Keynote Speakers

Ilhami Colak was born in 1962 in Turkey. He received his diploma in electrical engineering from Gazi University, Turkey, in 1985. Then, he did his MSc degree in electrical engineering in the field of Speed Control of Wound Rotor Induction Machines Using Semiconductor Devices at Gazi University in 1991. After that, he received his MPhil degree from Birmingham University in England by preparing a thesis on High Frequency Resonant DC Link Inverters in 1991. He received his PhD degree from Aston University in England on Mixed Frequency Testing of Induction Machines Using Inverters in 1994. He became an Assistant Professor, an Associate Professor, and a full Professor in 1995, 1999 and 2005, respectively. He has published more than 225 papers on different subjects, including electrical machines, drive systems, machine learning, reactive power compensation, inverters, converters, artificial neural networks, distance learning, automation, renewable energy sources and smart grids. More than 86 of his papers have been cited in the SCI database of Thomson Reuters. His papers have received more than 445 citations. He has supervised 19 MSc students and 13 PhD students. He is a member of IEEE, IES, IAS, PELS and PES. He is also a member of the PEMC Council. He has organized 54 international conferences and workshops. In the last ten years, he has concentrated his studies on renewable energy and smart grids by publishing papers, journals, and organizing international IEEE sponsored conferences. He is also the editor-in-chief of Electric Power Components and Systems and International Engineering Technologies and one of the editors of the Journal of Power Electronics. He has 1 international and 3 national patents. He also spent around 3 years at the European Commission Research Centre (JRC) as an expert in the field of smart grids in the Netherlands. He is currently holding the positions of vice-rector and dean of the Engineering and Architecture Faculty of Nisantasi University.

Dr. Rajendra Kumar Pandey, Professor and presently Head Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi has been Director General, National Power Training Institute (NPTI) from July 2016 to Aug 2020 on deputation to Ministry of Power, Govt. of India. Prof. Pandey received Ph. D. in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1992. He is professionally active Senior Member of IEEE having Membership of Power and Energy Society (PES), Smart Grid Community (SGC), Education, Blockchain  IEEE Computer Society Special Technical Community, Communication Society and contributing in Power and Energy Systems globally in various capacities as Member of Editorial Board of reputed Transactions/Reviewer/Advisor in advance areas of Power Systems. He is Vice Chairman of Renewable Energy Society of India (RESI) and also Advisory Board Member & Fellow of RESI. He has a long working experience in the field of High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Transmission Technology and Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) Devices Control, Intelligent Power Control and evolving Ancillary Services in Power Sector along with Operation of Power System in Open Access since last 39 years plus. He is Principal Investigator of Project "Stabilization of AC/DC Network with Unified Power Flow Controller" under Research Scheme on Power, Ministry of Power, Govt. of India and also Principal Investigator of Smart Grid Project (involving BESCOM & IIT (BHU), Varanasi) namely “Design and Development of a Smart Energy Grid Architecture with Energy Storage” funded by DST, Govt. of India which has been implemented under his leadership at Chandapura Division, Bengaluru, Karnataka. He has also established an unique Laboratory " Development of Electropulsing Facility for Synthesis of Bulk Nanostructured Materials" with funding from BRNS jointly with Dr. R. Manna in the Dept of Metallurgical Engineering, IIT (BHU), Varanasi.  He is  a Member of India Smart Grid Forum (ISGF) and associated with WG1 (Grid modernization and smart cities) and WG4 (Policy, Regulations and Business Models). He has been Member of Core Committee of International Solar Alliance, 100% Clean Energy City of Varanasi from MNRE. At present, he is an Expert Member of European Commission H2020, Innovation and Network Executive Agency & Expert Group for Mission Innovation Challenge-Off Grid Access to Electricity of DST and Chairman of SERD committee DST and MNRE. He visited various countries like USA, UK, China, Canada, Hong Kong etc. in connection with different projects/conferences/invited talk etc. He has published more than 145 peer reviewed papers in both national, international journals & conferences of repute. In the year 2016, he initiated the establishment of Roof Top Solar Power Project of 1.5MWp Capacity in IIT (BHU), Varanasi as Coordinator of the Project. He is Chairman of Solar Power Committee of BHU and Coordinator of BHU-NHPC 50 MW Land based Solar Power Project, BHU-BHEL Hydrogen Energy Research and Development & Pilot Project and Green Energy Centre BHU constituted for executing Solar Energy Project (Grid connected mode) both for BHU campus & Rajiv Gandhi South Campus (RGSC) in collaboration with MNRE, Govt. of India. Under his leadership total 6.225 MWp Roof Top Solar Power Project was successfully commissioned which has online IoT based SCADA monitoring system for three different campus of BHU (Main Campus, RGSC Barkachha and Kamachha campus).

Dr. Khadkikar is an IEEE Fellow (Class of 2022, “for contributions to power quality solutions”). He is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Industry Applications Society.

He received B.E. in Electrical, Electronics and Power from the Government College of Engineering, Aurangabad, in 2000, M. Tech. from IIT Delhi in 2002 and Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the ETS, Montreal, Canada, in 2008. 

From December 2008 to March 2010, He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada. From April 2010 to December 2010, he was a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA. 

He is a Professor of the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department at Khalifa University, Abu Dhabi, UAE. He joined Masdar Institute (now Khalifa University) in 2010 as an Assistant Professor. He has contributed over 65 IEEE Transactions papers. He was ranked 148 among 105,029 Electrical and Electronic Engineering researchers in the list of the world’s top 2% of career-long scientists as of November 2020 released by Stanford University. 

