Speakers 2021
Keynote
Michael Pesin
Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Energy
Michael Pesin is Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Advanced Grid Research and Development Division in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity. Mr. Pesin has 30 years of experience in the electric utility industry, much of it directing development and execution of advanced technology programs. His most recent assignment was with Seattle City Light (SCL) where he developed the technology strategy, managed research and development projects and directed strategic programs to management demonstration projects. His subordinate strategic programs included substation automation, distributed automation, advanced metering infrastructure, enterprise OT communication networks, energy storage, microgrids, transactive energy management and distributed management systems.
Mr. Pesin has numerous professional affiliations, publications and patents. He holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from St. Petersburg State Polytechnic University, St. Petersburg (Leningrad), Russia, is a Licensed Professional Electrical Engineer in the State of Washington, a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and a Cisco Certified Design Associate (CCDA).
Track Speakers
Professor Zi-Qiang Zhu
Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow IEEE, Fellow IET
Head of Electrical Machines and Drives Research Group Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield, UK
Professor Z.Q. Zhu is Fellow of Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow IEEE, and Fellow IET. He is currently a Royal Academy of Engineering/Siemens Research Chair and Head of the Electrical Machines and Drives Research Group which has >120 personnel, including 14 academic staff (8 full professors), >100 Research Associates and PhD students. He is Academic Director of Sheffield Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy Research Centre, Director of Sheffield Midea Electrical Machines and Control Systems Research Centre, and Director of Sheffield CRRC Electric Drives Technology Centre. He is the recipient of the 2021 IEEE Nicola Tesla Award and the 2019 IEEE Industry Application Society Outstanding Achievement Award, as well as 34 Best paper Awards. He authored/co-authored >1300 papers including >500 IEEE Trans./IET Proc. papers, and >200 filed/published patents.
Prof. Zhu received B.Eng. and M.Sc. degrees from Zhejiang University, China, in 1982 and 1984 respectively, and a Ph.D. degree from The University of Sheffield, U.K., in 1991. He has been a staff member in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Sheffield since 1988.
Dr. Rashi Gupta
Founder & Managing Director
Vision Mechatronics Private Ltd.
Dr. Rashi Gupta, fondly known as “Batterywali of India”, is the pioneer of manufacturing of Advanced Lithium Batteries in India alongwith the “Worlds Smartest Lithium Battery”. She is the Founder & Managing Director of Vision Mechatronics Private Ltd, leading it towards a name to reckon for in the field of Robotics, Renewable Energy & Energy Storage. A Women Entrepreneur who has been fearless & ferocious in creating a brand for herself & the company in these male dominated fields.
If one takes a closer look at the alchemy of this achiever, two distinct virtues pop up, besides perseverance & hard work. These are: pioneering spirit & willingness. Coupled with an impressive background, it was not therefore surprising that she became a prominent name in the Renewable Energy Sector of India and is featured as Asia’s Most Influential Women in Renewable Energy, 2020. She has been working on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment issues globally. She has been Awarded the “Global Women Leadership 2021”. She has also been featured amongst first 50 “Women in Stem by CII 2021” for her contribution and excellence in STEM field. She has been Awarded “Corporate Guru World Award 2021” for her work in SDG5 & SDG7,
She is very passionate to work on Sustainable and Circular development is focused on SDG 5 & SDG 7. She has been working relentlessly for rural electrification to ensure that the rural schools in India get access to clean and green energy enabling them to be at par with the Urban schools. One such example is at a primary school at Katavaram, Andhra Pradesh. She is also collaborating with colleges and universities for development on Women in Stem and the preaching that has been effectively practised for Gender Equality is having equal representation of men and women in the organization she heads.
She holds degrees of BE, MBA, LLM, & PhD to her title. She is a committee member of Bureau of Indian Standards for Batteries, Energy Storage and E-Mobility. She is also Member of International ElectroTechnical Commission. She is also a committee member of National Energy Storage Committee- FICCI, Chairperson-Energy Storage Theme-International Solar Energy Society e. V.(ISES) for SWC2021, CleanTech Business Club- Chair of Task Force- Energy Storage & Smart Energy, Chairperson-Women’s India CleanTech Business Club, CleanTech Business Club Vice Chair India, Advisor-Energy Storage-India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF), Committee Member IEEE-GESI (Gender Equality and Social Inclusion).
