Keynote Speakers

Abstract: Medical robotic systems can make surgical and rehabilitative interventions more efficient, accurate, accessible, and reliable while reducing the burden on health care systems. The need for such robotic technologies stems from the current long wait times for surgeries, therapies and rehabilitation sessions. Surgical, therapeutic, rehabilitation and other medical interventions can be significantly enhanced by utilizing the advantages offered by robots as well as the real-time decision-making capabilities of machines under the direct control, shared control, or supervisory control of medical professionals (surgeons and therapists). In this seminar, Dr. Mahdi Tavakoli, Professor at the University of Alberta, presents various research projects on medical robotics applications in surgery, therapy, rehabilitation, and telemedicine. The goal is to show a range of problems faced in medical robotics research and their solutions spanning instrumentation, imaging, artificial intelligence, and real-time control.

Biography: Mahdi Tavakoli is a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada. He received his BSc and MSc degrees in Electrical Engineering from Ferdowsi University and K.N. Toosi University, Iran, in 1996 and 1999, respectively. He received his PhD degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Western Ontario, Canada, in 2005. In 2006, he was a post-doctoral researcher at Canadian Surgical Technologies and Advanced Robotics (CSTAR), Canada. In 2007-2008, he was an NSERC Post-Doctoral Fellow at Harvard University, USA. Dr. Tavakoli’s research interests broadly involve the areas of robotics and systems control. Specifically, his research focuses on haptics and teleoperation control, medical robotics, and image-guided surgery. Dr. Tavakoli is the lead author of Haptics for Teleoperated Surgical Robotic Systems (World Scientific, 2008). He is an Associate Editor for IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, Journal of Medical Robotics Research, Control Engineering Practice, and Mechatronics

Abstract: Microgrids (MGs) are deemed as one of the main building blocks of the future smart grids. It is expected that in a near future, smart grid emerges as a well-planned plug-and-play integration of MGs which interact with each other. Providing a premium power quality (PQ) for the customers is one of the main objectives in smart grids. On the other hand, the proliferation of different nonlinear and single-phase loads in electrical systems has resulted in PQ problems such as voltage harmonic and unbalance. Distributed Generators (DGs) are often connected to the utility grid or microgrid through a power-electronic interface converter. Recently, many control approaches are proposed to control the DG interface converters aiming to compensate power quality problems. In this speech, analysis, challenges and compensation of PQ problems in MGs will be addressed through several control architectures.
Main topics are:

• Overview of PQ issues in MGs
• Virtual impedance and admittance for load sharing and PQ improvement
• Secondary Control for Compensation of Voltage Unbalance and Harmonics in Microgrids
• Coordinated control of voltage-controlled and current-controlled converters for PQ improvemen

Biography: Mehdi Savaghebi (S’06-M’15-SM’15) received the B.Sc. degree from University of Tehran, Iran, in 2004 and the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees with highest honors from Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran in 2006 and 2012, respectively, all in Electrical Engineering. From 2014 to 2017, he was a Postdoc Fellow in the Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University where he was an Associate Professor for 2017-2018. Currently, he is an Associate Professor with Electrical Engineering Section, the Mads Clausen Institute, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. His main research interests include distributed generation systems, microgrids, power quality and protection of electrical systems, UPS and smart metering. Dr. Savaghebi has been a Guest Editor of Special Issue on Power Quality in Smart Grids- IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, Special Issue on Power Quality and Protection in Renewable Energy Systems and Microgrids- IET Renewable Power Generation and Special Issue on Uninterruptible Power Supplies- MDPI Sustainability Journal. He was a member of Task Force on Microgrid Stability Analysis and Modeling, IEEE Power and Energy Society. He is an Associate Editor of IEEE Access, Editor of MDPI Sustainability journal and a member of Technical Committee of Renewable Energy Systems, IEEE Industrial Electronics Society

Abstract: Free-Space Optical communications is an alternative wireless communication technology that uses optical signals to provide connectivity. In this talk we will focus on challenges and opportunities of this technology and a number of its emerging applications such as inter-satellite communication, LiFi, automotive connectivity, and cell tower interconnection.

Biography: Dr. Mohammad Noshad is a scientist, entrepreneur and technologist who has founded multiple companies in Silicon Valley and has served as a top executive and board member. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering and was a researcher at Harvard University. He was one of the pioneers in introducing LiFi technology to the world. Dr. Noshad has received numerous awards for his work on free-space optical communications including IEEE Globecom award. He has served as the chair and committee member of various IEEE conferences and industrial forums.

Abstract: The growing use of variable renewable energy sources for power generation poses several challenges to the operation of power systems, in particular, supply and demand imbalances. To maintain continuous service in the face of rapid and large swings in supply and/or demand, and mismatch between supply and demand there is a significant need for flexibility (i.e. flexible back-up generation, energy storage and demand side response). There already exist substantial energy storage and demand response potentials within heat and gas systems which can be exploited to support the operation of electricity system and facilitate a cost-effective transition to a low carbon and resilient energy system. To achieve this, efficient integration of electricity, heat/cooling and gas systems across different scales (i.e. demand and supply) is required. This talk will discuss opportunities and challenges of maximising flexibility through energy systems integration.

