
Renewable Energy & Advanced Power Electronics Research Lab
Professor (with Tenure)
Director, REAPER Lab
Co-Director, NSF Center for Next Generation Photovoltaics
+001 (979) 862-4985
rbalog@tamu.edu
- Power electronics at the grid-edge
- Arc fault detection
- Advanced energy systems
- Solar electrical (photovoltaic) energy conversion (PV)
- Low cost inverter system for use with alternative energy sources (including fuel cells, photovoltaic, etc.)
- Power electronics reliability in alternative energy systems
- Distributed dc power systems with emphasis on local/distributed control
- Model predictive control (MPC)
- Non-linear control techniques
- Machine Learning applied to power systems and power electronics
Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering · May 2006
University of Illinois; Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
- Area: Power Electronics
- Thesis: “Autonomous Local Control in Distributed DC Power Systems“
- Advisor: Dr. Philip T. Krein
- Funding: NSF/ONR EPNES Grant #ECS-0224839
M.S. in Electrical Engineering · May 2002
University of Illinois; Urbana-Champaign, Illinois
- Area: Power Electronics
- Thesis: “Coupled Inductor: A Basic Filter Building Block Analysis, Simulation, and Examples”
- Advisor: Dr. Philip T. Krein
B.S. in Electrical Engineering · May 1996
Rutgers University; New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Area: Electrical Engineering
- Senior Thesis: “Topics in DSP: Interpolation, Decimation, and Delta-Sigma Quantization“
- Advisor: Dr. Sophocles Orfanidis
Texas A&M University at Qatar · August 1, 2015—Present
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; Doha, Qatar
Joint Appointment with TAMU – College Station
Professor, September 2020—Present
Associate Professor, September 2015—August 2020
Executive Director of Graduate Studies, January 2020 – December 2020
Texas A&M University · August 2009—Present
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering; College Station, Texas, USA
Professor, September 2020—Present
Associate Professor, September 2015—August 2020
Assistant Professor, August 2009—August 2015
Middle East Technical University · July 2012
Ankara, Turkey
Visiting Scientist Fellowship Program
SolarBridge Technologies · August 2006—August 2009
Austin, Texas, USA (Formerly SmartSpark Energy Systems, Champaign, Illinois. Acquired by SunPower Corp in October 2014. Acquired by Enphase Energy Inc. in July 2018 )
Senior Engineer
- Co-inventor and technology developer of a grid-interactive, ACPV photovoltaic inverter
- Technical leader successfully attracted and closed $6MM California-based venture capital financing
- Lead researcher for application of power electronics to fuel cells for portable military power
- Managed a 16 member development team including nine in-house engineers and five consultants
United States Army Corp of Engineers · September 2005—May 2006
Engineer Research and Development Center – Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL)
Contract Researcher
- Contract # W9132T-05-C-0026, “Advanced Energy Initiative ATO”
- Conducted research into distributed and renewable energy sources and
- Conducted research into
next generation power distribution controls and topologies
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign · August 1999—May 2006
Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering; Urbana, Illinois, USA
Graduate Research Assistant
- TA for Power Electronics Lab (2 semesters), Senior Design, capstone design course
- Applied industry design experience to improve experimental facilities
- Updated teaching lab with custom designed equipment and improvements to instruction (published)
Lutron Electronics, Inc. · June 1996—July 1999
Coopersburg, Pennsylvania
Project Electrical Engineer
- Analog and digital hardware design, worst-case and failure analysis, PCB design for EMC compatibility
- New product definition, specification
and development including electricaldesign / testing - Engineering support for
manufacturing / operations atmanufacturing facility in Puerto Rico - UL, FCC, CE, VDE compliance testing including European EMC directive
- PI, “5G Connected and Photovoltaic Powered Next Generation Greenhouse for Food Security,” Qatar National Research Foundation, $798,855, 8/15/2020-8/14/2023.PI, “Safe and Reliable Electrical Distribution Systems,” Qatar National Research Foundation, $25,000, 7/1/2019-6/30/2020.
