Annual Research Symposium
The 2026 FREEDM Annual Symposium held February 10 and 11 was very energetic with multiple industry presentations, over 40 poster presentations, and a keynote from the CEO of M.C. Dean. Links to available presentations are in the agenda. Please contact the individual presenter if the link is not present.
Welcome and Introductions
University Welcome by Christopher Frey, PhD, Associate Dean for Research and Infrastructure, College of Engineering
FREEDM Update by Iqbal Husain, PhD, FREEDM Executive Director
Active MV Substations to Power the Hyperscaler Datacenter Complex by Johan Enslin, PhD, Program Director, ARPA-E
Large Load Integration
DC Distribution in Data Centers by Calvin Zhang, PhD, Director of Engineering, Eaton
Battery Energy Storage Systems for AI Data Centers by Ahren Leith, Director of Engineering, FlexGen
Large Load Modeling for Grid Impacts by Ning Lu, PhD, ECE Professor
Keynote
Industry Collaboration by Ed White, CEO, Field2Base
Supply Chain
Supply Chain Modeling and Analytics for Resilient Power Systems by Maria Mayorga, PhD, Goodnight Distinguished Chair, ISE; Benjamin Rachunok, PhD, Assistant Professor, ISE; Jordan Kern, PhD, Associate Professor, ISE; Anderson de Queiroz, PhD, Associate Professor, CCEE
Electric Transportation
Powertrain Electric Machines and Controls by Iqbal Husain, PhD, FREEDM Executive Director
High Power SiC Inverters with Ultra-High Efficiency for Transportation Applications by Wensong Yu, PhD, Associate Research Professor
Flexible Scheduling of Large EV Loads for Improving the Stability of Power Distribution Systems by Amit Podder, PhD, Senior Engineer, ET Strategic Initiatives, Dominion Energy
Power Systems
Operations Research Meets AI: Shaping the Future of Power Systems by Wenyuan Tang, PhD., Associate Professor
Data-Driven Nonlinear Control of Power Systems with Inverter Based Resources by Aranya Chakrabortty, PhD, Associate Department Head for Research, ECE
Challenges and Recent Breakthrough in the Stability and EMT Simulation of Large Scale Power Systems by Hantao Cui, PhD, Assistant Professor, ECE
Power Electronics
Power Converters for Energy Storage Integration into DC Microgrid Systems – Research Overview by Zeljko Pantic, PhD, Assistant Professor, ECE
III-Nitride Power Devices: Fundamental Research and Prototyping Opportunities by Spyros Pavlidis, PhD, Assistant Professor, ECE
Advancing Power Electronics and Packaging Including AI/ML/DT Reliability Integration by Doug Hopkins, PhD, Research Professor, ECE, PREES Lab Director and Jon Ryu, PhD, Associate Professor, MAE
WBG Devices-enabled Power Conversion System and DC Grids by Subhashish Bhattacharya, PhD, Duke Energy Distinguished Professor
Microgrids
FPL BESS and Microgrid Update by Joel Linton, Engineer, Florida Power and Light
A Cooperative Control Hardware in the Loop by Tim Gubitz, PE, Manager, Energy Services & Technology, NCEMC
Developing a Three-Node Marine DC Microgrid by Al Raji Billah, Graduate Research Assistant, ECE
Keynote
Electrical Engineering in the 4th Industrial Revolution by Bill Dean, CEO, M.C. Dean, Inc
M.C. Dean Hub Projects
Coordinated Control of Energy Storage in Networked Microgrids by Aranya Chakrabortty, PhD, Associate Department Head for Research, ECE
Development of a Data Center Digital Twin for Energy and Power Management System Design by Ning Lu, PhD, Professor ECE
Dynamic Data Center Models to Enhance Grid Stability and Reliability by Hantao Cui, PhD, Assistant Professor, ECE
Future Industrial Infrastructure Distribution Systems Consortium by Srdjan Lukic, PhD, Lampe Distinguished Professor, ECE
