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  • Jan
    17

    IEMS Seminar: Computational and Analytical Tools for Resilient and Secure Power Grids

    Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences

    11:00 AM M228, Technological Institute

    EVENT DETAILS

    Saleh Soltan
    Princeton University

    Abstract: Today, because of an ever-growing demand for clean yet reliable electricity and cyber threats arising from global data connectivity, power grids are facing complex and transformative challenges. Addressing these challenges requires unconventional and interdisciplinary research approaches that exploit tools from various disciplines across electrical engineering, computer science, and operations research. In this talk, I will present a summary of my research on analyzing and enhancing power grids resilience and security using tools from combinatorial optimization and machine learning. I will focus on cyber threats against power grids and present computational and analytical methods to improve grids’ readiness and robustness against such threats. First, I will address the problem of power grid topology and state estimation after a cyber-physical attack that may result in line failures as well as measurement data loss. In general, this problem is combinatorial, and I will show that is NP-hard. However, I will demonstrate that under some practical constraints on the location of the uncompromised measurement devices and the failed lines, the grid topology and state can be estimated in polynomial time by leveraging power flow properties and tools from algebraic graph theory. I will further show that this approach can effectively be extended to the case when the available measurements are noisy using Bayesian regression. Second, I will present a new cyber threat against power grids arising from the ubiquity of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. I will demonstrate that an adversary with access to sufficiently many high-wattage IoT devices can cause a large-scale blackout in the system by manipulating the demands—without any access to the power grid control system. For example, I will illustrate that only a 1% increase in the demands during the summer demand peak in the Polish grid can result in a cascading line failure leading to 86% outage in the system. I will conclude with possible countermeasures against such attacks and future challenges.

    Biography: Saleh Soltan is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Electrical Engineering at Princeton University. He obtained the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University in 2017. Previously, he received the M.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University in 2012 and the B.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics (double major) from Sharif University of Technology, Iran in 2011. He is the recipient of Columbia University Electrical Engineering Jury Award in 2018, the recipient of Columbia University Electrical Engineering Armstrong Memorial Award in 2012, and the Gold Medalist of Iran 23rd National Mathematics Olympiad in 2005. He is broadly interested in network science, graph algorithms, data analysis, and machine learning with a focus on their applications in power grid resilience and security. His papers have been selected twice among the best papers in power systems modeling and analysis at the IEEE PES-GM conferences and have been covered by prominent media outlets including Financial Times, Wired, Fortune, and CNET among many others.

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    TIME Thursday, January 17, 2019 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION M228, Technological Institute    map it

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    CONTACT Agnes Kaminski    a-kaminski@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences

  • Apr
    30

    Learning and Information Aggregation in Dynamic Games

    Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

    11:00 AM ITW 1.350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center

    EVENT DETAILS

    TIME Tuesday, April 30, 2024 at 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

    LOCATION ITW 1.350, Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center    map it

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    CONTACT Kendall Minta    kendall.minta@gmail.com EMAIL

    CALENDAR Department of Industrial Engineering and Management Sciences (IEMS)

  • May
    8

    Extending Care: A Conversation about Conservation and Futurity

    Block Museum of Art

    6:00 PM Block Museum of Art, Mary and Leigh

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Wednesday, May 8, 2024 at 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

    LOCATION Block Museum of Art, Mary and Leigh    map it

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    CONTACT Block Museum of Art    block-museum@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR Block Museum of Art

  • Jun
    10

    Northwestern Engineering PhD Hooding and Master's Degree Recognition Ceremony

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    9:00 AM Welsh-Ryan Arena

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Monday, June 10, 2024 at 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM

    LOCATION Welsh-Ryan Arena   

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    CONTACT Amy Pokrass    amy.pokrass@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Jun
    10

    Northwestern Engineering Undergraduate Convocation

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    2:00 PM Welsh-Ryan Arena

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Monday, June 10, 2024 at 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM

    LOCATION Welsh-Ryan Arena   

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    CONTACT Amy Pokrass    amy.pokrass@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Aug
    14

    Undergraduate Quantum Summer School

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    All Day Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Wednesday, August 14, 2024

    LOCATION Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center    map it

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    CONTACT Dongyang Li    lidongyang@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

  • Aug
    15

    Undergraduate Quantum Summer School

    McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science

    All Day Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center

    EVENT DETAILSmore info

    TIME Thursday, August 15, 2024

    LOCATION Ford Motor Company Engineering Design Center    map it

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    CONTACT Dongyang Li    lidongyang@northwestern.edu EMAIL

    CALENDAR McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science