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Alumni

	Dr. Sina Afshari was a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 2015. Before joining MPEL, Dr. Afshari spent a year as a post-doctoral research associate in the Center for Lighting Enabled Systems and Applications, where he worked on control and optimization of LED lighting systems. He worked with Professors Johanna Mathieu, Ian Hiskens, and Jeremiah Johnson on improvement of round-trip efficiency for buildings that participate in ancillary services to power networks. Dr. Afshari’s research interest is applications of control systems engineering in smart homes and building control.
	Jun Hou is originally from Shenyang, China. He received his bachelor’s master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University (CN) in 2009 and 2011, respectively. His undergraduate and master’s work focused on control theory and control applications, including automatic guided vehicles, intelligent homes, and mechatronic systems. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD at the University of Michigan and working with Prof. Heath Hofmann and Prof. Jing Sun. His research interests involve modeling, dynamic control and optimization for electric propulsion system with hybrid energy storage. His current research focuses on developing energy management strategies for all-electric ship propulsion system to improve system efficiency and reliability using hybrid energy storage. To contact Jun, please email junhou@umich.edu.
	Bowen Li is originally from Dalian, China. He received his dual bachelor degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Electrical Engineering from Shanghai Jiao Tong University and University of Michigan respectively in 2013. His undergraduate works covered different areas including digital and analog integrated circuit design, power electronics design and modelling, mechanical design and manufacture projects and some computer vision application. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD degree at University of Michigan and working with Prof. Johanna Mathieu. His main research interests involve developing and evaluating various methodologies and models used in stochastic optimal power flow problem considering renewable resources and demand response. To contact Bowen, please email libowen@umich.edu.
	Dr. Yashen Lin earned his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from University of Florida in 2014. He worked with Prof. Johanna Mathieu on using optimal power flow tools to assess the environmental impacts of demand response and distributed energy storage in power grids. He also worked with Prof. Jeremiah Johnson at the School of Natural Resources and Environment. His other research interests include dynamical system modeling and control theory. He is currently a researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).
	Fei Lu is from Zaozhuang, Shandong Province in China. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Electrical Engineeering from Harbin Institute of Technology, in 2010 and 2012, respectively. His master’s work focused on the circuit design and control of power electronics, in the application of grid-tied photovoltaic inverters. He joined the University of Michigan in August, 2012. He was co-advised by Prof. Heath Hofmann and Prof. Chris Mi. His research focused on wireless power transfer for electric vehicles, including inductive and capacitive power transfer.
	Jennifer Marley is originally from Raleigh, North Carolina. She earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering with a concentration in Renewable Electric Energy Systems from North Carolina State University in 2012. At UM, she worked with Ian Hiskens. Her research focused on modifying traditional optimal power flow formulations and solution methods to integrate both storage devices and renewable generation sources into power systems.
	Jonathon Martin grew up in Lancaster, Pennsylvania and received his Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering from Messiah College in Mechanicsburg, PA. While there, he had the opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the energy field working on electrification projects in developing regions around the world with the Collaboratory. Before moving to Michigan in 2012 to pursue a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering: Systems, he also spent a summer working with PPL, an electric utility in eastern Pennsylvania. Jonathon’s interests involve the reliable integration of renewable energy and storage into existing electrical networks. His past work has included the study of reactive power capabilities of wind-farms and the application of optimal corrective control decisions to large electric power system networks following system contingencies.
	David Reed was in the Electrical Engineering: Systems program at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and worked under the supervision of professors Jing Sun and Heath Hofmann. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Pennsylvania State University (University Park) in 2007 and 2009, respectively. From 2009 to 2011, he was an associate staff member at MIT Lincoln Laboratory, where he worked on a variety of projects ranging from power supplies for satellite payloads, to controls for airborn optical sensor platforms. As an undergraduate and master’s student, he spent summers working part-time as a sound engineer for a small Pittsburgh-based audio production company, as well as two summers interning at Bechtel Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory working on power electronics for naval power systems. His research focused on the development of adaptive control methodologies for simultaneous identification and control of over-actuated systems, with application to AC drive systems. Other research interests include applications of nonlinear and adaptive control to electromechanical systems, optimization-based control of energy storage systems, as well as control-theoretic approaches to understanding human locomotion and learning.
	Aaron Stein hails from Ann Arbor, MI. In 2011 he earned his Bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Swarthmore College, and in 2013 he earn his Master’s Degree from the University of Michigan. Aaron earned his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering: Systems at the University of Michigan, and was advised by Professor Heath Hofmann. His research focused on using a systems perspective to motivate the design of power electronics in vibration energy harvesting application.