Please note your affiliation and years of experience in the energy and/or environmental field

I am the Director of Analysis, Research and Systems Engineering at Atlantic Grid Development, LLC in Silver Spring, MD. For the last 13 years, I have been researching, teaching and working on energy related issues. I started to be interested in the energy field while searching for a dissertation topic in grad school at the George Washington University, Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Department. When I read a front-page article about Cape Wind, the first US offshore wind project proposal, in the Wall Street Journal, I decided to delve into the energy field, particularly offshore wind system design and power market integration issues. It is a fascinating, challenging and complex subject to think, design and analyze both from technical and economical aspects with a holistic system perspective. 

Any particular achievement / interest in energy/environment you would like to mention?

Since 2011, I have been working for Atlantic Grid Development to develop the first-of-its-kind offshore transmission system in the US to connect offshore wind farms and extend the onshore grid in the Mid-Atlantic region. While working at AGD, I was involved in two DOE funded research projects to help advance offshore transmission system planning and to reduce the cost of offshore wind by introducing integrated design solutions. In addition, I was a member of a study group that led the analyses of offshore wind future cost reductions in Massachusetts and New York. These studies successfully helped decision makers develop legislation in both states.

I build techno-economic system models to understand and guide the design processes, to define costs, benefits and risks including uncertainties. My dissertation “Financial Analysis and Cost Optimization of Offshore Wind Energy under Uncertainty and in Deregulated Power Markets” introduced a pioneering framework for an integrated system optimization model for offshore wind.             

In your opinion, what are important issues facing the energy industry nowadays?

The energy industry is going through a transformation in three major aspects. In broad terms, it is becoming greener, distributed and digitalized. The existing asset base in the US — the grid and generation network — is the biggest machine that mankind has ever built. Transforming it without upsetting the existing asset base and threatening the status quo and designing additions to this system from a holistic system perspective with a view towards future generations while keeping the grid secure and reliable are the biggest challenges that we are facing today.

How long have you been a member of NCAC? Any particular NCAC memory you would like to share with us?

I have been member of NCAC since 2015. I love to meet distinguished experts at the NCAC meetings and I learn something new in every discussion while sharing the same passion for energy.