Power System - Control Advancement Resilience Enhancement

Power System- CARE Research Group

Farzad Ferdowsi is an Associate Professor in the Electrical & Computer Engineering Department at UL Lafayette. He worked as a Post-Doctoral Fellow and lecturer at Electrical Engineering Department, Louisiana State University from May 2017 to July 2018. He was also a Research Associate at LSU’s Center for Energy Studies. Dr. Ferdowsi received his Ph.D. degree from the Florida State University in 2016. From 2014 to May 2017, he worked as a graduate researcher at the Center for Advanced Power Systems (CAPS) which is the first United States’ navy-accredited university test site located in Tallahassee, Florida. Dr. Ferdowsi has authored/co-authored conference papers and journal articles on different aspects of power and energy systems. Additionally, he is an active reviewer for the IEEE Industry Applications Society, Journal of Modern Power Systems and Clean Energy and IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy.

ResearchGate: Farzad Ferdowsi

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PhD student (Expected Graduation: Fall 2024)

Samuel Yankson is currently a PhD candidateat the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He graduated with a Master of Science in Engineering with a concentration in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in May 2020. He was awarded a BSc. Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana in 2008. Samuel has built strong industrial experience by working as a Switch Engineer in the Telecom industry and an Intelligent Systems Engineer in the Oil and Gas industry before moving to graduate school. His current research interests include Smart and Micro Grids, Transactive Energy Framework and Distributed Renewable Energy (DER).

Google Scholar: Samuel Yankson

Linkedin: Linkedin

PhD student (Expected Graduation: Spring 2028)

Md Khairul Islam is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Systems Engineering with a concentration in Electrical Engineering from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He earned his M.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Bangladesh, in October 2024. He served as a lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Daffodil International University. His multidisciplinary research interests include Smart Grids, Microgrids, Power Systems, Power Electronics, Electric Vehicles, and VLSI. He has authored and co-authored several scholarly articles in IEEE conferences and journals, on Power Systems, Smart Grids, Microgrids, VLSI, and Communication Systems.

Google Scholar: Md Khairul Islam

Linkedin: Linkedin

Master's Student (Expected Graduation: Spring 2026)

Md Zahirul Islam Khan is an Energy Resiliency Engineer at the Energy Institute of Louisiana and recently completed his Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the Islamic University of Technology (IUT), Bangladesh.

His research focuses on improving the resilience of electric power distribution systems under extreme weather and large-scale disruptions. His work combines graph-theoretic network analysis, contingency-based vulnerability assessment, and data-driven optimization to design resilient microgrids and distributed energy resource (DER) deployment strategies. He has developed resilience-oriented planning approaches that integrate network partitioning and intelligent placement of backup energy resources to improve service continuity during outages.

His broader research interests include renewable energy forecasting, probabilistic power system modeling, and digital twin development for resilient energy systems. His research has been presented at leading international conferences and published in recognized venues in the power and energy systems community.

Linkedin: LinkedIn

Master's Student (Expected Graduation: Spring 2026)

Usama Aslam is pursuing a master's in electrical engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with a focus on Energy Resilience in Power Grids. He earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical (Power) Engineering from COMSATS University Islamabad (CUI), Pakistan, in 2021. From 2022 to 2023, he worked as a Technical Sales Engineer at Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) in the industrial sector of transformers, where he analyzed technical specifications, estimated costs, conducted load calculations for power and distribution transformers, and addressed clients' technical inquiries. During his internship at the Tarbela Dam Powerhouse of WAPDA, which generates 4,888 MW of power, he gained practical experience in hydropower generation, including the operation of servo motors, Francis turbines, synchronous generators, and power transformers. His research interests include Energy Resilience, Microgrids, Power System Analysis and Protection, and Renewable Energy Systems.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/usama-aslam-080425185/

Google Scholar: ‪‪Usama Aslam‬ - ‪Google Scholar‬

Master's Student (Expected Graduation: Spring 2026)

Savion Siner is currently a Master's student at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He received his Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 2024. He previously worked as an undergraduate researcher focusing on methods of charge control. His current research interests include smart grids and machine learning