Tim Figura
   Wei Tian, Ph.D.

   Research Scientist  
   Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation at Illinois Institute of Technology

   Senior Member
   Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)  

   10 W. 35th St,16th Floor, Room 16D81
   Chicago, IL 60439, USA

   Email: tw(at)hawk.iit.edu
Summary
  • Over 10 years’ experience in power system research and 3 years’ software development experience in financial company. As a lead research scientist, participation in multiple projects of which the total funding amount exceeds 15 million dollar.
  • Expertise in applying optimization algorithms to solve secure and economical operation of power systems, congestion analysis, transmission expansion planning, renewable energy integration analysis, microgrid study, etc
  • Expertise in large-scale system/data calculation and analysis (over 50,000 bus power system of the Eastern Interconnection of U.S.A, over 8 million user financial data of China Construction Bank Shaanxi Branch at year 2007, etc) 
  • Expertise in user interface (UI) design/development, especially using geographic information system (GIS) for Power Generation and Transmission Services
  • IEEE Senior Member (2015~)
  • Certified System Analyst (2007, Senior Engineer, China)
Education
  • Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2011
  • M.S., System Engineering, Xi'an Jiaotong University, 2004
  • B.S., Computational Mathematics, Shandong University, 2001
Work Experience
  • Robert W. Galvin Center for Electricity Innovation of Illinois Institute of Technology, 09/2011-Present.
  • China Construction Bank, Xi’an, Shaanxi, China, 07/2004-08/2007.
Certification
  • Certified System Analyst, China, 05/2007
  • Certified Software Designer, China, 11/2004.
Publications
[19]     Y. Sun, J. Zhong, Z. Li, W. Tian, and M. Shahidehpour,  "Stochastic Battery-Based Energy Storage Transportation Scheduling in Electric Power Systems",  Submitted to IEEE Trans. on Sustainable Energy, under review, 2016

[18]     Z. Shuai, S. Mo,W. Huang, J. Wang, Y. Chen, J. Shen, and W. Tian,  "A Self-Synchronization Control Strategy based on SRF–PLL for Synchronverters",  Submitted to J. of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, under review, 2016

[17]     X. Liu, M.Shahidehpour, X. Liu, Z. Li,Y. Cao, and W. Tian,  "Hierarchical Protection for Loop-based Microgrids",  Submitted to IEEE Trans. on Smart Grid, under review, 2016

[16]     Z. Suai, S. Mo, J. Wang, Z. J. Shen, W. Tian, and Y. Feng,  "Droop control method for load share and voltage regulation in high-voltage microgrids",  J. Mod. Power Syst. Clean Energy, 4(1):76–86, 2016

[15]     Z. Shuai, Y. Sun, Z. J. Shen, W. Tian, C. Tu,Y. Li, and X. Yin, "Microgrid Stability: Classification and a Review", Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 58, Pages 167–179, May 2016

[14]    Y. Sun, R. Mao, W. Tian, and Z. Li, “Constant Jacobian Matrix Based Stochastic Galerkin Method for Probabilistic Power Load Flow,”  Energies  9(3), 153, 2016

[13]    Y. Sun, Z. Li, W. Tian, and M. Shahidehpour, “A Lagrangian Decomposition Approach to Energy Storage Transportation Scheduling in Power System,”  IEEE Trans. on Power Systems, accept and available online, 2016

[12]    Y. Fu, C. Wang, W. Tian, and M. Shahidehpour, “Integration of Large-Scale Offshore Wind Energy via VSC-HVDC in Day-ahead Scheduling,” IEEE Trans. on Sustainable Energy, Vol: 7, no. 2, Apr., 2016

[11]    Z. Li, Y. Jiang, X. Zhang, and W. Tian, “Market-Based Optimal Control of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle Fleets and Economic Analysis,” Journal of Energy Engineering (2015): 04015025. (corresponding author)

[10]    X. Liu, M. Shahidehpour, Y. Cao, Z. Li, and W. Tian, "Risk Assessment in Extreme Events Considering the Reliability of Protection Systems," IEEE Trans. on Smart Grid, Vol: 6, no. 2 (2015): 1073-1081.

[9]    Y. Jiang, J. Liu, W. Tian, M. Shahidehpour, M. Krishnamurthy, “Energy Harvesting for the Electrification of Railway Stations: Getting a charge from the regenerative braking of trains,” IEEE Electrification Magazine, Vol. 2, Issue 3, pp. 39 – 48, 2014.

