Director

Payman Dehghanian (SM’20) received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran, in 2009, the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, in 2011, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA, in 2017. He is currently an Associate Professor with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA. His research interests include power system reliability and resilience assessment, data-informed decision-making for maintenance and asset management in electrical systems, and smart electricity grid applications.

Dr. Dehghanian is the recipient of the 2013 IEEE Iran Section Best M.Sc. Thesis Award in Electrical Engineering, 2014 and 2015 IEEE Region 5 Outstanding Professional Achievement Awards, the 2015 IEEE-HKN Outstanding Young Professional Award, the 2021 Early Career Award from the Washington Academy of Sciences, the 2022 George Washington University’s Early Career Researcher Award, the 2022 IEEE IAS Electric Safety Committee’s Young Professional Achievement Award, and the 2022 IEEE IAS Outstanding Young Member Service Award. In 2015 and 2016, Dr. Dehghanian was selected among the World’s Top 20 Young Scholars for Next Generation of Researchers in Electric Power Systems.

 Ph.D. Students

Ali Alawad received the B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in electrical engineering from Qassim University, Saudi Arabia in 2013 and The George Washington University, Washington D.C., USA, in 2018, respectively. He is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The George Washington University. His research interests include power system reliability and resiliency under extreme weather conditions and smart electricity grid applications.

Ben received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering at The George Washington University, both with concentrations in Energy and Power Systems. Since graduation, Ben has worked at the engineering consulting firm Strategic Analysis, Inc. as a staff engineer aiding the development of techno-economic analyses for clean energy technologies. Now, Ben returns to GW to deepen his understanding of how powerful tools, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, and blockchain technology can offer reliability, resiliency, and efficiency to the cutting edge of smart grids.

Lujia Zhan received the B.Eng in Physics from East China Normal University, China in 2018, and the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA in 2020. She is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA. Her research interests include power system reliability and resiliency, cyber-attack in power grid.

Maeshal Hijazi received the B.Sc and M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering with energy concentration from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA, in 2019 and 2020, respectively. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA. His research interests include power system stability, control, and protection.

Ruotan Zhang received his B.Eng degree in electrical engineering and the automatization specialty from the Hunan University in 2018, and the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA in 2021. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D degree in electrical engineering at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA. His research interest includes smart power grid power grid, resilience of power system and renewable energy.

Chengzhi Xie received the B.Eng degree in electrical engineering and automation from the Beijing Institute of Petrochemical Technology, China, in 2018, and the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA in 2021. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA. His research interest includes seaport power distribution system optimization, smart grid expansion planning, renewable energy, and resilience enhancement.

Farid Kochakkashani received the B.Sc. in industrial engineering from the University of Garmsar, Semnan, Iran, in 2019, and the M.Sc. degree in industrial engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2022. He is now a research assistant at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The George Washington University, where he is pursuing the Ph.D. degree. His research interests include system optimization, electrical systems resilience, decision making under uncertainty, and data-driven optimization.

Nazneen has a B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (2014) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and an MBA in Finance (2018) from the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. She is currently working on her Ph.D. in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The George Washington University, focusing on Energy and Power Systems. Her research interests include smart grids, power system reliability, and protection. This academic journey highlights her commitment to diverse education and her dedication to making meaningful contributions in these specialized fields.

Haoyu Wang received B.Eng in Measurement and Control Technology and Instruments from College of Jincheng, China in 2020, and the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA in 2024. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C. His research interests include offshore wind power generation, long distance power transmission and protection.

Eser Akkurt received the B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Yasar University, Turkey, in 2012, and the M.Sc. degree in information technology from The Washington University Of Science And Technology, Alexandria, Virginia, USA in 2021. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, The George Washington University, Washington, D.C., USA. His research interest includes power generation system optimizations, HV/MV Substations sustainability, power grid future extensions planning, renewable energy, and power systems stability.

 Post-Doctoral Fellows

Dr. Milad Kabirifar received his B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology, Iran, in 2014. He earned his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering-Power Systems, from Sharif University of Technology, Iran, in 2016 and 2023, respectively. After completing his Ph.D., he worked as a Research Fellow at the University of Warwick, UK, where his research focused on the cyber-security aspects of local energy markets. Currently, he is a Postdoctoral Associate at the School of Engineering and Applied Science at George Washington University, USA. He has experience managing several research projects, including those on bulk-network restoration following blackouts and the technical and economic evaluation of battery energy storage systems in power distribution networks. His research interests include the operation and planning optimization of modern power systems, the integration of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles into active distribution networks, and the reliability and resilience of power networks.

Dr. Niloofar Pourghaderi received her B.Sc. (Hon.) degree in Electrical Engineering from Isfahan University of Technology, Iran, in 2015. She completed her M.Sc. (Hon.) and Ph.D. degrees at Sharif University of Technology, Iran, in 2017 and 2023, respectively, both in electrical engineering, power systems. She was a research fellow at the University of Warwick, UK, in the spring and summer of 2024. She is currently a postdoctoral scholar at Electrical and Computer Engineering, George Washington University, USA. She has served as an adjunct professor at Isfahan University of Technology and Amirkabir University of Technology, Iran, and George Washington University, USA. She has experience in managing research projects. Her research interests include modern power system operation and planning, the integration of data centers and renewable energy sources into power systems, and electricity market analysis.

Alumni

 Post-Doctoral Fellows

Dr. Saharnaz Mehrani received her Ph.D. degree in Business Administration with concentration on Operations and Information Management from University of Connecticut, CT, USA, in 2021, and her M.Sc. and B.Sc. in Industrial Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2012 and 2014, respectively. She is currently working as a Post-Doctoral Scientist at The George Washington University. Her research interests include data analytics, machine learning, and discrete optimization, for a variety of applications.

 Visiting Scholars

Dr. Abouzar Estebsari received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Polytechnic University of Turin (Politecnico di Torino), Italy, in 2015. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Department of Energy, at Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy. In summer 2016, he was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, E.ON. Energy Research Center at RWTH-Aachen University, in Germany. His main research interests include power system security of supply and resiliency, smart grid applications, and digital real-time simulation.

Dr. Yunhui Zhang received B.Eng degree in thermal Engineering from Changsha University of Science & Technology, China; the M.Sc. degree in thermal engineering from Wuhan University, China, and the Ph.D. degree in thermal engineering automation from Southeast University, Nanjing, China. She is currently a visiting scholar at George Washington University. Her research interests include Renewable Energy Application, Microgrid Operation Optimization, and Intelligent Energy Services. During 2019-2020, she was a visiting scholar at GW SmartGrid Laboratory.

 Ph.D. Graduates

 M.Sc. Graduates

 Undergraduate Alumnis

 Visiting Interns