Yichen Zhang received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Northwestern Polytechnical University, Xi’an, China, in 2010, the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an, China, in 2012, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA, in 2018.  He was also a research assistant with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory from 2016-2018. He is currently an Energy System Scientist with the Energy Systems Division, Argonne National Laboratory, where he was a Postdoctoral Appointee from 2018-2021. His research interests include power system dynamics, grid-interactive converters, grid resilience and restoration, machine learning aided control and decision-making for cyber-physical power systems.

Research Interests

• Power system dynamics and control, renewable integration, wind turbines, frequency regulation of low-inertia grid
• Microgrid control, grid-interactive and grid-forming converters, distributed energy resources integration
• Power system resilience and restoration
• Distributed optimization and learning, federated learning, and their application in power systems
• Bayesian optimization, simulation-based optimization, active learning, and their application in power systems
• Formal verification, reachability, cyber-physical system framework, and their application in power systems
• Optimal and robust control, model predictive control, reinforcement learning, and their application in power systems

Selected Publications

1. Y. Zhang, F. Qiu, T. Hong, Z. Wang, F. Li, ​“Hybrid imitation learning for real-time service restoration in resilient distribution systems,” IEEE Trans. Ind. Informat., early access, 2021.
2. S. Morovati, Y. Zhang, S. M. Djouadi, K. Tomsovic, A. Wintenberg and M. Olama, ​“Robust output feedback control design for inertia emulation by wind turbine generators,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., early access, 2021.
3. T. Hong, D. Zhao, Y. Zhang, R. Yao, F. Qiu, ​“Thermal overloading risk mitigation with a semi-analytical probabilistic model on branch current,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., early access, 2020.
4. Y. Zhang, C. Chen, G. Liu, T. Hong, F. Qiu, ​“Approximating trajectory constraints with machine learning -- microgrid islanding with frequency constraints”, IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 1239-1249, 2021.
5. Y. Zhang, Y. Li, K. Tomsovic, S. Djouadi, M. Yue, ​“Review on set-theoretic methods for safety verification and control of power system,” IET Energy Syst. Integr. , vol. 2, no. 3, pp. 226-234, 2020.
6. Y. Zhang, M. E. Raoufat, K. Tomsovic, and S. M. Djouadi, ​“Set theory-based safety supervisory control for wind turbines to ensure adequate frequency response,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 34, no. 1, pp. 680–692, 2019.
7. Y. Zhang, A. Melin, S. M. Djouadi, M. M. Olama, and K. Tomsovic, ​“Provision for guaranteed inertial response in diesel-wind system via model reference control,” IEEE Trans. Power Syst., vol. 33, no. 6, pp. 6557–6568, 2018.
8. Y. Zhang, K. Tomsovic, S. Djouadi, and H. Pulgar-Painemal, ​“Hybrid controller for wind turbine generators to ensure adequate frequency response in power networks,” IEEE J. Emerg. Sel. Topics Circuits Syst., vol. 7, no. 3, pp. 359–370, 2017.

Awards

• Best Reviewer Award by IEEE Transactions on Power System 2020
• Best Reviewer of IEEE Open Access Journal of Power and Energy 2020
• Excellence in Reviewing by Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy 2019
• Best Reviewer Award by IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid 2019
• Outstanding GRA Award of EECS Department, University of Tennessee 2018

Professional Affiliations and Services

Editorial Service

• Guest Editor: IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution special issue on Integrated Planning, Operation, and Control of Transmission and Distribution Systems, 2021
• Guest Editor: IET Energy System Integration special issue on Secure and Resilient Operations of Cyber-Physical Urban Energy Systems, 2021

Conferences

• Session chair: Grid Connected Converter, IEEE International Symposium on Power Electronics for Distributed Generation Systems, Virtual, 2021
• Panel co-chair: Advanced Machine Learning Approaches in Active Distribution System Operations, IEEE Green Technologies Conference, Virtual, 2021
• Student Committee Chair: 2017 CURENT Annual NSF/DOE Site visit, Knoxville TN, 2017
• Student Committee Vice Chair: 2016 CURENT Annual NSF/DOE Site visit, Knoxville TN, 2016
• Student Committee Vice Chair: 2015 CURENT Annual NSF/DOE Site visit, Knoxville TN, 2015