Justin

Growing interest in DC power systems has motivated the development of DC circuit breakers (DCCBs), which can selectively interrupt DC faults. State-of-the-art DCCBs can be broadly classified into three categories: mechanical circuit breakers, solid-state circuit breakers, and hybrid circuit breakers. Among these, hybrid breakers offer a promising tradeoff between on-state losses and fault interruption speed. However, open questions remain regarding the reliability, lifetime, and cybersecurity of hybrid DC breakers and their associated protection systems. This talk presents several recent advancements in hybrid breaker technology, including novel tripping schemes, degradation studies, and intrusion detection algorithms, which together support the realization of reliable and secure DC power systems.

Biography:

Zhi Jin (Justin) Zhang received the B.A.Sc. degree, with High Honours, in engineering science and the M.A.Sc. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada, in 2017 and 2019, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA, in 2024.

He is currently the Fred Kaiser Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada. He served as Chair of the IEEE Power Electronics Society Atlanta Chapter from 2019 to 2024. He is currently serving as a Guest Editor for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics Letters and as a Guest Associate Editor for IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics. His current research interests include power electronics, cybersecurity in energy systems, HVDC, and grid integration of renewable energy sources and electric vehicles.