Speakers 2023
Speakers 2023
Keynote Speaker I
Prof. Patrick Luk
Cranfield University, UK
Biography Sketch: Patrick Chi-Kwong Luk is Full (Chair) Professor in Electrical Engineering and Head of Electric Power and Devices Group at Cranfield University, U.K. He has been the principal investigator for the successful delivery of a number of EU and UK-government funded strategic projects in grid-connected electric vehicles and electric machines. At Cranfield, he is responsible for providing academic leadership and strategic direction for More Electric Technologies across the University’s different disciplines, including energy, automotive, aerospace and water. He is a member of the university’s £9M ‘Multi User Environment for Autonomous Vehicle Innovation’ UK government funded initiative to develop green mobile technologies built on a ‘smart’ road across the university’s campus. Most recently, he has started to lead a UK ‘first’ Green Airport programme, using Cranfield’s own airport as the research platform.
A Distinguished Lecturer for the IEEE Vehicular Technology Society (2018-2022), Prof Luk has been a dedicated volunteer in research communities, including as a chairman/vice-chairman in IEEE UK Power Electronics Chapter (2007-17), and Asso. Editor in IEEE Transactions in Power Electronics (2010-2018). He has held technical advisory roles to blue-chip companies including Mitsubishi Electric UK, Lotus Engineering, Ministry of Defence UK, BAE Systems, and Lockheed Martin U.K. He is the co-holder of 10 GB/US patents and applications on electric drives, and has over 300 publications and several book chapters in electric machines and power electronics. He received his BSc degree from Hong Kong Polytechnic University, MPhil degree from Sheffield University and Ph.D degree from University of South Wales, Cardiff, UK., and is a Senior Member of IEEE and a Fellow of Higher Education Academy UK.
Speech Title: A Pathway to Net-Zero Airports and Aviation by 2050
Abstract: For the past decade, Europe's FlightPath 2050 has set the agenda for creating a pathway to a green and sustainable aviation industry. This ambition has been echoed worldwide, including in the UK's Jet Zero initiative. This keynote will address the agenda by confronting aviation's pressing challenges, such as the anticipated surge in air traffic in the coming decades, the integration of renewable energy into airport infrastructures, and the pivotal leadership role that aviation must assume in the race to net-zero emissions. The speech will highlight Cranfield's strategic contributions, drawing on the university's innovative research and educational strengths in digital aviation, and showcasing pioneering work in electric taxiing, aircraft electrification, and the recent development of a green airport ecosystem powered by a fully electrified ground transport system and a renewable energy-driven microgrid. Transitioning from the recognition of challenges to the demonstration of viable solutions, the address will conclude with a compelling call to action: the next generation of researchers and industry stakeholders must embrace creativity and collaborative innovation to meet the pressing demands of a net-zero future, thereby securing a sustainably growing economy and a healthier planet as the ultimate rewards.
Keynote Speaker II
Prof. Xinghuo Yu
RMIT University, Australia
Biography Sketch: Xinghuo Yu is an Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor, a Vice-Chancellor’s Professorial Fellow, and a Distinguished Professor at RMIT University (Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology), Melbourne, Australia. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, an Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia, and a Fellow of the IEEE, Australian Computer Society, and Australian Institute of Company Directors. He was the President of IEEE Industrial Electronics Society in 2018 and 2019.
He received BEng and MEng degrees from the University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China, in 1982 and 1984, and PhD degree from Southeast University, Nanjing, China in 1988, respectively. His main research areas include control systems, intelligent and complex systems, and power and energy systems. He received many awards and honours for his contributions, including 2018 MA Sargent Medal from Engineers Australia, 2018 Australasian AI Distinguished Research Contribution Award from Australian Computer Society, and 2013 Dr.-Ing. Eugene Mittelmann Achievement Award from IEEE Industrial Electronics Society. He has been a Clarivate's Highly Cited Researcher in Engineering since 2015.
Speech Title: AI-Empowered Cyber-Physical Systems Technology for Future Energy Systems
Abstract: Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) represent a broad range of complex, physically aware engineered systems which integrate information and communication technologies (ICT) into physical systems for their automation, control, planning and management. Artificial Intelligence (AI) as an intelligent systems technology has a big role to play to make CPS more efficient and effective. The recent advances in CPS and AI have provided a powerful platform technology for building Future Energy Systems (FES) to deal with demands for deeper control, increased cross connectivity, embedded generation, smart metering and information exchange to embrace a clean energy future. On the other hand, FES will present enormous technical challenges for CPS and AI to address as well.
In this talk, we will first review recent developments in CPS and AI and their applications in FES. We will then examine emerging technical issues associated with synergetic interplay between CPS and AI for FES. We will also touch on potential new thinking paradigms beyond the current CPS and AI technologies to deal with spatial and temporal complexity arising from FES, speculating innovative methodologies inspired by the Nature for a clean energy future. Several real-world problems we have addressed will be used as case studies to inform the discussions.