Biographical Information – SAIFUR RAHMAN

 

Professor Saifur Rahman is the Director of the Advanced Research Institute at Virginia Tech where he is the Joseph R. Loring professor of electrical and computer engineering. He is a Fellow of the IEEE. In 2006 he served as the vice president of the IEEE Publications Board, and as a member of the IEEE Board of Directors. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Proceedings of the IEEE.  He has served on the IEEE Power Engineering Society (PES)  Governing Board for five years as the Vice President for Technical Information Services and the VP for Education/Industry Relations. He serves on several PES committees and subcommittees including the Education Committee, Energy Development Subcommittee and Customer Products and Services Subcommittee.  He is also a member-at-large of the IEEE-USA Energy Policy Committee. He has been a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Power Engineering Society since 2000, and has lectured on renewable energy, demand side management, distributed generation and critical infrastructure protection in the United States, Mexico, Canada, Russia, Turkey, Greece, South Africa, India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, Malaysia and Bangladesh.

 

Dr. Saifur Rahman joined Virginia Tech in 1979 as an assistant professor after serving on the faculty at Texas A&M University during 1978-79. In 1987 he became a full professor of electrical engineering. In 1992-93 he spent a year with the Tokyo Electric Power Company in Japan as a visiting research scientist in their Artificial Intelligence Laboratory. In 1994 he was named the Director of the Center for Energy and the Global Environment at Virginia Tech.  In 1996, he came to the US National Science Foundation as the Program Director in charge of the Energy Systems Program, a position he held till September 1999.  During his tenure he served as the NSF liaison with the Electric Power Research Institute, US Department of Energy, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and other federal agencies dealing with electric power systems, deregulation, critical infrastructure protection, and related issues.  His research interests include alternate energy systems, infrastructure studies, electric load forecasting and power system planning. He has authored over 300 technical papers in these areas.

 

Saifur Rahman holds the degree of Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, having graduated in 1973.  Additionally, he received an MS in electrical sciences from the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1975.  He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Virginia Tech in 1978.  His other industry and government experience includes work at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, Carolina Power and Light Company, consultancy for the United Nations and the Asian Development Bank.

 

 

 

 

In September 1998, Matt Dhillon began his career with DCSI as a Marketing Manager II and in 2001 he was promoted to Director, Marketing.  His career includes engineering and sales experience in the domestic and international markets.  Over the last 9 years Matt has worked with many big and small utilities all over the world.

 

Matt received his B.S.E.E., Power Systems from Nagpur University in India in 1973.  He went on to continue his education at Montana State University and graduated with his M.S.E.E. in Control Systems in 1976.

 

Matt has presented papers at various AMI Regional Conferences over the last 9 years.  

 

Chairman of International Chapter of AMRA, 2007-2008

 

 

 

 

Dr. Michael Willingham is an energy and environmental analyst, with experience in policy, technology, educational program design, and professional training. His work experience includes the United Nations, USAID, the US Congress, the World Bank, the Peace Corps, the Navajo Tribe, and the private sector. Since April 2000, Dr. Willingham to the Virginia Tech Alexandria Research Institute as an Adjunct Professor. During this period he undertook an assignment with USAID Ukraine in a six-week exercise to evaluate the success of USAID energy programs in Ukraine over the preceding eight years. He served as Chief of Mission for three-week in-country mission, and as head of the mission report preparation team. In another consultative capacity, he participated in a USAID-sponsored mission to India as part of a mission team to assist the Government of India with policy aspects of sustainable energy development and greenhouse gas mitigation. Recently, he has worked to analyze post-disaster impacts of Hurricane Isabel (September 2003) in the electric power sector.

 

 

Advanced Research Institute, Virginia Tech

4300 Wilson Blvd, Ste 750, Arlington, VA 22203

 

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Distribution Control Systems, Inc.

945 Hornet Drive, Hazelwood, MO 63042

 

 

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Michael Willingham

Advanced Research Institute, Virginia Tech

4300 Wilson Blvd, Ste 750, Arlington, VA 22203