Ali Mehrizi-Sani, Ph.D.

Contact Information

• Dr. Ali Mehrizi-Sani
  Professor, Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  Director, Power and Energy Center (PEC): Link
  
  Director, Virginia Power Analytics & Cybersecurity (VPAC) Service Center: Link
  Director, Resilient Renewable Energy Grid Adaptation Laboratory (REGAL)
  
  

  • In numbers: as of April 2025,

    • total funds at home institution: $13M; 

    • citations: 9850+; h-index: 34; i10-index: 79;

    • journals papers: 98; conference papers: 102;  

    • PhD students graduated: 8; MSc students graduated: 10.

• Citizenship: United States
  
  

• 428 Whittemore Hall
  1185 Perry Street
  Power and Energy Center (PEC)
  Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
  Virginia Tech
  Blacksburg, VA 24061
  
  

• Tel: +1 (540) 231-4492 (email is highly preferred; I am frequently on travel in different timezones.)

• Email: mehrizi@vt.edu

Website (VT)  ::  Website (Personal)  ::   Google Scholar 

REGAL Guides for Current Students (and the Curious)

• REGAL Guide on Technical Writing: PDF (last updated February 2023)

• REGAL Ground Rules: PDF (last updated August 2024)

Prospective Students and Postdocs

At almost any given time, I have several funded PhD positions in my lab. If you would like to join my lab (and are a self-motivated, initiative-taker, coding-lover student), after applying to VT, please fill out the form at https://forms.gle/S4zNE5mhJyvLK6sj8.

See the ECE admission requirements at https://ece.vt.edu/grad/manual/page3.html. 

This helps make the admission process (and my email inbox) more organized!

Research

• Grid/microgrid integration of inverter-based renewables, especially in low-inertia systems, as grid-forming inverters; 

• High-performance controls, including machine learning for black-boxed systems; 

• Cybersecurity of communication-based control and protection methods using 5G and beyond.

Courses

• Industry and Short Courses

  • Introduction to PSCAD for Power System EMT Studies: Outline and Information

  • Grid-Forming Inverters 

• Undergraduate

  • ECE 3004 AC Circuits Analysis (VT) 

  • ECE 4324 Microgrids (VT)
    
    

  • EE 486 Power Electronics (WSU)

  • EE 492 Renewable Energy Resources (WSU)

  • EE 361 Electric Power Systems (WSU)
    
    

  • Electric Machines (ESIGELEC, France)

  • Electric Power Networks (ESIGELEC, France)
    
    

  • Electric Machines and Drives (TU Graz, Austria)

  • Intro to Electric Drives (TU Graz, Austria)
    
    

• Graduate 

  • ECE 5344 GFM for HVDC, FACTS and Renewables (VT)

  • Power System Applications of Power Electronics (WSU)

  • FACTS Devices (TU Graz, Austria)

Employment

• Director, Power and Energy Center, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA (Aug. 2024 to Present).

• Professor, The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA (Jul. 2024 to Present).

• Associate Professor, The Bradley Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA (Aug. 2019 to Jul. 2024).

• Associate Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (Aug. 2018 to Aug. 2019).

• Assistant Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Washington State University, Pullman, WA (Jan. 2012 to Aug. 2018).

• Visiting Professor, Electric Drives and Machines Institute, Technische Universitït Graz (TU Graz), Graz, Austria (Nov. 2014, Jan. 2016, Nov.-Dec. 2016, and May 2018).

Education

• Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON (2011).
        Connaught Scholar

• M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB (2007).
        Best Thesis Award • Work incorporated in PSCAD X4

• B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran (2005).

• B.Sc. in Petroleum Engineering, Sharif University of Technology and Petroleum University of Technology, Tehran, Iran (2005).

