Dr. Jian (Jason) Shi is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Engineering Technology at the University of Houston. His research focuses on the interplay between artificial intelligence and power systems, deep decarbonization of the electric grid, maritime transportation electrification, smart grid physical and cyber security, and improving energy affordability and accessibility.

Dr. Shi has authored 47 peer-reviewed journal articles, two book chapters, 45 conference papers, and one U.S. patent. He has secured ~$1.8 million in credited research funding and contributed to projects totaling over $9 million, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Department of Energy (DOE), the National Academies, and various industry partners.

His work has been recognized with numerous national honors, including the NSF CAREER Award (2024), the Early-Career Research Fellowship from the National Academies’ Gulf Research Program (2024), the DOE EnergyTech Faculty Explorer Award (2025), and the Best Paper Award at the Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting (2025). He was also named a President’s Circle Award recipient at UH (2025), an Emerging Leader by the Offshore Technology Conference (2024), and an alumnus of the 2025 National Academy of Engineering Frontiers of Engineering (NAE-FOE) Symposium.

Dr. Shi has led global and interdisciplinary efforts, including the UH–Pandit Deendayal Energy University (India) collaboration on distributed energy systems and the Texas Higher Education Delegation to South Africa to promote inclusive energy transition strategies. He has supervised/co-supervised 9 Ph.D. students and mentored over 30 undergraduate senior design teams. His students have earned top national placements in competitions such as the DOE Carbon Management Collegiate Competition, Solar District Cup, and the UH Innovation Commercialization Competition.

He actively contributes to the professional community through participation in more than 10 IEEE working groups and task forces, including the IEEE Marine Systems Coordinating Committee, the IEEE Climate Change Technical Committee, and the IEEE PES Climate Change Initiative. Since 2021, he has served on the Young Editorial Board of the journal of Applied Energy.

Prior to joining UH, Dr. Shi was an Assistant Research Professor at the Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems (CAVS) and an Adjunct Faculty member in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Mississippi State University, where he also earned his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering in 2014. He is a Senior Member of IEEE.

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Ms. Massiagbe Diabate is currently pursuing her Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UH (2023-Present). Her research interest lies in the area of microgrid operation and control and integrated hydrogen-electricity systems. Ms. Diabate received her M.S. in Electrical Engineering from UH in 2023. 

Mr. Dingwen Pan is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UH (2023-Present). His research interests include LLM and AI+Energy. Mr. Pan received his B.S. from the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2023. 

Mr. Jiachen Shen is currently pursuing his Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UH (2023-Present). His research interest lies in Data-driven Robust optimization. Mr. Shen received his M.S.  in Statistics from Rutgers University in 2023. 

Ms. Tugce Uslu Aktas is currently pursuing her degree in Industrial Engineering at UH (2022-Present). Her work focuses on infrastructure resilience under the long-term effects of climate change. Ms. Aktas received her M.S. in Operations Research from Yalova University in 2021. 

Ms. Bindu Madhavi Talakanti is currently pursuing her M.S. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UH (2024-Present). Her research interest lies in hydrogen-related production and economic analysis.

Ms. Zirui (Sharkie) Tong is pursuing her Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering at UH (2024-Present). Her work focuses on carbon market modeling, carbon trading, and how carbon trading can be coupled with energy markets. Ms. Tong received her M.S. degree in Applied Mathematics from Columbia and Financial Mathematics from University College London (UCL), respectively. 

Ms. Chuyue (Cici) Wang is pursuing her Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering at UH (2024-Present). Her research interest lies in modeling low-carbon consumer electronics and Li-ion battery recycling supply chains to strengthen domestic critical metal supply and circular economy. Ms. Wang received her M.S. in Urban Data from University College London (UCL). 

Ms. Yixuan (Amber) Huang is pursuing her Ph.D. degree in Industrial Engineering at UH (2024-Present). Her research interest focuses on the optimization of hydrogen supply chains and hydrogen-powered vehicles. Ms. Huang received her M.S. in Economics from UIUC in 2023. Before that, she received her B.S. degree in Economics with a minor in Mathematics from the University of Minnesota. 

Mr. Yvon K Kapumba is pursuing his Master's degree in Electrical Engineering at UH. He is working on large-scale renewable integration.

Alfredo A Hernandez is an undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science at UH. He is a UH Energy Scholar (Cohort of 2025) and has been working with Dr. Shi on various issues faced by the electricity grid, such as policy analysis and extreme weather events.

Dr. Fatemeh Kalantari has completed her Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering at UH in Fall 2024. Her specialty includes faster-than-real-time power system modeling and simulation and high-performance computing. Fatemeh is now a Tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Texas-Tyler.

Ms. Xidan (Delia) Zhang worked with Dr. Shi as a Research Staff at UH between 2024-2025 on building energy management systems. She is now a Staff Member in Harris County's Office of County Administration. Ms. Zhang obtained her M.S. degree in Industrial Engineering at Rice University in 2025. Before that, she received her B.S. degree in Business and Supply Chain Management from Rutgers University.

Dr. Anahita Molavi graduated from the Department of Industrial Engineering at UH in Spring 2021. She worked with Dr. Shi between 2019-2021 on the electrification of maritime energy systems. She is now a Network Modeling and Optimization Engineer at META. Dr. Molavi graduated from Sharif University of Technology with a B.S. in Industrial Engineering in 2015. 

Dr. Yiwei Wu graduated from the Department of Industrial Engineering at UH in Fall 2020. He worked with Dr. Shi between 2018-2020 on microgrid modeling and operation control. He is now a Research Scientist at Baowu Clean Energy LLC.