Thomas Overbye

Biography

Tom Overbye, O’Donnell Foundation Chair III is professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University,  and director of the TEES Smart Grid Center. He received his BSEE (’83), MSEE (’88) and Ph.D. (’91) all from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at University of Wisconsin-Madison.

A former Fox Family Professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, he has a wealth of industry experience. Dr. Overbye’s is the original developer of the PowerWorld software and co-founder of PowerWorld Corporation. Prior to PowerWorld, Dr. Overbye spent time at the Madison Gas and Electric Company (’83-’91). Dr. Overbye was also one of the principal DOE investigators following the August 14, 2003, U.S. blackout.

 

 

Education

  • Ph.D. Electrical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, 1991
  • M.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, 1988
  • B.S. Electrical Engineering, University of Wisconsin, 1983

Research Interests

  • Power Systems Operation and Control
  • Power System Stability
  • Power System Analysis by Computer Methods
  • Power System Visualization
  • Renewable Electric Energy Systems
  • Smart Grid Cyber Security
  • Power System Geomagnetic Disturbance Modeling and EMP

Professional Societies

  1. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Fellow
  2. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, Track Co-Chair, 2009-present
  3. Society memberships: Power Engineering (PES), 1983-present, member of several committees, subcommittees and working groups; Computer Society, 1999-present
  4. National Science Foundation-Proposal reviews, 1994 – present
  5. Electric Power Components and Systems Journal, Editorial Board, 2002 – 2015
  6. IREP – Bulk Power Systems Dynamics and Control – VII Symposium, Organizing Committee, 2007, 2013
  7. 16th Power Systems Computation Conference (PSCC) Technical Committee, 2007-2008
  8. Chair, Power Engineering Education Research Subcommittee, 2005-2007
  9. Chair, IEEE PES Software Engineering Working Group, 2004-2006
  10. Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences Mini-track Chair, 2000-2003, 2004-2005
  11. 15th Power Systems Computation Conference (PSCC) Technical Committee, 2004-2005
  12. Vice Chair, Power Engineering Education Research Subcommittee, 2003-2005
  13. Chair, IEEE PES Walter Fee Award Committee, 2001-2005
  14. Secretary, Power Engineering Education Research Subcommittee, 2001-2003
  15. Sigma Xi Distinguished Lecturer, 2001-2003
  16. 14th Power Systems Computation Conference (PSCC) Technical Committee, 2001-2002
  17. IEEE Central Illinois Section Treasurer, 1992-1998

Federal and State

  1. U.S. Department of Energy Power Outage Study Team, Fall 1999. Investigated utility outages in the Mid-Atlantic and New England areas as part of a team formed by the U.S. Secretary of Energy.
  2. NERC Geomagnetic Disturbance Task Force, 2012-2015
  3. NERC Climate Change Task Force, 2009-2010
  4. Led on-site investigation team for U.S. Department of Energy August 14th 2003 Blackout Investigation, Fall 2003.
  5. U.S. Department of Energy National Transmission Grid Study, co-authored one of six issues paper and participated in development of final report, 2001-2002
  6. Testified before Illinois General Assembly Electric Utility Deregulation Committee, March 2001
  7. 2001 Governor’s Conference on Energy and the Illinois Environment, Planning Committee

Scholarly Activities

  1. Member, US National Academies Study on Enhancing the Robustness of the Nation’s Electric Power Transmission and Distribution (T&D) System, 2016-2018
  2. Chair, US National Academies Study on the Next Generation Grid, 2013-2016

Conferences Organized or Chaired

  1. Texas Power and Energy Conference, Faculty Advisor, 2017 to present
  2. Organizer of Power System Visualization Workshop, Hosted at TVA, Chattanooga, TN, March 28, 2007
  3. Organizer of SuperGrid II Workshop, Urbana, IL, October 25-27, 2004
  4. Member of organizing committee for the National Academy of Engineering 2003 Japan-America Frontiers of Engineering Symposium (JAFOE), Irvine, CA, November 20-22, 2003
  5. Organizer of National Energy Supergrid Workshop, Palo Alto, CA, November 6-8, 2002