Shushan Qiu earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, China, in 2019 and 2023 respectively. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at the University of Houston in Houston, TX, USA. His research focuses on hardware-in-the-loop simulations for microgrids and the development of isolated DC-DC converters.

Qiushi holds her Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Arizona State University. Qiushi is pursuing her PhD in Electrical Engineering at the University of Houston while working as a professional engineer at AES Clean Energy. Her research interests include integration of renewable energy and system planning.

Gaureej Gauttam earned his Bachelor’s degree (B.Tech) in Electrical Engineering from the National Institute of Technology (NIT) Silchar, India, in 2017, followed by a Master of Technology (M.Tech) in Electronics and Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, India, in 2021. From 2021 to 2022, he worked as a Junior Research Fellow at IIT Roorkee, India, where he focused on the design of wireless power transfer systems. Currently, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Houston, Texas, USA. His research interests include the design and analysis of DC-DC converters, high-frequency high-power-density converters, controller design for DC-DC converters, high-temperature power converters, and wireless power transfer.

Born in India, in 1997. I received my B.Tech degree in Electrical Engineering from the NIT Agartala, India, in 2018. I completed my B.Tech final year from IIT Madras, India as an exchange student in 2017-18. I completed my MS and PhD in Electrical Engineering from IIT Madras in 2024, specializing in Power Electronics Converters and Solid-State Transformer (SST) Technology for grid integration and motor drive applications. I was closely involved in several industrial projects like 2L-VSI and CHB Inverter-fed industrial motor drives, Transformerless MV propulsion drives, CHB-based SST Technology for MV grid integration in solar/wind power generation, EV charging stations, data centers, microgrids, distributed networks. Currently, I am a Postdoctoral Fellow in PEMSEC lab at University of Houston. My research interests focus on Power Electronics Converter Technology for Long-Duration Battery Energy Storage Systems, SST Technology, and Power Electronics Converter Design.

Jesus Silva-Rodriguez graduated with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Houston, and started his PhD program here as a direct PhD student in January 2021. During his undergraduate studies, Jesus was a recipient of the DAAD RISE Scholarship in 2019 and participated in a research internship at the Technical University Dortmund, Germany, performing feasibility studies to develop simulation models for a Pulse Electroacoustic (PEA) cell, used in the detection of space charges in insulating materials for High Voltage DC applications. Currently, Jesus is pursuing his PhD in Electrical Engineering focusing in optimization models for the water-energy nexus for small communities, as well as microgrid energy management and power systems operations.

Rida Fatima received her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Mirpur University of Sciences and Technology, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan in 2015 and her master’s degree in electrical engineering – Power from National University of Sciences and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan in 2018. She has worked as a Research Associate at TetraTech: Consulting and Engineering Firm. from 2019 to 2021, specializing in Renewable Energy Markets and Policies. She is currently working towards her Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Houston, Houston, TX, USA. Her research interests include Smart grids, Energy Markets, and the optimization of Distribution Networks.