Abhiroop (Abhi) Chattopadhyay, P.E., is a Ph.D. student in the department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.
He is interested in the applicability of microgrids to serve the energy needs in communities where the traditional electrical grid is lacking. He is interested in understanding the socio-economic influences that can help more communities across the world utilize renewable energy. His work focuses on developing approaches to optimize the design of solar microgrid systems contextually, merging the technical design process with ethnography-based investigation methods for needs assessment.
Before joining the Contextual Engineering Research Group, he was a graduate research assistant at the Information Trust Institute, where his research focused on the development of cyber-threat detection and mitigation methods in large-scale power systems.
Abhi began his involvement with international engineering projects during his undergraduate days at Illinois Tech, and has continued his involvement ever since.
Before returning to academia for his M.S. degree, Abhi worked in the water and wastewater engineering consulting industry as a design electrical engineer. He also served as a prototyping engineer at a couple of startups and was a technical advisor for prototyping at another.
Journal Publications:
Chattopadhyay, A. -P. Witmer and P. W. Sauer, “The Need for Teaching Place-Based Contextualization for Sustainable Power System Infrastructure Design”, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, [accepted], doi: 10.1109/TPWRS.2021.3072069.
Chattopadhyay,and B. Kaufman, “Archimedean Principles and Mathematical Heritage: A Synthesis”, Axiomathes, vol.31, no. 2, pp. 145-155, 2021.
Shenai, and A. Chattopadhyay, “Optimization of High-Voltage Wide Bandgap Semiconductor Power Diodes”, IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices, vol. 62, no, 2, pp. 359-365, 2015
Conference Publications:
Chattopadhyay, A.-P. Witmer and P. W. Sauer, “Contextual Challenges in Using DERs to Advance Rural Electrification”, Accepted at the 55th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS), 2022.
Chattopadhyay, A. Valdes, P. W. Sauer, and R. Nuqui, “A Localized Cyber Threat Mitigation Approach for Wide Area Control of FACTS”, Accepted at IEEE SmartGridComm, 2021.
Chattopadhyay, A. Valdes, P. W. Sauer, and R. Nuqui, “A Cyber Threat Mitigation Approach for Wide Area Control of SVCs using Stability Monitoring”, 2021 IEEE MadridPowerTech, 2021.(Recipient of the Basil Papadias Student Paper Award).
Chattopadhyay, S. Dasgupta, R. Macwan, A. Valdes, G. Gross, P. W. Sauer, and R.Nuqui, “Fast, Approximate State Estimation-Based Approach for Cyber Threat Detection in Power Systems”, 53rd Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, 2020
Education
• B.S. in Electrical Engineering, summa cum laude, Illinois Institute of Technology, 2014
• M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 2020
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Schedule 1: Survey Reporting and Deliverables Description
OTM Technology No. 2017-194, titled "Diagnostic Tool for Engineering
Effectiveness in Rural International Societies".
Creator: Ann-Perry Witmer
Brief Description:
The Survey provides a list of 41 questions (rated on 5-point Likert scales)
to evaluate relative influences of critical non-engineering conditions and
guidelines for selection/implementation of technologies within a rural
society. The Survey identifies design and implementation strategies that
enhance engineered infrastructure sustainability and durability.
"Survey Report":
The following information is provided in the Report.
RESULTS
Influence
Community Score
Country Weight
Weighted Score
Cultural
Political
Educational
Technical
Economic
· Column 1 lists the five community influences most likely to affect
design, implementation and acceptance of an engineered infrastructure.
· Column 2 shows the raw scores of each influence for the community, based
upon scores You provided after observing Your client.
· Column 3 draws upon open and free data from World Bank database of World
Development Indicators. Where data are lacking for Your country, those
absences are not included in calculations. Religious composition is
evaluated using open and free Pew Research Center data.
· Column 4 provides a weighted, relative influence score for Your client
community, factoring in national norms to identify the conditions that most
strongly govern your client's approach to an engineered infrastructure.
The following information is also provided: Guidelines for interpreting the
high and low scores of the contextual influences, and Guidelines as to how
to approach the design of the engineering infrastructure.
