KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

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Prof. Mohamed Benbouzid


University of Brest, France

Fellow, IEEE & IET

Mohamed BENBOUZID completed his Ph.D. in electrical at the National Polytechnic Institute of Grenoble, Grenoble, France, in 1994. He further earned his Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches degree from the University of Amiens, Amiens, France, in 2000. Following the completion of his Ph.D., Dr. Benbouzid joined the University of Amiens, where he held the position of Associate Professor in electrical engineering. Since September 2004, he has been affiliated with the University of Brest, Brest, France, where he currently serves as a Full Professor in electrical engineering. Prof. Benbouzid primary research interests and expertise include control of electric machines, variable-speed drives for traction, propulsion, and renewable energy applications, and fault diagnosis of electric machines. Prof. Benbouzid is an IEEE Fellow and a Fellow of the IET. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal on Energy Conversion and the Applied Sciences (MDPI) Section on Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering. He is a Deputy Editor for the IET Renewable Power Generation.

Speech Title: Towards Resilient Energy Conversion: Advances in Fault-Tolerant Electric Drives

Abstract: The increasing demand for safety, reliability, maintainability, and survivability in power conversion and supply systems has led to substantial research in the development of resilient and fault-tolerant systems. These systems are specifically designed to withstand certain faults or to promptly adapt their control strategies (fault-tolerant control) in order to maintain predefined levels of performance in terms of quality, safety, and efficiency. This need for enhanced resilience has spurred significant advances in the domain of electric machine drives. While much of the existing research has traditionally focused on faults within the machine, drive, or power supply components, current trends are expanding to include faults related to sensors and specific application environments. In fact, the overall performance of electric motor and generator drives—especially those with feedback control structures—relies not only on the health of the machine itself but also on the condition and accuracy of associated components such as encoders, voltage sensors, and current sensors. This keynote will explore recent progress in fault-tolerant control and resilience for electric machines and drives, with a particular emphasis on critical applications such as tidal stream turbines. These systems operate in submerged environments and must endure extreme loads and harsh underwater conditions, making resilience and fault tolerance essential to their reliable operation.



Prof. Hiroyuki Mori


Meiji University, Chiyoda-Ku, Japan

Fellow, IEEJ

Hiroyuki Mori received the B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees, all in Electrical Engineering, from Waseda University, Tokyo, Japan, in 1979, 1981, and 1985, respectively. From 1984 to 1985 he was a Research Associate at Waseda University. In 1985, he joined the Dept. of Electrical Engineering at Meiji University (MU), Japan. In 1995, he became a Professor at Dept. of Electrical Engineering and is now a Professor at Dept. of Network Design of MU since 2013. From 1997 to 2002, he was Division Director of Evolutionary Learning Systems at MU High Technology Research Center for Artificial Life. From April 2005 to March 2010, he was appointed Director of MU High Technology Research Center for Sustainable Energy & Materials. He was a Visiting Associate Professor from March 1994 to May 1995, a Visiting Professor from April 2017 to March 2018, and a Visitor from June 2022 to October 2022 at Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA. He was the Technical Committee Chair of IEEE ANNPS1993 in Yokohama, Japan, and IEEE CAS Technical Committee Chair on Power Systems and Power Electronics from June 1993 to May 1994. Also, he was General Chair of IEEE PES ISAP2013 in Tokyo, Japan, and IFAC (International Federation of Automatic Control) CPES2018 in Tokyo, Japan. He was Chair of the IEEE PES Analytic Methods for Power Systems Committee (AMPS) Intelligent Systems Subcommittee (ISS) from January 2020 to December 2022 and Secretary of the IEEE PES AMPS ISS Working Group on Open Data and IFAC TC6.3. He has been an IEEJ Fellow since 2019, an IEEJ Professional since 2021, and received the Working Group Recognition Award (Modern Heuristics Optimization) in 2022, IEEE PES AMPS Subcommittee Chair Recognition Award in 2023, an IEEJ Outstanding Achievement Award in 2024. His research interests are power system operation and planning, active distribution automation, and intelligent systems applications (Deep Neural Networks, Evolutionary Computation, Fuzzy Logic, Data Mining). He is a member of IEEJ, IEEE, SIAM, and ACM.

Speech Title: Quantum Evolutionary Computation with Applications to Power Systems

Abstract: This talk provides the applications of Quantum Evolutionary Computation in Quantum Computing to power systems. The emergence of Quantum Innovations has attracted considerable attention from the computing community, marking a significant paradigm shift in technology. This field encompasses various engineering disciplines, including Quantum Computing, Quantum Cryptography, Quantum Communications, Quantum Sensors, Quantum Control, and Quantum Materials. Among the different topics within Quantum Computing, Quantum Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning have become particularly prominent. This talk highlights recent advancements in applying Quantum Evolutionary Computation to power systems. Specifically, it focuses on Quantum Brain Storm Optimization (QBSO), which serves as an extension of Brain Storm Optimization (BSO) and is characterized by high-performance capabilities in Evolutionary Computation. QBSO is based on Quantum Superposition to create new solution candidates in Evolutionary Computation. Several enhanced methodologies related to QBSO are discussed, along with their relevant applications to power systems.



Prof. Michael Negnevitsky


University of Tasmania, Australia

Fellow, IEEE

Professor Michael Negnevitsky is Chair in Power Engineering and Computational Intelligence and Director of the Centre for Renewable Energy and Power Systems, University of Tasmania, Australia. The primary focus of his research is smart grids, power system security, demand response, and isolated and remote area power systems with high renewable energy penetration. Professor Negnevitsky authorised more than 500 research publications and received 4 patents for inventions. He is Fellow of IEEE, Fellow of Engineers Australia and Fellow of IARIA. Professor Negnevitsky is Chair of the IEEE PES Energy Development and Power Generation Committee, Chair of the IEEE PES International Practices Subcommittee, Chair of the IEEE PES Working Group on High Renewable Energy Penetration in Remote and Isolated Power Systems, Member of CIGRE AP C4 (System Technical Performance) and CIGRE AP C6 (Distribution Systems and Dispersed Generation), Australian Technical Committee.

Speech Title: Preventing Large-Scale Emergencies in Modern Power Systems: AI Approach

Abstract: In recent years, due to liberalization, power systems are being operated closer and closer to their limits. At the same time, they have increased in size and complexity. Both factors increase the risk of major power outages and blackouts. In emergency and abnormal conditions, a power system operator must deal with large amounts of data. However, due to emotional and psychological stress, an operator may not be able to respond to critical conditions adequately and make correct decisions promptly. Mistakes can damage very expensive power system equipment or worse lead to major emergencies and catastrophic situations. Intelligent systems can play an important role by alarming the operator and suggesting the necessary actions to be taken to deal with a given emergency. This paper outlines some experience obtained at the University of Tasmania, Australia, Energy Systems Institute, Russia and TU-Dortmund University, Germany in developing intelligent systems for preventing large-scale emergencies and blackouts in modern power systems.