Higher Study Guide

Personal Background

I started my own journey for pursuing higher study in the domain of Power and Energy Systems, focusing on U.S. universities. My intended term was Fall 2022 with a direct PhD offer.

Accepted offer

Intended University: North Carolina State University

Intended Term: Fall 2022

Intended Program: PhD in Electrical Engineering (EE)

Funding Details: Research/Teaching Assistantship (1/2 TA + 1/2 RA) for the Fall 2022 – Spring 2023 – Summer 2023 semesters, which will include a stipend (paid bi-weekly), covers all tuition, and health insurance. Renewed yearly upon satisfactory performance.

Associated with: FREEDM lab

My Profile

Qualification: BSc in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (EEE) from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). I graduated in January 2021.

CGPA: 3.89/4.00

GRE: 321/340 (Verbal - 155/170, Quantitative - 166/170, Analytical Writing - 5/6)

TOEFL: 113/120 (Reading - 29, Listening - 29, Speaking - 27, Writing - 30)

Publications: 3 conference papers (IEEE PEEIACON, IEEE TENSYMP, IEEE ISGT-LA)

Research Experience: Undergraduate thesis.

Work Experience: Adjunct Lecturer at Dept. of EEE, BUET (1 year, 2 academic semesters)

University decisions (ranked according to notifying date)

University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) - Accepted - intended Advisor offered GRA support.
Iowa State University (ISU) - Accepted - intended Advisor offered GRA for two years including 1/2 GRA support during Summer.
Arizona State University (ASU) - Accepted - intended co-advisors offered GRA support for the first year.
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) - Accepted - RA/TA not confirmed.
Virginia Tech (VT) - Accepted - offered GTA for 2 years. GRA after passing PhD qualifying exam.
North Carolina State University - Accepted - offered 1/2 TA + 1/2 RA support for the first year.
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor - Accepted for MS - offered MS in ECE without any financial aid.
Ohio State University - Accepted - RA/TA not confirmed.
Northeastern University - Declined
Georgia Institute of Technology - Declined

Some Application related insights:

A bitter truth regarding research opportunities in Power Systems domain is that many 'Top' Engineering schools do not have many faculty members, let alone research facilities in the said field. That is why, I went through websites of U.S. universities ranking between 1-100 (US News, Electrical Engineering). After making a list of professors working in my research area, I started sending 'cold emails' to the ones I really wanted to work with.

I applied to 10 universities, 2 had admission fee waiver. Almost all of them had mentioned GRE - not required. However, they would evaluate GRE scores if sent. Therefore, I sent GRE (and, TOEFL) scores to all of them.

Some professors responded to my emails, and set up interviews. Upon their consent (or should I say, encouragement?), I applied to that university. In my case, for example - UTK, ISU, NCSU, RPI.

I did not get replies from other university professors. Here's a key suggestion: if you are applying to a university that follows central admission, please do not get disheartened if you don’t get a reply from the professors. Most of the time they will mail you after the department shortlisted the candidates (good advice taken from here).

Good schools with strong Power Engineering programs

As I mentioned before, many 'Top Ranked' Engineering schools do not have many faculty members and/or research facilities in power systems area. In my search, I have found the following universities have excellent power programs (sorted alphabetically):

Arizona State University (ASU)
Georgia Institute of Technology (GaTech)
Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)
Iowa State University (ISU)
North Carolina State University (NCSU)
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)
Texas A&M University - College Station
University of Colorado Boulder (UCB)
University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities
University of North Carolina - Charlotte (UNCC)
University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK)
Virginia Tech (VT)
Washington State University (WSU)

Also have some great faculty members working in the area (sorted alphabetically):

University of California - San Diego (REAM lab, DERConnect)
Columbia University
Carnegie Mellon University (CMU)
Mississippi State University
New York University (NYU) - Tandon School of Engineering
Northeastern University (NU)
Ohio State University
Oklahoma State University
Pennsylvania State University (PSU)
Stony Brook University
Syracuse University
University of Connecticut (UConn)
University of Illinois - Chicago (UIC)
University of Pittsburgh (UPitt)
University of Texas - Austin (UT-A)
University of Washington

Emerging research fields in Power Systems domain

(some sample links are provided for guidance, not to be taken as only reference. Subject to change.)

Distribution system analysis: Distribution (D) utilities across the globe are undergoing efforts related to grid modernization and DER integration which represents a significant transformation of the distribution system. Requires (i) usage of D-system simulation softwares, like - OpenDSS, CYME etc., and (ii) modelling/simulation of DER (wind, solar, and electric vehicles) for high-penetration analysis. See EPES at ISU
High penetration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES)/Distributed Energy Resources (DERs): DERss, such as - solar PV (residential/rooftop/solar farms), wind (on- and off-shore), battery storage, EVs are being more of a concern in modern power system. Increasing integration of inverter based resources (IBRs) mean decreasing system inertia, reduced system fault level a.k.a. system strength - resulting in greater stability issue. This line of research aims to tackle the problem of incorporating highest amount of renewable energy into the grid, maintaining system voltage and frequency stability. See FDERS at OSU, EPES at ISU, ERiSe lab at MSU.
Microgrids - integration, operation, and control: there have been growing interests in (i) microgrid/macrogrid stability, control, and cybersecurity, (ii) networked microgrids, (iii) cyber-physical modelling etc. A lot of opportunities for research in AI-enabled and Quantum power grid. Also see EMPower Lab at PSU, RE-PEARL at UNCC.
Integration of newer technologies
- Electric Vehicles (EVs) - SEARCH group at ColumbiaU
- XFC (EV charging- impact on grid stability)
- Battery Energy Storage System (BESS)
Application of learning-based methods and optimization
- Deep learning
- Artificial neural network
- Reinforcement learning

used for -

- fault identification and analysis
- transient stability analysis
- and many more...

See DEPS group at Cornell, Wang group at RPI, Tang group at NCSU

Cyber-security aspects
- what are the possible cyber-attack vectors?

See SEARCH group at ColumbiaU

Data-analytic and signal processing approaches using PMU/synchrophasor measurements: Power IT lab, UTK
- Integration of Phasor Measurement Unit (PMU) and micro-PMUs
- Software based energy management system ( includes data analytics)
Electricity market:
- peer-to-peer energy transfer / transactive energy
- efficient market design for DER integration

See Bose group at UIUC, Tong group and Anderson lab at Cornell, Li group at IIT.

A few more interdisciplinary topics:
- Grid interactive building level energy operation (part of smart connected community)
- E-IoT (Energy IoT, cloud based energy operation)

Some large labs focusing on diversified fields of power research:

FREEDM, CURENT, ESIC, EPES, PSERC, PEC, Smart Grid Center, WISER, PEISL