Dr. Kerry-Ann Adamson
Manager – Carbon Risk Index Service,
Advisian
Dr. Kerry-Ann Adamson has been working in the hydrogen and fuel cell sector for over twenty years. She is focused on the business end of the industry including working in policy, business models, economics and investment. The need for a robust “chain of custody” in hydrogen, as well as other cleantech pathways led her to blockchain and she is now actively involved in Blockchain for Energy.
Kerry-Ann has a PhD on fuel cells from Imperial College and lives in remote rural Scotland.
Dr. Rahul Walawalkar
President and MD;
Customized Energy Solutions (India)
Dr. Rahul Walawalkar is President & MD of Customized Energy Solutions India Pvt. Ltd. He leads the Emerging Technologies domain for Customized Energy Solutions globally, which under his leadership has emerged as a thought leader in the areas of energy storage, renewables, demand response, electric vehicles, and smart grid technologies. A strong votary of improving energy storage and e-mobility in India, Rahul founded the India Energy Storage Alliance in 2012 and continues to serve as its President. He served as board member for Energy Storage Association, USA during 2009-15 and as the Chair for Global Energy Storage Alliance during 2018-20. In 2021, Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) of India inducted Rahul to be part of the Central Advisory Committee of the power regulator. He played an instrumental role in shaping up the Advanced Chemistry Cell Battery Manufacturing Program for NITI Aayog during 2019-20, under which 50GWh of manufacturing capacity is expected under the Production Linked Incentive scheme for GOI. During 2018-19 he worked on drafting the National Energy Storage Mission for MNRE. He served as member of standing committee on energy storage for MNRE during 2014- 17 and national taskforce for renewable integration by Central Electricity Authority & Ministry of Power between 2013-14. Under Rahul’s leadership, Customized Energy Solutions’ has received numerous awards including IPPAI Power Innovation Award for creation of India Energy Storage Alliance in 2016-17, Brad Roberts Award for outstanding industry contribution by Energy Storage Association (USA) in 2016, USAID’s PACEsetter Fund Award for MICRO initiative in 2016 & 2019 and CII Innovative Energy Services Award for Tata Power Demand Response program in 2012. In 2020, Rahul received the ‘Global Young Entrepreneur Excellence Award’ for his valuable contribution & leadership in the field of energy storage and renewable energy at the World Renewable Energy Technology Congress. In 2018, he was also recognized with India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) President’s Award for outstanding contribution to growth of smart grids in India. He is the recipient of Energy Storage Crusader Award in 2017, Institution of Engineers (India) Energy Award in 2014 and Computer Society of India’s Young IT Professional Award for 2000 & 2001. Rahul holds a Ph.D. in Engineering and Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University and Master’s degree in Energy Management from NYIT, United States and B.E. from Walchand College of Engineering, India.
Lucy Craig
Senior Vice President
and Director of Growth, Innovation and Digitalisation, DNV
Lucy Craig is Senior Vice President and Director of Growth, Innovation and Digitalisation at DNV Energy Systems, where she is responsible for scaling new ventures, digitalization, innovation and technical governance across service areas covering the energy systems value chain from generation and production, transport, transmission and distribution to energy use. She directs Energy Systems’ strategy for innovation and growth in new technologies and processes, including top growth priorities such as hydrogen, digital assurance, solar and offshore wind. A top priority for Lucy is supporting DNV’s customers in accelerating the Energy Transition.
Through advisory, monitoring, verification, and certification services, DNV provides assurance to the entire energy value chain – across generation and production, transmission and distribution, and end use. DNV supports the operation of high-risk assets and systems, both physical and digital, in wind, solar PV, energy storage, hydrogen, oil & gas, synthetic fuels, power grids, and carbon capture and storage.