Awards (Select Merit-Based)

• 2023: VT COE Dean's Fellow

• 2023: VT COE Dean's List of Instructors

• 2018: IEEE PES Outstanding Young Engineer Award

• 2018: ASEE PNW Outstanding Teaching Award

• 2017: IEEE Mac E. Van Valkenburg Early Career Teaching Award

• 2017: WSU EECS Early Career Excellence in Research Award

• 2016: WSU VCEA Reid Miller Excellence in Teaching Award

• 2016: WSU EECS Teaching Excellence Award

• 2015: IEEE PES PSDP Technical Committee Working Group Recognition Award

• 2014: NAE Frontiers of Engineering Education Participant

• 2011: NSERC Postdoctoral Fellowship Award

Current/Past Students

• Doctoral Students

  1. Michael Lindemann (VT); 2025--Present

  2. Milad Beikbabaei (VT); 2022--Present

  3. Naser Souri (VT); 2022--Present

  4. Ehsan Fouladi (VT); 2021--Present

  5. Fatemeh Sharifi (VT); 2021--Present

  6. Ashwin Venkataramanan (VT); 2021--Present

  7. Ardavan Mohammadhassani (VT); 2019--2023

     • Thesis title: "Protection and cybersecurity in inverter-based microgrids"

  8. Mohammad Mousavi (WSU); 2016--2020

     • Thesis title: “Design and implementation of high-efficiency power converters”

  9. Parisa Shabestari ( WSU); 2016--2020

     • Thesis title: “Control of Uncertain Grid-Connected Inverters for Renewable Energy Applications”;

  10. Armin Teymouri (WSU); 2016--2020

      • Thesis title: "Power electronics converters for renewable applications under sensor malfunctions and cyber threats”

  11. Hooman Ghaffarzadeh (WSU); 2014--2019

      • Thesis title: “Advanced control strategies for renewable energy systems.”

  12. Saleh Ziaeinejad (WSU); 2016--2018

      • Thesis title: “Control of voltage-sourced converters considering internal constraints.”

  13. Younes Sangsefidi (WSU); 2016--2018

      • Thesis title: “Step-up modular multilevel converters for energy harvesting from low-voltage energy resources”;

  14. Mehrdad Yazdanian (WSU); 2012--2016

      • Thesis title: “Advanced control strategies for inverter-based microgrids”;
        
        

• Master's Students

  1. Caroline Larsen (VT); 2024--Present

  2. Brian Kwiatkowski (VT); 2023--2024.

     • Thesis title: "Reinforcement Learning for the Cybersecurity of Grid-Forming and Grid-Following Inverters";

  3. Hossein Amini (VT); 2022--2024.

     • Thesis title: "Islanding Detection and Cybersecurity in Inverter-Based Microgrids Under a High-Noise Environment";

  4. Bradey Alexander (VT); 2023-2024.

     • Thesis title: "Protection and cybersecurity of inverter-based resources";

  5. Sengal Ghidewon-Abay (VT); 2021--2022

     • Thesis title: "Control of grid-connected converters using deep learning";

  6. Rahul Iyer (VT); 2019--2021

     • Thesis title: "5G schedulers for distributed control in microgrids";

  7. Faris Alatar (VT); 2020--2021

     • Thesis title: "Frequency scan–based mitigation approach of subsynchronous control interaction in type-3 wind turbines";

  8. Sidhaarth Venkatachari (VT); 2019--2021

     • Thesis title: “Application of neural networks to inverter-based resources”;

  9. Asal Zabetian (WSU); 2016--2018

     • Thesis title: “Model predictive control of DC microgrid”;

  10. Rabia Khan (WSU); 2015--2017

      • Thesis title: “Fault current limitation using a saturable reactor”;

  11. Saleh Ziaeinejad (WSU); 2013--2015

      • Thesis title: “Multilevel voltage-sourced converters for grid applications”;

  12. Younes Sangsefidi (WSU); 2013--2015

      • Thesis title: “Predictive control of grid-connected voltage-sourced converters”;

  13. Chris Stone (WSU); 2012--2014

      • Thesis title: “Design and real-time validation of set point modulation-based control strategies for power system applications”;

Affiliate Faculty

• Dr. Kambiz Tehrani (ESIGELEC, France)