For Grid Focused Dr. Zhou, it’s Who You Know

There’s smart, and there’s smart-grid smart, and Dr. Yifan Zhou is both.

Dr. Yifan Zhou joined Stony Brook University’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering as an assistant professor in Fall 2022. Her research focuses on developing learning-based, verifiable smart grids, which collaboratively integrates machine learning, quantum computing, and formal verification to enable intelligent and resilient power system operations and support extreme renewable energy integration.

Dr. Zhou earned her PhD from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University, China, in 2019, and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Stony Brook University.

Dr. Zhou has collaborated frequently with top investigators in the field, including renowned researcher Peng Zhang, Stony Brook’s SUNY Empire Innovation Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, with whom she has co-authored over 10 publications in top power and energy venues. Their joint efforts have attracted significant support from the National Science Foundation and other federal and industry funders, including a $6 million NSF grant to develop AI-Grid, the world's first artificial intelligence-operated microgrid.

This deep dive into renewable energy’s uber-efficient distribution is fortified by the researcher’s affiliation with the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center, which she considers “a highly rewarding experience.”

“The center's mission for advancing innovative energy research perfectly aligns with my research field,” Dr. Zhou notes. “The collaborative and supportive culture of the AERTC provides me with great opportunities to pursue my research interests and collaborate with scholars who share similar interests and goals.”

Among them: SBU Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Professor Yacov Shamash, with whom Dr. Zhou has partnered on multiple Office of Naval Research-backed research projects.

“Those projects have resulted in several high-quality publications and opened up new possibilities for future funding applications,” Dr. Zhou says. “The insights and discoveries from those projects have significantly enriched my understanding of the field.”

For a researcher like Dr. Zhou – highly accomplished, but still young in her field – these brushes with greatness distribute an energy all their own.

“As a junior faculty member, such collaborations with experienced scholars in the AERTC have not only benefited my research,” she says. “They have also provided a valuable learning process for my professional growth.”