Prior to her current role, Lucy managed the region of Iberia and Latin America for DNV in Renewables Advisory. Lucy has 30 years’ experience in the renewables industry. She has a PhD in electrical power engineering and is a Fellow of the UK Institute of Engineering and Technology.
Mercy Chelangat K
PES Day Chair Elect 2022
Mercy Chelangat K. is an electrical engineer specializing in renewable energies to power sustainable community development and emerging trends such as electric Vehicles and e-Mobility.
Mercy possesses a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Moi University, Kenya. She specializes in Solar engineering and humanitarian development. She is also a current Masters in Development Practice student at Regis University.
Mercy is an ardent volunteer at the IEEE Kenya Section and the IEEE Power Energy Society (PES). Mercy serves as the IEEE Smart Village Ambassador, and PES Women in Power Lead for Region 8. She oversaw the piloting of the Networking without Borders PES Renewable Energy for Kids Program. She has led PES Day activities for Africa in the past to promote more power and gender equality in the future. Mercy was the global PES Day Vice Chair 2021 and is the PES Day Chair Elect 2022.
Mercy works with the IEEE Smart Village initiative, overseeing the East African programs and the IEEE Foundation to help craft fundraising strategies for rural development projects. Mercy likes to blog on clean energy matters as a hobby and founded the TechGaa Hub that aims to provide training opportunities through leveraging connectivity and digital technologies in rural villages.
Dr. Felipe Lopes
Professor, Electrical Engineering Department
University of Paraiba
Felipe Lopes was born in Brazil, 1985. He received B.Sc, M.Sc and Ph.D degrees in Electrical Engineering from Federal University of Campina Grande (UFCG), Brazil, in 2009, 2011 and 2014, respectively, and post-doctoral degree from UFCG in 2018. He is an IEEE Senior Member and also a member of the CIGRE study committee B5 (Protection and Automation), being the coordinator of the Brazilian mirror group B5.55. He worked as a professor at the University of Brasília (UnB), Brazil, in both undergraduate and graduate levels, from 2014 to 2021 and, in 2021, he took the position of professor at the Electrical Engineering Department at Federal University of Paraíba (UFPB). He has experience in the Electrical Engineering area, with emphasis on Electrical Power Systems, working mainly on the following topics: Protection of Electrical Power Systems, Fault Location on Distribution and Transmission Systems and Electromagnetic Transients in Electrical Power Systems.
Tim Lui
Chief Technology Officer
Co-founder, Innoses
Tim Lui is the CTO and Co-founder of Innoses – a company focusing on innovative and sustainable energy solutions. He has a broad technical background in battery technology, robotics, automotive, industrial control system and intelligent security system.
Tim has 17 years+ experience in product development, R&D, manufacturing engineering and project management. He has been in the position of CTO/Technical Director/Program Manager in major Fortune 500 technology companies of Philips, NXP and Emerson. With broad exposure to different industries and positions, he is very knowledgeable and experienced not only in the R&D area but also the production fields. With his proven capability in product development from product definition, roadmap planning, ID & mechanical design, electronic circuit development, embedded system development, software development, as a qualified PMP holder, he is capable of leading projects from concept to NPI, executing production process development, and continuous improvement by Kaizen.
Personally, Tim is very keen on knowledge sharing, and at the same time he is also a very active learner. He has a strong curiosity and that drives him to keep exploring the world.
“I want to become a teacher when I retire, but before that I will keep myself a good learner in order to teach,” said Tim.
Roozbeh Torkzadeh
Doctoral Candidate
Department of Electrical Engineering
Eindhoven University of Technology
Roozbeh Torkzadeh is a PhD candidate at the department of electrical engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands from 2019. He is also a PhD researcher at TenneT TSO, the transmission system operator of the Netherlands. He was previously with Esfahan Regional Electric Company, an Iranian TSO, as power system planning engineer (2013 to 2018) and he collaborated with Universidad Loyola Andalucía, Seville, Spain working on FLEXITRANSTORE, an EU-H2020 project (2018 to 2019).
