In Brief

Professor (with Tenure)

Director, Renewable Energy and Advanced Power Electronics Research Laboratory

Director, National Science Foundation Center for Next Generation Photovoltaics

Assistant Director for Grid Edge Modernization, TEES Smart Grid Center

+1 (979) 862-4985

rbalog@tamu.edu

Research Interests

• 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

Education

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

Professional Experience

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 electrical design / testing
• Engineering support for manufacturing / operations at manufacturing facility in Puerto Rico
• UL, FCC, CE, VDE compliance testing including European EMC directive

Selected Grants & Contracts

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Co-PI, “I/UCRC for Next Generation Photovoltaics – Texas A&M University Site,” National Science Foundation, $400,000, 7/15/2016-6/30/2021.
4. PI, “Smart PV Skin: Grid-Connected, Non-Planar Photovoltaic Systems,” Qatar National Research Foundation, $705,672, 10/1/2014-9/30/2017.
5. 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.
6. 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.
7. PI, “Characterization of Noise in DC Photovoltaic Systems,” Sandia National Laboratories – US Department of Energy, $28,075, 2/15/2014 – 9/30/2014.
8. PI, “Arc Flash Detection in Photovoltaic DC Arrays Using Wavelets,” National Science Foundation, $100,000, 7/2013-6/2014.
9. PI, “Power Supply Component Reliability,” SolarBridge Technologies Inc., PI: R. Balog, 1 grad student, 1/2012-5/2013, $27,152.
10. 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.
11. Co-PI, “REU Site: Smart Energy and Smart Systems: Enabling the Future through Electrical & Computer Engineering,” National Science Foundation, $402,000, 2011 – 2014.
12. PI, “Advanced Model Predictive Control of Power Electronics Converters and Electric Drives,” Qatar National Research Foundation, $1,033,556, 2011-2014.
13. 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.
14. Co-PI, “Interdisciplinary Experience in Electricity: A “Grass-roots” Approach,” Texas A&M University, $180,000, 2012 – 2015.
15. 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.
16. PI, Texas State Energy Conservation Office, “Pilot Photovoltaic (PV) TAMU Installation,”$200,000, 2010-2011.
17. Co-PI, Technical Leader, Department of Energy, Sandia National Laboratories, Phase I Grant, “Solar Energy Grid Integration Systems program (SEGIS),” $250,000, 2008-2009.
18. PI: US Department of Agriculture, SBIR FY2007 Phase II Grant, “Power Supply for Remote Unattended Loads,” $350k, 9/2007 – 9/2009.
19. 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.

Awards & Honors

• 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 Activities

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
• Chair, Mentorship Committee, 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)

Teaching

Courses

• ENGR 111 – Foundations of Engineering
• ECEN 214 – Electric Circuits
• ECEN 215 – Principles of Electrical Engineering
• ECEN 438 – Power Electronics
• ECEN 489 – Photovoltaic Energy Systems
• ECEN 613 – Inverters and Rectifiers
• ECEN 689 – Power Electronics for Renewable Energy Sources
• ECEN 712 – Power Electronics for Renewable Energy Sources

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