Chao LEI
Ph.D, Research Fellow, Senior Member of IEEE
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Email: chaolei@ece.ubc.ca
Hi There, Welcome!
I am currently a research fellow working with Prof. Y. Christine Chen at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) from The University of British Columbia (UBC). My research focus centers around Advanced Optimization for Power System Flexibility, Cyber-Physical System Security and Privacy Protection towards the affordable, reliable and sustainable goal for the clean energy future. Previously, I received the PhD degree at the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE) from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), where I was very fortunately advised by Prof. Siqi Bu , Prof. C. Y. Chung and Prof. Chin-shin Edward Chung together. During PhD study, I was a visiting student at National University of Singapore (NUS) under the supervision of Prof. Dipti Srinivasan.
I serve as associate editors for the Protection and Control of Modern Power Systems (PCMP), IEEE Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Smart Energy Systems, and guest editors for Frontiers in Smart Grids and Energy Engineering. I have recently received Best Paper Award from IEEE PESGM in Austin and a Gold Medal from the 49th The International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva in Switzerland. To date, I have published over 20 papers in top IEEE transactions and international conferences (including 7 IEEE trans. with first authorship), authored 1 academic book Load Transfer Optimization of Smart Distribution Networks in China Electric Power Press, contributed 2 book chapters for an academic book Power and Energy Resources: Modelling and Optimization in Springer Nature, and been granted 6 patents in China and Hong Kong. Please see Google Scholar, ORCID and Web of Science for details.
News
- 2025.07: 🎉🎉 I have been approved as a Senior Member of IEEE and PES.
- 2025.07: 🎉🎉 Our paper ‘Optimal Ship-to-Grid Dispatch Considering Battery Thermal and Voltage Electrochemical-Thermal-Coupled Constraints’ has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid. [Link]
- 2025.07: 🎉🎉 I have been nominated as an Associate Editor for Protection and Control of Modern Power Systems (PCMP). [Link]
- 2025.06: 🎉🎉 I have been nominated as an Editor for Smart Energy Systems. [Link]
- 2025.06: 🎉🎉 Our conference paper to IEEE PES International Meeting 2026 in Hong Kong, with the title ‘A Differentially Private Reconfiguration Approach for Multi-Agent Distribution Networks’ has been submitted. [Link]
- 2025.06: 🎉🎉 I serve as a Guest Editor for Energy Engineering with a special issue ‘Operation and Control of Grid-connected New Energy and Emerging Loads’. [Link]
- 2025.06: 🎉🎉 I have been nominated as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Canadian Journal of Electrical and Computer Engineering (IEEE CJECE). [Link]
- 2025.05: 🎉🎉 Our book chapter ‘Chapter 3: Economic Dispatch of Wind and Thermal Bundled Power Systems’ has been published in Power and Energy Resources: Modelling and Optimization by Springer Nature in 2025. [Link]
- 2025.05: 🎉🎉 Our book chapter ‘Chapter 9: Distribution Network Reconfiguration’ has been published in Power and Energy Resources: Modelling and Optimization by Springer Nature in 2025. [Link]
- 2025.04: 🎉🎉 Our book ‘Load Transfer Optimization of Smart Distribution Networks’ has been published by China Electric Power Press in 2025. [Link]
- 2025.03: 🎉🎉 Our paper ‘Load Transfer Optimization with Graph Characterizations on Multiple Time-Scales for Multi-Voltage Distribution Networks Against Overload Cascades’ has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery. [Link]
- 2025.03: 🎉🎉 Our conference paper to PES General Meeting 2025 in Austin, Texas, with the title ‘Battery Dispatch Optimization for Electric Vehicle Aggregators: A Decentralized Mixed-Integer Least-Squares Approach with Disjunctive Cuts’ has been accepted.
- 2025.01: 🎉🎉 Our paper ‘Model-Data-Driven Approach for Achieving Decoupled Power Flow and Its Application in Asymmetric Bipolar DC Distribution Networks’ has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications. [Link]
- 2025.01: 🎉🎉 Our paper ‘Real-time Multi-stability Risk Assessment and Visualization of Power Systems: A Graph Neural Network-based Method’ has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Power System. [Link]
- 2024.09: 🎉🎉 Our paper ‘Decentralized Optimal Power Flow for Multi-Agent Active Distribution Networks: A Differentially Private Consensus ADMM Algorithm’ has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid. [Link]
- 2023.11: 🎉🎉 Our paper ‘Observability Defense-Constrained Distribution Network Reconfiguration for Cyber-Physical Security Enhancement’ has been accepted by IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid. [Link]
Research and Services
Research Highlights with Representative Publications and Patents
Research Groups
Journal Reviewer (Selected)
- IEEE Trans. on Power Systems(TPWRS)
- IEEE Trans. on Smart Grid(TSG)
- IEEE Trans. on Sustainable Energy(TSTE)
- IEEE Trans. on Energy Markets, Policy and Regulation(TEMPR)
- IEEE Trans. on Industrial Applications(TIA)
- IEEE Trans. on Consumer Electronics(TCE)
- IEEE PES Power Engineering Letters(PESL)
- IEEE Open Access Journal of Power and Energy(OAJPE)
- Protection and Control of Modern Power Systems(MPCE)
- International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems(IJEPES)
- CSEE Journal of Power and Energy Systems
- Energy System
- Journal of Solar Energy
- IET Renewable Power Generation
- Energy Conversion and Economics
- Journal of Energy Engineering
Expertise in Computer Skills
- Experience in applying optimization packages
- Experience in using AI/ML frameworks (e.g., PyTorch, Neural ODE, Input Convex Neural Network, Fully Monotonic Neural Networks, Lipschitz Neural Networks)
- Experience in performing finite element simulation for battery packs
- Effective writing skills with typesetting software
Download
useful slides for talks/workshops