Torkzadeh’s major interests include smart grids, synchrophasor technologies and power quality. He’s been involved in numerous industrial and research projects related to power system planning, operation, and control. Thanks to these experiences, he has authored and co-authored several conference papers organized by well-known institutions like IEEE and CIGRE, six journal papers published by eminent publishers including Elsevier and IET, and three book chapters published by Springer. Torkzadeh is a graduate student member of IEEE Benelux Section and member of Next Generation Network (NGN) CIGRE Nederland. He’s been recently awarded by CIGRE C4 study committee as the winner of “NGN Showcase Presentation” on Virtual Centennial Session 2021.
Janati Nakimera
Chief Executive Officer
Solar Net Metering Uganda
Janati Nakimera is a steering committee member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Uganda Section, and a student pursuing a Master’s degree in power systems engineering of Makerere University, Kampala. Under the IEEE, she serves as treasurer and is also in charge of industrial relations in Makerere University IEEE Student Branch. Her role is to enable students to get access to opportunities in the industry that can be of benefit to them.
Janati is also co-founder and CEO of Solar Net metering Uganda, a solar energy startup company for rural Uganda. The team led by herself has participated in the Global Sustainable Technology and Innovation Conference (GSTIC) held in Brussels in the month of November 2018 where she was a youth speaker. Solar Net metering Uganda became an IEEE N3XT® Star at G-STIC 2018.
Vinay Vyas
Vice President IBD/Engineering
ACME Cleantech Solutions
Vinay is VP ( Engineering / IBD) in ACME, working on India’s first renewable energy integrated green hydrogen and green ammonia project utilising his expertise in electrolyse and fuel cell. Prior to that he was Director Global Engineering/Operations at Canadian Solar to support regional business units. ore than 5 GW Renewable Energy projects development across the Globe (Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippine, Vietnam, Australia, India, Middle Ea
Vinay Possess extensive knowledge about the economic prospect of energy and practical implementation of Solar PV System through 2 master degrees: Masters of Engineering in “PV Solar Energy” from UNSW and another Masters in “Energy Economics” from UTS, Sydney. ore than 5 GW Renewable Energy projects development across the Globe (Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippine, Vietnam, Australia, India, Middle Ea
He was actively involved in more than 5 GW Renewable Energy projects development across the Globe (Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippine, Vietnam, Australia, India, Middle East, Africa, EU) And these projects cover various type of Renewable Energy projects including Green Hydrogen/ Green Amonia, large scale grid-tie, roof-top, standalone battery type, micro-grid, BSS system, rural electrification, solar irrigation pump, BIPV, Water Channel top. ore than 5 GW Renewable Energy projects development across the Globe (Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippine, Vietnam, Australia, India, Middle Ea
Further, Vinay has a comprehensive understanding of Renewable Energy Market with experience working for different Solar PV Business models: Long-term IPP, Short-term solar project developer, and Global EPC. ore than 5 GW Renewable Energy projects development across the Globe (Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippine, Vietnam, Australia, India, Middle Ea
His Specialties include PV Solar System, Green Buildings, PV Cell Technology, Green Hydrogen, Ammonia, Carbon Trading, Storage, Battery, Wind Energy, Smart Grid, ESS, BSS, Product Management, Economical Review of Projects.
Rekha Sharma
Founder
Solv4X Inc
Rekha Sharma has over 15 years of experience in energy markets, grid reliability, transmission & distribution, power plant design across companies like California ISO, Liberty utilities, ABB Inc, and Siemens AG. She is founder of Solv4x Inc and leads Innovation and Strategy. As Energy SME, she is actively involved in designing the in-house Software products.
In previous roles, she has managed development of energy market and grid reliability along with integrating energy storage, renewables (solar, wind) to the Western American Grid. She has developed applications like meshed short circuit, volt var optimization in network management suite (energy management, distribution management, outage management and SCADA). As part of Siemens engineering team, she designed multiple Gas, Coal power plants and led the engineering efforts of nuclear facilities.
She has Masters in Electrical Eng. from Texas A&M University, Bachelors in Electrical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering and MBA from Rotman School of Management.