As a 2023-24 CEI Distinguished Postdoctoral Fellow, Ma worked with electrical & computer engineering professor Baosen Zhang to develop machine learning-based, safety-critical controls for renewable energy-dominated microgrids.
Ma’s research has been published widely in top power systems journals, such as IEEE Transactions on Power Systems and IEEE Transactions on Smart Grids, including seven first-author papers. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical & Computer Engineering at Iowa State University in spring 2023. At Iowa State, Ma led several innovative studies in power system dynamics and control, including four projects funded by the Power Systems Engineering Research Center and the Department of Energy totaling more than $2 million in funding, and contributed significantly to proposals funded by the Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. He has also served on IEEE’s Measurement & Verification Task Force for conservation voltage reduction (CVR), developing the IEEE P3102 standard for utilities as they deploy automated or otherwise advanced grid technologies to dynamically manage customers’ demands for power and improve overall efficiencies. Through these research activities, Ma maintains connections with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, Cornell University, American Energy Power, Siemens, and Commonwealth Edison.