Professor H. Alan Mantooth

Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) are used to integrate Photovoltaic (PV), Wind, and Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) into the grid. As penetration of these DERs increase, additional tertiary controls and communications are required to ensure optimal performance and stability of the grid. While these additional communications and controls are necessary to ensure high power quality and reliability are maintained, engineers and system designers must be mindful of the increased cybersecurity attack surfaces and institute appropriate mitigation strategies. During this webinar we will discuss cybersecurity threats, attack vectors, and mitigation strategies. Additionally, we will present examples of cybersecurity intrusions and protections. Finally, design guidelines and best practices will be discussed for cybersecure implementations of DERs.

Biography:

H. Alan Mantooth (S'83 - M'90 - SM'97 – F’09) received the B.S.E.E. and M.S.E.E. degrees from the University of Arkansas in 1985 and 1986, and the Ph.D. degree from Georgia Tech in 1990. He then joined Analogy, a startup company in Oregon. In 1998, he joined the faculty of the Department of Electrical Engineering at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he currently holds the rank of Distinguished Professor. His research interests now include analog and mixed-signal IC design & CAD, semiconductor device modeling, power electronics, power electronic packaging, and cybersecurity. Dr. Mantooth helped establish the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission (NCREPT) at the UA in 2005. Professor Mantooth serves as the Executive Director both the NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on GRid-connected Advanced Power Electronic Systems (GRAPES) and the Cybersecurity Center on Secure, Evolvable Energy Delivery Systems (SEEDS) funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. Dr. Mantooth holds the 21^st Century Research Leadership Chair in Engineering. He currently serves as Senior Past-President for the IEEE Power Electronics Society and Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Open Journal of Power Electronics. Dr. Mantooth is a Fellow of IEEE, a member of Tau Beta Pi and Eta Kappa Nu, and registered professional engineer in Arkansas

Dr. Chris Farnell

Biography:

Chris Farnell NCREPT Managing Director and Test Engineer. Dr. Farnell (IEEE S’11 – M’19) received his Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Arkansas in 2020. His research interests include Embedded System Design, Wireless Networks, FPGAs, Cybersecurity, and Power Electronics. He is currently serving as the Managing Director and Test Engineer for the National Center for Reliable Electric Power Transmission (NCREPT) at the University of Arkansas. Chris remains active in K-12 outreach activities.