-based captive insurance company that provided risk management and insurance services for a dozen hotels and resorts. His project development/engineering consulting company Renewable Power Solutions provided project development services for a proposed $175 Million Mancelona Renewable Resources biomass plant designed to power 31,500 homes.
Prior to joining the resort, Mr. MacInnes was
Director of Venture Management for Irvine,
California based Ultrapower Incorporated where
he was involved in investor relations and
financing of renewable energy power generation
projects developed, co-owned and operated by the
Company. He also served as Project Development
Manager and Lead Control Systems Engineer on
commercial power plant projects.
Jim served as a vice chair of the IEEE USA
Energy Policy Committee in 2014 and is the vice
chair of the West Michigan IEEE PES/PELS
chapter. He is a Life Senior Member of IEEE and
a member of IEEE PES and PELS societies.
He was appointed by Governors Snyder and Whitmer as Chair of the Michigan Utility Consumer Participation Board. He is a board member of Fifth Third Bank - West Michigan and a past board member of the Michigan Chamber of Commerce. He was appointed by Governor Engler to serve on the Michigan Ski Area Safety Board and was appointed by Governor Granholm to serve on Great Lakes Offshore Wind Council. He and his wife, Chris, were recipients of the 1998 Governor's Award for Arts and Culture. As a result of his clean energy advocacy work, Mr. MacInnes was also named as one of 16 Green Leaders in Michigan in 2010 by the Detroit Free Press; Energy Innovator of the Year in 2015 by the Michigan Agency for Energy; and to the Energy Innovators Hall of Fame in 2019 by the Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council.
Tony Lakin
Tony started his career in 1970 as a
Development Engineer for Marconi Space &
Defence Systems (Stanmore). In 1971-1979, he led
the Control & Instrumentation Group of Power
Plant Division & Advanced Technology
Division for NEI Clarke Chapman. In 1979-1998,
he was the Managing Director of Micro Tech Ltd,
part of the Nada Consulting Group. He became the
Managing Director of the Nada Consulting Group
in 1998 and led a Buy In Management Buy Out
(BIMBO) of the Nada Consulting Group with
venture capital help from Nat West Venture
Capital and Gartmore. The Nada Consulting Group
changed its name to I-Power Ltd in 2000, which
was then purchased by Turbo Genset PLC in 2001
with him as the R & D Director. In 2002,
I-Power acquired the IPR and service contracts
from Rolls Royce Industrial Controls. In 2006
Turbo Genset changed the operating name to Turbo
Power Systems Ltd (TPS) and changed it’s listing
onto the AIM market. In 2010, TPS was acquired
by the Brazilian engineering company VSE, a
subsidiary of Vale Engineering, the major
Brazilian mining company. In 2013, Mr Lakin
retired as an executive director and gave up the
R & D Director of TPS.
In nearly 5 decades of his career, Tony has been
responsible for numerous projects, e.g., data
logging systems for IBM, film lighting systems
used in films including Shakespeare In Love,
James Bond, Harry Potter and The Saint with an
Oscar for technical innovation, one of the first
DFIG wind turbine controllers, the first UK G59
approved PV grid-linked inverter systems, and
four inverter drive systems for Boeing
(Dreamliner) 787 aircraft.
Tony is the UK expert on IEC Technical Committee
TC82/WG6. He is a representative on the BSI
committees for Photovoltaic Energy Systems,
GEL/82 and Electrical Energy Storage ESL/120,
and was one of the experts originally involved
in writing G77, the first low power generation
grid connection standard. Furthermore, Tony is a
member of the UK G59 frequency response
technical sub-group, looking at the potential
future problems with grid frequency response and
connection standards.
Aris
Karcanias
Aris Karcanias is a Senior Managing
Director and Co-leader of the Global Clean
Energy practice at FTI
Consulting. He has over 15 years of
consulting experience in the clean energy sector
with a focus on renewables, energy storage, and
electric vehicle industries, having been
recognized by ALM's Consulting Magazine as one
of 2018's Global Leaders in Consulting.
