POWERTECH2023 Program – powered by OpenConf

Wednesday, 28 June 2023
11:00 - 12:30

D - Adriatic Mediterranean

ABSTRACT

The panel will focus on power systems in South-East Europe. It will discuss educational exchanges and intellectual flows, past and present. A number of widely used foundational books and educational exchanges have set the stage for the rapid evolution of regional educational programs over the last 50 years.
The pace of change in modern power systems has picked up recently, driven by the desire to reduce the environmental impact by integrating renewable sources and power electronic loads. The panel will discuss how the changes in the electric power industry affect power engineering education and how we should change the curricula to prepare our students for the rapidly changing future. There is a clear need to prepare young professionals for lifelong learning, as domain-specific education was way more comprehensive in the past than what can be afforded today because of time and breadth constraints.
The panelists will also comment on other challenges that educators share in all countries in the region, such as unsteady enrollments and limited domestic manufacturing.

CHAIR

Prof. Aleksandar Stankovic, Tufts University, School of Engineering, Electrical and Computer Engineering Boston, USA

SPEAKERS

Prof. Nikola Rajaković, School of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade, Serbia

Prof. Vesna Borozan, University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies (UKIM/FEIT)

Prof. Igor Kuzle, University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing

Prof. Gregor Verbič, University of Sydney, Australia

Prof. Amir Tokić, University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina

SHORT BIO

	Aleksandar M. Stanković (Fellow, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA, in 1993. He is currently an A.H. Howell Professor with Tufts University, Medford, MA, USA. From 1993 to 2010, he was with Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA. He has held visiting positions with the United Technologies Research Center, and with L’Universite de Paris-Sud and Supelec. He is a Co-Editor of book series on power electronics and power systems for Springer. He was an Associate Editor for the IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, and IEEE Transactions on Control System Technology for more than 20 years.
	Prof. Nikola Rajaković, Ph.D., has been a prominent figure in the field of power systems at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Belgrade for several decades. His extensive experience includes teaching various courses and serving as a mentor for numerous graduate and postgraduate theses. Specifically, he has supervised the preparation of over 150 graduate theses, more than 25 master theses, and has been involved in 14 PhD dissertations as a mentor. Furthermore, Professor Rajaković has held significant leadership roles throughout his career. He served as the vice-dean of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and held the positions of president of the Board of JP TE “Kostolac” and president of the Board of JP Elektroprivreda Serbia from 2002 to 2004. From 2008 to 2011, he served as the State Secretary of the Ministry of Mining and Energy, where he played a crucial role in introducing a tariff system that incentivized the increased utilization of renewable energy sources in Serbia. In addition to his academic and governmental contributions, Professor Dr. Nikola Rajaković has served as a consultant for the World Bank. Currently, he holds the esteemed position of president of the Serbian Energy Association, a leading professional organization in the energy sector since 2004. He also provides valuable consultancy services for energy projects, with a focus on renewable energy sources. Professor Rajaković’s expertise and extensive involvement in the energy sector make him a highly respected authority in his field.
	Vesna Borozan – Professor, University of Sts. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Information Technologies (UKIM/FEIT) Prof. Vesna Borozan received her PhD in 1996 from University of Belgrade. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow at North Carolina State University in 1997, Visiting Professor at Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile in 1999 and Honorary Professor at Vienna University of Technology in 2010 – 2012. Prof. Borozan was Member of Parliament of North Macedonia during the mandate period 2002 – 2006 and Ambassador to Austria, Czech Republic, Slovak Republic and Japan from 2006 to 2010. Presently she is a Professor in Power Systems at UKIM/FEIT. Beside her scientific achievements and publications, Prof. Borozan has been involved in many projects and studies related primarily to the liberalisation of electricity markets in South East Europe. She was an important contributor in the initial restructuring of the energy sector in her home country including coordination of the reform policy, establishing National Regulatory Authority and Energy Agency and drafting the necessary legal framework. She was a Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of North Macedonia in negotiation of the Energy Community Treaty in 2002 – 2005, as well as, Member of the Energy Community Reflection Group in 2014. In the recent years, continuing her contribution to the Regional Electricity Market development and Energy Transition, she has participated in a number of projects financed by various programs of the European Commission as a leading member of the UKIM/FEIT team. She is a Senior Member of IEEE/PES and Member of CIGRE.
	Igor Kuzle (http://igorkuzle.org/) is a Full Professor and the Head of the Smart Grids Laboratory at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. He is member of two scientific councils of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts (Scientific Council for Technological Development and Scientific Council for Crude Oil and Gas Economy and Power Supply). Since 2022, he has been a full member of the Croatian Academy of Engineering. Prof. Kuzle was awarded the highest Croatian National Science Award for the year 2018 for his outstanding contribution in the field of smart grid applications in the transmission system. He was given by Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts the award for his excellence in the technical field in the year 2019. The Award recognizes the work in the field of application of different control concepts to increase power system flexibility and enable further integration of renewable energy sources. The Croatian Academy of Engineering awarded him with annual award “Rikard Podhorsky” for the year 2020 for his contribution in the field of smart grid development and implementation. His scientific interests include problems in electric power systems dynamics and control, maintenance of electrical equipment, as well as smart grids and integration of renewable energy sources. Prof. Kuzle is (co)author more than 300 technical studies for utilities and companies. He was the project leader for more than 80 technical projects for industry and electric power companies. Since 2012, he has been a member of Advisory expert committee of the Ministry of Environmental and Nature Protection in the evaluation of environmental impact of the RES and a member of Croatia TSO Coordination Group for Connection of renewable energy sources. He is a member of Croatian Chamber of Electrical Engineers and a Licensed Engineer since 1994.
	Gregor Verbic is an Associate Professor in the Centre for Future Energy Networks based in the School of Electrical and Information Engineering. Prior to this, he was an assistant professor in Laboratory of Power Systems at University of Ljubljana, where he is now an adjunct professor and where he received his PhD in electrical engineering. In 2005, he was a NATO-NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Waterloo, Canada under supervision of Prof Claudio Cañizares. Between 2008 and 2010 he was head of the investment department in Interenergo, Ljubljana, Slovenia. The company invests in renewable energy in the Balkans region, with a particular focus on small hydro. His current research is motivated by the evolution of power systems to future grids, dominated by intermittent renewable energy sources, aiming to develop tools and methods that will enable a paradigm shift in power system operation, from generation following load to load following generation.
	Amir Tokic (M’09) received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering and computing from Zagreb, Croatia, in 2001 and 2004, respectively.,Currently, he is a Professor at the University of Tuzla, Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina. His areas of interest include power system transients, power quality, as well as applied numerical and optimization methods.