Prof. Javad Lavaei of UC Berkeley

Power systems around the world are being modernized to address environmental concerns, reduce costs, and guarantee access to electricity all the time.  Four main criteria for this upgrade are efficiency, reliability, resiliency and sustainability. Recent advances in various technologies are the key enablers for this modernization. Nevertheless, such physical systems are becoming overwhelmingly large scale and stochastic with highly complex dynamics, coupled with millions of human interactions. The design and operation of these systems needs major innovations in computational techniques. In this talk, we first discuss some major challenges behind the modernization of power grids and explain why addressing them involves many different fields. 

Then, we focus on three topics of optimization, learning, and control for power systems, which all need major revolutions in computational techniques. We study how recent advances in AI and machine learning can assist with addressing some of these challenges. We offer case studies on the grids for California, Texas, and different parts of Europe. 

https://ccta2026.ieeecss.org/program/semi-plenary-speakers

Biography:

Javad Lavaei is an Associate Professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He was an Assistant Professor at Columbia University from 2012 to 2015. He received the Ph.D. degree in Control and Dynamical Systems from the California Institute of Technology in 2011 and received the Milton and Francis Clauser Doctoral Prize for the best university-wide Ph.D. thesis. Javad Lavaei has won several awards, including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers given by the White House, DARPA Young Faculty Award, Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Award, NSF CAREER Award, DARPA Director's Fellowship, Office of Naval Research's Director of Research Early Career Grant, and Google Faculty Award. Javad Lavaei is a senior editor of the IEEE Systems Journal and has served on the editorial boards of the IEEE Transactions on Automatic Control, IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, and IEEE Control Systems Letters. He has also served on the conference editorial boards of the Control Systems Society and European Control Association. Javad Lavaei is a recipient of 2015 INFORMS Optimization Society Prize for Young Researchers, 2016 Donald P. Eckman Award given by the American Automatic Control Council, 2016 INFORMS ENRE Energy Best Publication Award, 2017 SIAM Control and Systems Theory Prize, 2020 Journal of Global Optimization Best Paper Award, and 2022 Antonio Ruberti Young Researcher Prize. He has received over 10 best paper awards from the Control Systems Society, INFORMS, and Power & Energy Society. Javad Lavaei is a Fellow of IEEE.

Address:Berkeley , California, United States