- PI, “A Fault-Tolerant Capacitor-less Power Quality Compensator for Electrical Distribution Systems,” Qatar National Research Foundation, $719,366, 1/1/2017-6/30/2020.
- Co-PI, “I/UCRC for Next Generation Photovoltaics – Texas A&M University Site,” National Science Foundation, $400,000, 7/15/2016-6/30/2021.
- PI, “Smart PV Skin: Grid-Connected, Non-Planar Photovoltaic Systems,” Qatar National Research Foundation, $705,672, 10/1/2014-9/30/2017.
- PI, “Planning Grant: I/UCRC for Next Generation Photovoltaics – Texas A&M University Site,” National Science Foundation, $14,365, 9/1/2014-8/31/2015.
- PI, “1-MW PV Power RD&D Using SiC-based qZS Cascade Multilevel Inverter and Battery Energy Storage,” Qatar National Research Foundation, $4.6M, 7/2013-8/2018.
- PI, “Characterization of Noise in DC Photovoltaic Systems,” Sandia National Laboratories – US Department of Energy, $28,075, 2/15/2014 – 9/30/2014.
- PI, “Arc Flash Detection in Photovoltaic DC Arrays Using Wavelets,” National Science Foundation, $100,000, 7/2013-6/2014.
- PI, “Power Supply Component Reliability,” SolarBridge Technologies Inc., PI: R. Balog, 1 grad student, 1/2012-5/2013, $27,152.
- PI, “Power Electronics Experimental Design Using NI cRIO and LabView,” National Instruments, PI: R. Balog, 1 grad student, 1 undergrad student, 1/2013-9/2013, $20,000.
- Co-PI, “REU Site: Smart Energy and Smart Systems: Enabling the Future through Electrical & Computer Engineering,” National Science Foundation, $402,000, 2011 – 2014.
- PI, “Advanced Model Predictive Control of Power Electronics Converters and Electric Drives,” Qatar National Research Foundation, $1,033,556, 2011-2014.
- PI, “Energy Harvesting Using Flexible & Conformal Photovoltaic Materials,” Visiting Scientist Fellowship Program, The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, 6/2012-7/2012.
- Co-PI, “Interdisciplinary Experience in Electricity: A “Grass-roots” Approach,” Texas A&M University, $180,000, 2012 – 2015.
- Co-PI, “Smartphone App to Automate Residential Photovoltaic Energy System Design,” Texas A&M University System Engineering Network Research Strategy Group for Junior Faculty Research Collaboration, 7/2013-8/2014, $1,400.
- PI, Texas State Energy Conservation Office, “Pilot Photovoltaic (PV) TAMU Installation,”$200,000, 2010-2011.
- Co-PI, Technical Leader, Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, Phase I Grant, “Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems program (SEGIS),” $250,000, 2008-2009.
- PI: US Department of Agriculture, SBIR FY2007 Phase II Grant, “Power Supply for Remote Unattended Loads,” $350k, 9/2007 – 9/2009.
- Consultant: US Army Engineer Research and Development Center – Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL), Contract # W9132T-05-C-0026, “Advanced Energy Initiative ATO,” 9/2005–5/2006.