Aris has a strong technical engineering
background with extensive experiences on
corporate strategy formulation, renewable energy
technology, strategic market entry and exit,
mergers and acquisitions, dispute resolution,
due diligence reviews, and energy policy
development and impact assessments. Aris has
managed a number of large, cross-country
projects and has worked with clients across the
world and throughout the energy value chain
including emerging technology companies,
manufacturers, environmental organizations,
utilities, developers, energy companies,
investors, and government agencies.
Additionally, Aris resides on the Investment
Committee at SUSI Partners, a Zurich based clean
energy infrastructure fund. Aris is regarded as
a leading industry figure and has authored
several widely cited publications. He is often
quoted in prominent media outlets on energy
issues and frequently speaks at, or chairs
energy conferences.
He holds an MPhil, Engineering for Sustainable
Development, from the University of Cambridge
and an M.Eng., Electrical and Control Systems,
University of Warwick.
Gene
Frantz
Gene Frantz is widely regarded as the Digital
Signal Processing (DSP) visionary or The
Father of DSP. Along with a group of
engineers, they delivered the TMS5100, TI's
first speech synthesis chip, which was the
centerpiece of the Speak & Spell, a wildly
successful educational consumer electronics
product that was years ahead of its time. In the
mid-1970s few believed it was possible to
implement real-time digital processing
technology in an integrated circuit. Now the
technology is found in every device that
accesses the Internet and plays media - not to
mention many others.
He holds 45 patents in the area of memories,
speech, consumer products and DSP. He has
written more than 50 Papers and articles and
continually presents at Universities and
conferences worldwide. He is also among industry
experts widely quoted in the media due to his
tremendous knowledge and visionary view of DSP
solutions. He spent 39 years at Texas
Instruments and rose to the role of Principal
Fellow - the top rung of the technical ladder
and an honor that only 4 people before him
enjoyed during the history of the company.
He is a recipient of the IEEE Millennium Medal
and a Fellow of IEEE.
He received his BSEE from University of Central
Florida in 1971, MSEE from Southern Methodist
University in 1977, and MBA from Texas Tech
University - Rawls College of Business in 1982.
Phill Cartwright
Dr. Phill Cartwright was NED/Chairman at The Center for
Modelling and Simulation, NED at The
Manufacturing Technology Center, and the
former CTO of The High
Value Manufacturing Catapult UK. The
Catapult combines the strengths of seven
existing centers across key manufacturing
processes, with over 140 million pounds of
government investment and investment matched by
private industry to revitalize the UK
manufacturing industry. Before that, he was
Director of Engineering Excellence Group, Laing
O’Rourke, the renowned international
engineering and construction company,
responsible for the company’s Electrical Power,
Control and Data Systems Research, Development
and Delivery.
He had an impressive track record of senior
roles in advanced engineering and manufacturing,
including six years as Head of Electrical Power
and Control Systems at Rolls-Royce.
He had successfully managed PNL accounts
>650m pounds and attracted government gearing
for manufacturing, research and technology
programmes >350m pounds. He developed,
captured and delivered significant and
successful power systems, nuclear and/or
aerospace projects in Europe, India, China,
Uruguay and Brazil.
Phill combined a strong commercial engineering
background, with sustainable supply chain
development experience and a clear strategic
vision.
He was the founding chair of the Institution of
Engineering & Technology (IET) Power Sector
Executive and has previously been an active
member and adviser to the UK Government’s
Nuclear Industry Council. He was a Fellow of The
IET, an active visiting Professor in Energy
Systems at The University of Manchester and The
University of Strathclyde, the author of
numerous technical journal papers, co-author of
two books and several patents in mathematical
modelling, control and integration of energy
systems.
Phill passed away in September 2021. Read Tributes to Professor Phill Cartwright.
