People
Xiu Yao is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at University at Buffalo. She joined the faculty of UB Department of Electrical Engineering as an assistant professor in 2015. Before that, she was a research engineer with the University of Dayton Research Institute during the summer of 2015. She was a recipient of the 2016, 2019, and 2021 US Air Force Summer Faculty Fellowship award to work at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, OH. In 2012, She was a research intern at the power electronics group at ABB Corporate Research Center.
Her current research interests include microgrid control and protection, high voltage dc transmission, modular multilevel converter, and advanced renewable energy integration. Much of her work has focused on the dc arc faults in power electronics systems, including arc characteristic modeling, fault detection, and impact study to controller and system stability. Her research also includes power electronics circuits in high power and high voltage applications, especially Modular Multilevel Converter and its applications in HVDC and power supply of fusion power plant.
Education
Ph.D., The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, 2015
M.S., Xi'an Jiaotong University, China, 2010
B.S., Xi'an Jiaotong University, China, 2007
Honors and Awards
UB Exceptional Scholar: Young Investigator Award, 2022
U.S. Air Force Research Lab Summer Faculty Fellowship Program (SFFP) award, 2016, 2019, and 2021
University at Buffalo SEAS Early Career Researcher Award, 2019
IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition Women in Engineering Travel Grant, 2017 and 2019
Graduate Teaching/Research Assistantship, The Ohio State University 2012-2015
IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition Student Travel Grant, 2014
Graduate Automotive Technology Education Fellow, The Ohio State University 2011
Current UBPE Members
Wei Liu: Ph.D. student, Fall 2023 - present
Arindam Sircar: Ph.D. student, Spring 2022 - present
Ge Yang: Ph.D. student, Fall 2021 - present
Rocky Li: MS student, June 2021 - present
UBPE Alumni
Vu Le, Ph.D., "Series arc fault identification in dc distribution based on ensemble machine learning", graduated in May 2022. Joined University of Dayton Research Institute, Dayton, OH.
Inhwan Lee, Ph.D., "Active voltage balancing control of series connected SiC MOSFET submodules in high power application," graduated in May 2021. Joined Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. San Francisco Bay Area, CA.
Muhammad Saeed, M.S., "A wide-range input auxiliary power supply based on series-connected SiC MOSFETs for modular multilevel converter’s sub-module," graduated in May 2020. Pursuing a second M.S. degree at UB.
Amit Ramnikbhai Mathukiya, M.S., "Analytical investigation on the impact of the dc series arc fault on boost converter," graduated in May 2019. Joined ePropelled, Boston, MA.
Zahra Fatima, M.S. Fulbright scholar, "DC arc fault effect on hybrid ac/dc microgrid," graduated in June 2017. Joined National Transmission and Dispatch Company, Pakistan.
Former Undergraduate Students
Tak Kwok, May 2022 - May 2023
Allison Virgo, Sept. 2022 - May 2023
Michael Tilkins, June - Dec 2021.
Mi Sein, June - Dec 2021.
Yandi Shao, June - Dec 2021.
Serena LaFave, Spring 2020.
Dylan Tua, Summer 2020 LSAMP research intern.
Jungwon Choi, Spring 2019.
Jiyuan Zhang, Summer 2019.
Former International Visiting Students
Aldiyar Semedyarov, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan, 2019.
Yerzhan Mustafa, Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan, 2019.
Xuexiaoxia Huang, ENSEA France, 2019.
Niklas Steffan, Technische Universität Dortmund, Germany, RISE intern, 2018.
Boubakr Rahmani, ENSEA France, 2018.
Xuandan Cheng, ENSEA France, 2018.