- Senior Member, National Academy of Inventors (NAI), 2019
- Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Power Electronics Society, 2020-2021
- Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Power Electronics Society, 2018-2019
- Patent and Innovation Award, Texas A&M University System Office of Technology Commercialization, 2017
- Member, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, External Public Body, 2011
- Distinguished Engineer Award, Rutgers University College of Engineering, 2011
- Nominee, Richard M. Bass Outstanding Young Power Electronics Engineer Award, 2009
- IEEE Senior Member, 2007
- Harriett & Robert Perry Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2005–2006
- Ernest A. Reid Fellow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2004–2005
- Joseph J. Suozzi INTELEC Fellow, IEEE , 2001–2002
- EMCWA Scholarship, 2001
- Grainger Outstanding Power Engineering Award, May 2001 and May 2006
- Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America
Professional Engineer
State of Illinois · January 2004—Present
License #062-057093
State of Texas· April 2019—Present
License #134053
Service
ADCOM member, IEEE Power Electronics Society, 2010—Present
- Distinguished Lecturer, 2018-2019, 2020-2021
- co-Chair, Mentorship
Commitee , 2017-present - elected, Member-at-Large, 2015-2017
- co-Chair, Membership Committee 2012-2014
- Chair, Graduates of the Last Decade (now Young Professionals) 2010-2012
Editor / Editorial Board Member (select)
- Associate Editor, IEEE Power Transactions on Energy Conversion, 2010—Present
- Associate Editor, IEEE Power Engineering Society Letters, 2011—Present
- Guest Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, Special issue on Reliability, 2013–2014
- Guest Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, Special issue on Advanced Distributed Control of Energy Conversion Devices and Systems, 2013–2014
- Editorial Board, International Journal on Advanced Electrical Engineering (IJAEE), 2012—Present
Technical Program Chair
- IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) 2016
Technical Program Committee Member (select)
- IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE) 2010, 2012, 2015
- IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC) 2009
Reviewer (select)
- IEEE Transitions on Power Electronics
- IEEE Transitions on Energy Conversion
- IEEE Transitions on Smart Grid
- IEEE Transitions on Industry Applications
- IEEE Transitions on Industrial Electronics
- IEEE Power Electronics Letters
- IEEE Power Electronics Specialist Conference (PESC)
- IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE)
- IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC)
- IEEE Industry Applications Conference (IAS)
- IEEE North American Power Symposium (NAPS)
Standards Committees
Membership with Voting Authority
- Standards Technical Panel (STP) UL 1741: Inverters, Converters, and Controllers for Independent Power Systems
- Standards Technical Panel (STP) UL 1699B: Photovoltaic (PV) DC Arc-Fault Circuit-Interrupters
Affiliations
Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
- Member since 1992
- Senior Member since 2007
- Societies: Power Electronics, Power and Energy, Industrial Applications
Memberships (past and Present)
- National Academy of Inventors (NAI)
- Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA)
- American Wind Energy Association (AWES)
- American Solar Energy Society (ASES)
- Texas Solar Energy Society (TXSES)
- Power Systems Engineering Research Center (PSERC)
- National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE)
- Illinois Society of Professional Engineers (ISPE)
- American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE)
- Eta Kappa Nu (HKN) – Electrical Engineering Honor Society
- Sigma Xi – The Scientific Research Society
- Electrical Manufacturing Coil Winding Association (EMCWA)
- National Eagle Scout Association, Boy Scouts of America (BSA)
Courses
- ENGR 111 – Foundations of Engineering
- ECEN 214 – Electric Circuits (TAMU Undergrad Fa09, Fa11, Sp11; TAMUQ Su17 Su 18)
- ECEN 215 – Principles of Electrical Engineering (TAMUQ Fa15, Sp16, Fa16, Sp18, Sp19, Sp20, Sp21)
- ECEN 438 – Power Electronics (TAMU Undergrad Fa12, Fa13, Fa14; TAMUQ Fa19, Fa20)
- ECEN 489 – Photovoltaic Energy Systems (TAMUQ Sp16, Fa16, Fa18)
- ECEN 613 – Inverters and Rectifiers (TAMU Grad Sp10, Sp11)
- ECEN 689 – Power Electronics for Renewable Energy Sources (TAMU Grad Fa10, Fa11, Sp13)
- ECEN 712 – Power Electronics for Renewable Energy Sources (TAMU Grad Sp14)
Mentoring
- Faculty Advisor, IEEE Power Electronics Society Texas A&M Student Branch Chapter, 2010-2016
- Program Coordinator, NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU): Smart Energy and Smart Systems – Powering the SmartGrid Sensor System, Summers 2013-2015
- Faculty Mentor, NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU): Smart Energy and Smart Systems – Powering the SmartGrid Sensor System, Summers 2011-2014
- Team Mentor, Engineering Projects in Community Service, 2010-2011
- Sponsor of PV Primer, Power Across Texas Energy Primer Challenge ($9,000 student scholarship. Texas A&M took 1st place in Texas—beating UT Austin and Texas Tech.), 2010
- Nominee, Harold L. Olesen Award (UIUC) for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching
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