[8]    H. Wu, M. Shahidehpour, Z. Li, W. Tian, “Chance-Constrained Day-Ahead Scheduling in Stochastic Power System Operation”,IEEE Trans. on Power Syst., Vol. 29, pp. 1583-1591, Jul., 2014

[7]    W. Tian, Y. Jiang, M. Shahidehpour, M. Krishnamurthy “Vehicle Charging Stations with Solar Canopy: A Realistic Case Study within a Smart Grid Environment,” in Proc. 2014 IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference & Expo, June 15-18, Dearborn, Michigan, 2014

[6]    W. Tian, M. Shahidehpour, and Z. Li, “Renewable Energy Procurement in Illinois,” The Electricity Journal, Vol. 27, pp. 43-51, 2014

[5]    J. Liu, Y, Liu, W. Tian, “Influence of Wind Power Absorption Level by CCGT on Power System Operational Index”, Electric Power Automation Equipment, Vol. 33, No. 9, pp. 1-6, Sept. 2013

[4]    P. Zhang, Peng, J. Liu, and W. Tian. "Demand-side emission reduction based energy-saving dispatch and the improved NSGA-II method." Power System Protection and Control Vol. 40, No. 16, pp. 42-48, 2012

[3]    W. Tian, M. Shahidehpour, and Z. Li, “Analysis of 2030 Large-scale Wind Energy Integration in the Eastern Interconnection using WINS,” The Electricity Journal, Vol. 24, pp. 71-87, 2011

[2]    W. Tian, Z. Li, and M. Shahidehpour, “Transmission Congestion Analysis in the Eastern Interconnection using POMS,” in Proc. IEEE Power Eng. Soc. General Meeting, Minneapolis, July 26-29, 2010

[1]    W. Tian, Q. Zhai, X. Guan, “Power Generation Scheduling Based on Mixed-Integer Linear Programming," Power System Technology2003 supplement, in Chinese

