Winston Chung Global Energy Center Inaugural Conference

In this inaugural conference, the organizers planned technical discussions inclusive of faculty, researchers, regulators, technology developers, community leaders, and utility/ISO experts on the newest of technologies and applications of energy storage. Read more

WCGEC Hosts the Inaugural Energy Storage Technologies and Applications Conference on April 13, 2018

The conference will provide a forum for faculty, researchers, practitioners, regulators, technology developers, community leaders and utility companies to share the latest advances and future opportunities for energy storage and applications in power systems. Visit the Events page

WCGEC Welcomes two New Core Faculty Members

Hossein Akhavan Hejazi- Dr. Akhavan-Hejazi received the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2011, and his Ph.D.  in electrical engineering from the University of California, Riverside, USA, in 2016. His research interests include optimization and stochastic analysis in electric power systems, power system operations, market analysis, operation management and modeling of distributed energy resources, and big data applications in power systems.

Hamidreza Nazaripouya- Dr. Nazaripouya received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Tehran in 2007, the M.S. degree in power electronics from the Sharif University of Technology in 2010, and the M.S. degree in power systems from Louisiana State University in 2013. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Smart Grid Energy Research Center (SMERC). His patented technology won the $50,000 grant award with him as the entrepreneurial lead  to investigate the commercialization of the technology. He has worked for Entergy Corporation, owner and operator of power plants with approximately 30,000 MW of electric generating capacity. His research interests include control and integration of DERs, application of power electronics in power system, micro-grid technologies, Electric Vehicles and battery energy storage systems. Dr. Nazaripouya has received several honors and awards, including IEEE SFV Section Rookie of the Year Award, IEEE IAS and PES Presentation Awards, and the UC Dissertation-Year Fellowship Award.

UC Riverside-Led Team Receives $3.2 Million Award to Improve Solar Power Integraton

Hamed Mohsenian-Rad, an associate professor of electrical engineering and the associate director of Winston Chung Global Energy Center, has been awarded $3.2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy to lead a team of researchers who are working to improve the way customer-generated solar power is integrated onto the grid. Read More

WCGEC Welcomes new Affiliated Faculty Members

Chan Seung Park-Chan Seung Park earned his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from Seoul National University in Korea. Previously, he worked for a refinery in Korea developing various renewable energy conversion processes such as steam reforming of natural gas, energy storage device and Selectively Catalytic Reduction (SCR) process. He was a Principal Research Scientist for SK Corporation's Research Laboratory in the Taedok Institute of Technology in Korea. Dr. Park has designed and developed electronic control systems for real-time soot measurement in diesel particulate traps. Also he has researched zinc-bromine and sodium sulfur battery technologies, amorphous silicon solar cell manufacturing, and fuel reformer technologies for industry in Korea. Since joining UCR in 1998, he has established a Gasification Research Laboratory to investigate the steam pyrolysis and hydro-gasification of candidate carbonaceous waste materials. He is also the principal technical contributor to the UC intellectual property associated with the Steam Hydrogasification Reaction process. His research interests include real-time monitoring of chemical species involved in high-temperature and high-pressure reaction with Residual Gas Analyzer and developing the hydrogen gas sensor for the chemical process. Recently he developed the fuel quality sensor by predictive measurement technology using Artificial Neural Network.

 Roya Bahreini-Dr. Bahreini, Associate Professor of Atmospheric Science in the Environmental Sciences Department, received her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from University of Maryland- College Park (1999) and Ph.D. in Environmental Science and Engineering from California Institute of Technology (2005). Before joining UCR, she was a research scientist at CIRES- University of Colorado and NOAA ESRL-CSD. Her research involves airborne, ground-based, and laboratory measurements of aerosol composition and microphysical properties to improve understanding of aerosol formation pathways and aerosol impacts on air quality and climate. She is one of the pioneers in using an aerosol mass spectrometer in field projects, especially on aircrafts (e.g., projects aboard the NAVY CIRPAS Twin Otter, NOAA WP-3D, and NSF C-130). To date, she has written or coauthored more than 60 papers. She is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award (2015) to investigate optical characteristics of laboratory-generated secondary organic aerosol. She was among the Highly Cited Researchers and named one of the World's Most Influential Scientific Minds in 2014 by Thomson Reuters. She was a recipient of the CO-LABS Governor's Award for High-Impact Research (2012) and University of Colorado- CIRES Outstanding Performance Award in Science and Engineering (2011) for her collaborative work on air pollution characteristics of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010. 