Biography: Meysam Qadrdan is a Reader in Energy Networks and Systems at Cardiff University. Before starting his current role in January 2015, he spent one year at Imperial College and two years at Cardiff University as Research Associate. His research area covers expansion and operational planning of interdependent energy networks at different scales from community to national and international level

Abstract: Smart Cyber-physical Systems (CPS) play a major role in today’s societies. The majority of the Industrial Control Systems (ICS), which are used in CPS was developed prior to the Internet era when the security was their last concern. The increased dependence of ICS on the communication network and cyber systems poses significant cybersecurity challenges on online monitoring and control of CPS. A successful cyber-attack on CPS could result in catastrophic loss of life, adverse economic effects and significant harm to public confidence. The “curse of modeling” and “curse of dimensionality” of the current CPS have resulted in the popularity of using artificial intelligence (AI) for different types of analysis, including cybersecurity. In this talk, we will present some recent advances in these areas, including AI-base security analysis in IoT-enabled smart grids and critical infrastructure by proper threat identification, threat hunting, and cyber threat intelligence.

Biography: Dr. Hadis Karimipour is the director of SCPS Lab and an Assistant Professor in the School of Engineering at the University of Guelph. Her research mainly focuses on the application of Artificial Intelligent (AI) and machine learning on the Internet of Things (IoT) and critical infrastructure security. The overall objective of her research is to investigate and overcome the challenges associated with the security, real-time monitoring, and control of the large scale cyber-physical systems using data analytics and machine learning techniques. She is a senior member of the IEEE and IEEE Computer Society. She serves as the Chair of the IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) and Chapter Chair of the IEEE Information Theory in the Kitchener-Waterloo section.

Abstract: Over the last two decades, nature-inspired stochastic optimization techniques have been widely used to solve a variety of problems in both science and industry. Despite the popularity and impact of such methods, optimization of real-world problems involves addressing a large number of difficulties such as local solutions, multiple objectives, constraints, expensive objective function, noisy objective function, dynamic search space, uncertainties, etc. In this talk, the state-of-the-art and recent advances in addressing such difficulties during optimization will be briefly presented.

Biography: Associate Professor Seyedali Mirjalili is the director of the Centre for Artificial Intelligence Research and Optimization at Torrens University Australia. He is internationally recognized for his advances in Swarm Intelligence and Optimization, including the first set of algorithms from a synthetic intelligence standpoint – a radical departure from how natural systems are typically understood – and a systematic design framework to reliably benchmark, evaluate, and propose computationally cheap robust optimization algorithms. He has published over 200 publications with over 20,000 citations and an H-index of 50. As the most cited researcher in Robust Optimization, he is in the list of 1% highly-cited researchers and named as one of the most influential researchers by the world by Web of Science in 2019. Dr. Mirjalili is a senior member of IEEE and an associate editor of several leading AI journals including Neurocomputing, Applied Soft Computing, Advances in Engineering Software, Applied Intelligence, and IEEE Access. His research interests include Robust Optimization, Engineering Optimization, Multi-objective Optimization, Swarm Intelligence, Evolutionary Algorithms, and Artificial Neural Networks. He is working on the application of multi-objective and robust meta-heuristic optimization techniques as well.

Abstract: This speech will be in the form of the professional panel and discusses about the targets, benefits and challenges of the renewable energy and energy storage.

Biography: Babak Enayati received his BSc in Elecgrical Engineering from Tabriz University in 2001, MSc in Electrical Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology in 2004 and PhD in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University, USA in 2009. He joined National Grid, USA in 2009 and is currently the Manager of the Technology Deployment team, which is responsible for the implementation of the new technologies to meet National Grid’s Intelligent Transmission Network objectives. Since Babak joined National Grid, he has held engineering positions in the Protection Engineering, Retail Connections Engineering, and New Energy Solutions departments. He joined Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2006 and currently is a Senior IEEE Member. Babak currently serves as the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) Governing Board Member-at-Large. Babak serves as the Vice Chair of the IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 21 (SCC21), IEEE 1547-Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Energy Resources with Electric Power Systems, and IEEE P2800-Standard for Interconnection and Interoperability of Inverter-Based Resources Interconnecting with Associated Transmission Electric Power Systems. Babak is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the state of Massachusetts.

Abstract: Cities and communities around the world are entering a new era of transformation in which residents and their surrounding environments are increasingly connected through rapidly-changing intelligent technologies. This transformation offers great promise for improved wellbeing and prosperity but poses significant challenges at the complex intersection of technology and society. In response to this need, we need to accelerate the creation of the scientific and engineering foundations that will enable smart and connected communities to bring about new levels of economic opportunity and growth, safety and security, health and wellness, and overall quality of life. This talk focuses on how buildings, ecosystems, and communities are connected, how to optimize the interactions between different building systems, and how humans use and impact building operations. This includes projects that combine the fields of building science and building technology with the use of smart grid-connected technologies, with the goal of building, operating and maintaining buildings and communities that are smarter, more energy-efficient, and that reduce the peak demands on the electric grid. Becoming a smart city is not a goal but a means to an end. The entire point is to respond more effectively and dynamically to the needs and desires of residents. Technology is simply a tool to optimize the infrastructure, resources, and spaces they share. Smart cities need to focus on improving outcomes for residents and enlisting their active participation in shaping the places they call home.

Biography: Dr. Somayeh Asadi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Architectural Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to that she was an Assistant Professor at the Texas A&M University. Her research interest cuts across the following themes: Building energy Automated Design, Critical Infrastructure Systems, Food-Water-Energy Nexus, Design of High Performance Buildings, and Environmental sustainability. To date, her research efforts have resulted in more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, one book, more than 60 peer-reviewed conference papers, and 20 journal articles in review. her research efforts include 12 externally funded projects as a PI and Co-PI, including 3 from the National Science Foundation, and 3 from Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, 3 from US department of Energy and 3 from Qatar National Research Foundation resulting in more than $5 million in research project funding in total. She specializes in sustainable building and built environment, integrated building design systems, energy management, renewable energy systems, and smart grids. Her research efforts range from the scale of a single building to the network of built infrastructures that characterize a city.