Patent 
  • SYSTEM OF POWER SYSTEMS OPTIMAL SCHEDULING BASED ON LAGRANGIAN METHOD V1.0 
    X. Guan, F. Gao, Q. Zhai, L. Wu, W. Tian, L. Sun, Y. Guo, L. Shao, and X. Fan, Institute of Systems Engineering, XJTU, China, 2003. 
Invited Talk
  • Congestion analysis and renewable Energy Integration in Large-Scale Power System
    Hebei University of Technology & Tianjin University, Tianjin, China, Dec. 2013
  • Large-scale renewable energy integration and research on smart grid
    2015 Silk Road Symposium for Distinguished Young Scholars at Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China, Dec. 22, 2015
  • Large-scale renewable energy integration and research on smart grid
    Tianjin University, Tianjin, China, Dec. 30, 2015
Selected Projects Experience in Power Systems
  • The perfect power prototype for Illinois Institute of Technology, $12,000,000, Funded by DOE, 2008-Present
    • Applied OSIsoft PI System in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) development for the microgrid at Illinois Institute of Technology, designed and developed one-line diagram using OSIsoft PI Process Book
    • Developed Data Acquisition (DAQ) software for Perfect Power Systems, Designed and developed an web-based online monitoring system to display and monitor the real-time information data of wind turbine, generator, PMU, Solar Panel, etc., smart grid appliances installed at IIT main campus
    • Developed master controller algorithm and software for automation and optimization of the campus microgrid
  • Application of the Energy Zones Mapping Tool, $100,000, Funded by National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), 2014
    • Performed and analyzed the test cases and prepare the final white paper.
  • Large Scale Wind Energy Integration Analysis in the U.S. Eastern Integration, $750,000, Funded by DOE, 2009-2012
    • Large-scale System Simulation considering Wind Energy Integration
    • Generation Adequacy Analysis
    • Visualization of Simulation Results
    • Developed a Software Platform named as  “Wind Integration Simulator” (WINS)
    • Large-Scale Offshore Wind Energy Integration at the Atlantic Area 
    • Large-Scale Offshore Wind Energy Integration at the Great Lake Area 
  • Illinois Electricity Procurement Plan, Illinois Power Agency, 01/2012-07/2012
    • Provided technical support at IIT for simulation and analysis of the power system in Illinois.
  • Atlantic Wind Connection Project, 07/2011-12/2011
    • Provided technical support at IIT for studying the impact of large scale off-shore wind integration on the Eastern Interconnection, especially on PJM and MAAC area.
    • Developed a analysis software for calculating economic metrics of large-scale power system.
  • Simulation and Analysis of Electric Power Systems in Illinois, Illinois Power Agency, 05/2011-07/2011
    • Provided technical support at IIT for studying the impact of load, carbon tax, fuel price, and 30MW solar energy integration.
    • System simulation, result analysis and writing technical report. 
  • International Collaboration Program for the Expansion of Distributed Energy Resources in Electricity Markets, ADICA LLC, 02/2011-05/2011
    • Provided technical support at IIT for Price Elasticity and Demand Response Analysis in Korea for 2010 using EMCAS.
    • System simulation, result analysis and writing technical report. 
  • Transmission Congestion Analysis in the U.S. Eastern Interconnection, 2008-2009
    • Large-scale System Simulation
    • Transmission Congestion Analysis
    • Visualization of Congestion Analysis Results using GIS Data
  • Power  Market Simulation and Forecast System for Shandong Electric Power Company, China, 12/2002-03/2004
    • B/S Architecture
    • Calculate unit commitment and dispatch results in electricity market.
    • Principal Software Developer for GUI and Power System Optimization Module
  • Web-based Power Market Simulation Platform, funded by 863 Plan, Xi’an China, 09/2001-12/2002
    • B/S Architecture
    • Market Price Forecast, Unit Commitment and Power Market Simulation
    • Principal Software Developer for GUI and Power System Optimization Module
Selected Project Experience in Financial System
Lead Engineer and Principal Software Developer for the following projects
  • Historical Data Management of CCB, China, 06/2005-08/2007
    • System development, Deployment and Maintenance
    • Requirement Analysis and Data Mining 
    • Related technical skill: Hp-Unix, C, Informix
  • Bill Discounting Management System, China, 06/2005-09/2005
    • Technical Director
    • System Deployment and Maintenance
    • Provide technical  training for all the sub-branches in Shaanxi Province (over 100 employees)
  • Data Center Consolidation (DCC) of China Construction Bank, China, 07/2004-05/2005
    • Data Definition, Transform and Load
    • Transfer system and data from Unisys A environment to Unix environment
    • Transfer Data Center from Xi’an to Beijing
Other Project/Design and Development Experience
  • Designer and developer of The third IEEE PES Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies (ISGT2012) website (http://www.ieee-isgt.org, now transfer to http://www.iitmicrogrid.net/isgt2012/
Technical Skills
  • OSIsoft PI System, LabView
  • Languages: C, C++, SQL, C#, Html, JavaScript, Asp.net 
  • Databases: MS SQL Server, ORACLE, MS Access, Informix
  • Operating Systems: Windows, Unix  
Prepared Technical Reports
  • White Paper: Applications of the Energy Zones Mapping Tool,   NARUC,     11/2014
  • Hourly AWC Study for the Year 2021,Atlantic Wind Connection                 11/2011
  • Simulation and Analysis of the Illinois Electricity System with 30MW Solar Energy Integration, Illinois Power Agency  08/2011
  • Simulation and Analysis of Illinois’s Power System for 2011 using EMCAS, Illinois Power Agency                         06/2011
  • 2011 Generation Portfolio Analyses in Illinois, Illinois Power Agency                                                                         05/2011
  • Price Elasticity and Demand Response Analysis in Korea for 2010 using EMCAS, ADICA LLC                               05/2011
Selected Training
  • Visualizing PI System Data, Houston, USA, May, 2014
  • Database Development and Application based on Oracle, Beijing, China, Apr., 2007
  • Collection, Integration and Transformation of Large Volumes of Data using IBM DataStage, Xi’an, China, Oct., 2006
  • Business Intelligence Development and Application based on Cognos, Xiamen, China, Dec. 2005  (Cognos belong to IBM since 2007)
Professional Activities
  • Technical Program Committee, 5th IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications, Venice, Italy, Nov., 2014
  • Technical Program Committee, 2015 International Symposium on Intelligent Systems Technologies and Applications (ISTA’15), August 10-13, Kochi, India, 2015.
  • Refereed Journals
    • Reviewer, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems
    • Reviewer, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid
    • Reviewer, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery
    • Reviewer, IEEE Power Engineering Letters
    • Reviewer, Computers and Industrial Engineering
    • Reviewer, Environmental Science & Technology
    • Reviewer, Renewable Energy
    • Reviewer, Energy Systems
    • Reviewer, International Journal of Modeling, Identification and Control
    • Reviewer, Journal of Energy Engineering
    • Reviewer, IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution
    • Reviewer, Applied Energy
    • Reviewer, International Journal of Industrial and Systems Engineering
    • Reviewer, Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews
  • Refereed Conferences
    • Reviewer, 39th Annual Conference of IEEE Industrial Electronics Society 2013
    • Reviewer, IEEE Bucharest PowerTech Conference 2009
    • Reviewer, General Meeting of the IEEE Power and Energy Society 2010
    • Reviewer, General Meeting of the IEEE Power and Energy Society 2012
    • Reviewer, General Meeting of the IEEE Power and Energy Society 2013
    • Reviewer, IEEE PES Conference on Innovative Smart Grid Technologies 2012
Membership 
  • Member, North American Chinese Power Professional Association (NACPPA)
  • Senior Member, IEEE/ Power and Energy Society
  • Marquis Who’s Who in Science and Engineering, 2015

Last updated Apr. 06, 2016