Fabio Pasqualetti-Dr. Pasqualetti is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California Riverside. He was a Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He completed a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara, in 2012, a Laurea Magistrale degree (M.S. equivalent) in Automation Engineering at the University of Pisa, Italy in 2007, and a Laurea degree (B.S. equivalent) in Computer Engineering at the University of Pisa, Italy in 2004. His work focuses on cooperative estimation and control over networks, cyber-physical security, coordinated robotics, controllability of complex networks, and network neuroscience. Among other awards, he has received an ARO Young Investigator Program Award in 2017 and the 2016 IEEE Transactions on Control of Network Systems Outstanding Paper Award.

Chengyu Song- Dr. Song is an assistant professor in the department of Computer Science and Engineering at UC Riverside. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from Georgia Tech. Dr. Song’s  research interests include system security, program analysis and verification, and operating systems. Currently he's focusing on two areas: eliminating memory corruption vulnerabilities from commodity OS kernels and automated exploit generation.

New Open Faculty Position - Power & Energy Systems

The Winston Chung Global Energy Center seeks an Assistant Professional Researcher, in the area of power and energy systems. This position is part of a growing community of researchers and industry partners to address the broad area of energy research at WCGEC and the UCR Bourns College of Engineering. Read More

UCR Awarded $2.1M from CEC to Enhance Solar Power Integration

Winston Chung Global Energy Center (WCGEC), in collaboration with Southern California Research Initiative for Solar Energy (SC-RISE) and the Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), have won a $2.1M grant from California Energy Commission (CEC) Solar+ program. The project team includes Dr. Alfredo Martinez-Morales (PI), Dr. Hamed Mohsenian-Rad, Dr. Sadrul Ula, and Dr. Matthew Barth. The project is entitled Advanced Integrated Building Energy Management Technology Demonstration in a Permanent Supportive Housing Facility. The project will enhance how solar panel generation units can be integrated at high penetration rates at electric power distribution feeders in California.

UCR Awarded $650K from CEC to Develop Internet-of-Things for Energy Efficiency

Associate Professor Hamed Mohsenian-Rad (PI) and Dr. Alfredo Martinez-Morales, won a $650K award from the California Energy Commission (CEC) to design, optimize, and demonstrate new technologies to improve building energy efficiency using an Internet-of-Things (IoT), formed by a network of advanced sensors, actuators, and wireless communications devices. Read More

UC Riverside Conference to Focus on Solar Energy

The latest breakthroughs and how they can be leveraged in the Inland Empire will be discussed at UC Riverside’s third annual solar conference, “Solar Energy Directions for Inland Southern California: Where is it Going?,” which is set for 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 23 at the Bourns Technology Center, 1200 Columbia Ave., Riverside, 92507. Read More

Distinguished Professor Reza Abbaschian Named Honorary AIME Member

The Minerals, Metals, and Materials Society (TMS), with approval from the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineering (AIME) Board, has selected Distinguished Professor Reza Abbaschian as an honorary member of AIME. Read More

New Technology Will Cut Plug-in Hybrid Fuel Consumption by One Third

Engineers at the University of California, Riverside have taken inspiration from biological evolution and the energy savings garnered by birds flying in formation to improve the efficiency of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) by more than 30 percent. Read More

UC Riverside Awarded $3.2 Million to Develop Innovative Smart Buses

Matthew Barth, a professor of engineering in UC Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering and director of the university’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), and his team have been awarded $2.8 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to improve the efficiency of plug-in hybrid electric buses. Read More

Next Generation Anode to Improve Lithium-ion Batteries

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside have created a new silicon-tin nanocomposite anode that could lead to lithium-ion batteries that can be charged and discharged more times before they reach the end of their useful lives. Read More

Professor Myung’s Research Featured in “Chemical Engineering News” Magazine

A research study led by Nosang V. Myung, professor and department chair of chemical and environmental engineering in UCR’s Bourns College of Engineering has been named one of the “Top 10 Sustainable Chemistry Papers” in the June 6 edition of Chemical and Engineering News, which is published by the American Chemical Society. Read More

UCR Researchers Awarded $1.3 million from USDA for Green Energy Research

Charles Wyman, Distinguished Professor in Chemical and Environmental Engineering and holder of the Ford Motor Company Chair in Environmental Engineering at the Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CE-CERT), and Charles Cai, Research Engineer at CE-CERT and Adjunct Assistant Professor, both at the University of California, Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering, have received a $1,297,725 award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that will fund research on developing commercially-viable processes to create biofuels and chemicals from waste plant materials. Read More

UCR Engineering Professors Awarded Funding from NSF CAREER Program

Four professors at the University of California, Riverside’s Bourns College of Engineering have embarked on a five-year mission to create knowledge and develop new technologies, thanks to support from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Directorate for Engineering. Read More