He has been serving as Scientist Member in the Mohammed bin Rashid Academy of Scientists (MBRAS) since 2018. At Khalifa University, he has been Power Electronics Theme Lead at the Advanced Power and Energy Center (APEC), Space Power and Energy Storage Theme Lead at the Khalifa University Space Technology and Innovation Centre (KUSTIC) and Theme Lead at Virtual Research Institute (VRI) for Sustainable Energy Production, Storage, and Utilization (funded by ASPIRE).

Dr. Khadkikar is currently an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications and IET Power Electronics.

Prof. N. P. Padhy received the Ph.D. degree in power systems engineering from Anna University, Chennai, India, in 1997. He is a Professor (HAG) and 92 Batch Chair Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee, Roorkee, India, and the Director, MNIT Jaipur, India. Earlier, he has served as a Dean of Academic Affairs, Institute, and NEEPCO Chair Professor with IIT Roorkee. He is the National Lead of many national and international projects such as DSIDES, ID-EDGe, and HEAPD. He is also part of other international projects, namely Indo-US UI-ASSIST, and Indo-U.K. ZED-I. He has authored/co-authored more than 150 research articles in reputed international journals and conference proceedings. His research interests include power system analysis, demand-side management, energy market, network pricing, ac–dc smart grid, and application of machine learning techniques in power systems. Prof. Padhy is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineers, Fellow Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers, India, Fellow Institution of Engineering and Technology, and Fellow of Institution of Engineers and India. He was the recipient of the IEEE PES Outstanding Engineers Award 2018, Boyscast Fellowship, and the Humboldt Experienced research Fellowship in the year 2005 and 2009, respectively.

Prof. R. Mahanty, (Member, IEEE) received the B.Sc. (Eng.) degree in electrical engineering and the M.Tech. degree in power systems from the National Institute of Technology (previously Regional Institute of Technology), Jamshedpur, India, in 1987 and 1991, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India, in 2005.

He is currently a Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University). His research interests include power quality improvement, multilevel inverters, renewable power conversion for microgrid applications, and dc–dc converters.

Prof. Bhim Singh  has received his B.E. (Electrical) from the University of Roorkee, India, in 1977 and his M.Tech. (Power Apparatus & Systems) and Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, in 1979 and 1983, respectively.

In 1983, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Roorkee (Now IIT Roorkee), as a Lecturer. He became a Reader there in 1988. In December 1990, he joined the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi, India, as an Assistant Professor, where he has become an Associate Professor in 1994 and a Professor in 1997. He has been ABB Chair Professor from September 2007 to September 2012. He has also been CEA Chair Professor from October 2012 to September 2017 and form January 2019 to June 2021. He has been Head of the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Delhi from July 2014 to August 2016. He has been the Dean, Academics at IIT Delhi from august 2016 to August 2019. He has been JC Bose Fellow of DST, Government of India from December 2015 to June 2021.  Prof. Singh has been the Chairman of BOG, Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal, from 3rd July 2018 to 2nd July 2021 and Non official Independent Director, NTPC Limited, from 17th July 2018 to 16th July 2021. He has been the CEA Chair Professor from January 2019 to June 2021. Prof. Singh is the SERB National Science Chair at IIT Delhi since July 2021. Prof. Singh is also member of Governing Council of Central Power Research Institute.

Prof. Singh has guided 108 Ph.D. dissertations, and 176 M.E./M.Tech./M.S.(R) theses. He has been filed 103 patents. He has executed more than eighty sponsored and consultancy projects. He has co-authored a text book on power quality: Power Quality Problems and Mitigation Techniques published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. 2015.  

His areas of interest include solar PV grid interface systems, microgrids, power quality monitoring and mitigation, solar PV water pumping systems, improved power quality AC-DC converters, power electronics, electrical machines, drives, flexible alternating transmission systems, and high voltage direct current systems.

Prof. Singh is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE), The Indian National Science Academy (FNA), The National Academy of Science, India (FNASc), The Indian Academy of Sciences, India (FASc), The World Academy of Sciences (FTWAS), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (FIEEE), the Institute of Engineering and Technology (FIET), Institution of Engineers (India) (FIE), and Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (FIETE) and a Life Member of the Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE), System Society of India (SSI), and National Institution of Quality and Reliability (NIQR).

He has received Khosla Research Prize of University of Roorkee in the year 1991. He is recipient of JC Bose and Bimal K Bose awards of The Institution of Electronics and Telecommunication Engineers (IETE) for his contribution in the field of Power Electronics. He is also a recipient of Maharashtra State National Award of Indian Society for Technical Education (ISTE) in recognition of his outstanding research work in the area of Power Quality. He has received PES Delhi Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award for the year 2006. Professor Singh has received Khosla National Research Award of IIT Roorkee in the year 2013. He is a recipient of Shri Om Prakash Bhasin Award-2014 in the field of Engineering including Energy & Aerospace. Professor Singh has received IEEE PES Nari Hingorani Custom Power Award-2017. He is also a recipient of “Faculty Research Award as a Most Outstanding Researcher” in the field of Engineering-2018 of Careers-360, India. He has received  Faculty Lifetime Research Award-2018 for overall research contribution at IIT Delhi. He is recipient IEEE-IAS outstanding educator/mentor award 2020. Prof. Singh is also the recipient of INAE outstanding teaching award 2020 and Eminent Engineer Award-2020 from Institution of Engineers (India).Prof. Bhim Singh is the recipient of first International Solar Alliance (ISA)- Haryana Kalpana Chawla Solar Award for working towards developing solutions in the Solar Energy Sector to help create a sustainable and low-carbon world for generations to come.