Ali Abur

Professor,  Electrical and Computer Engineering
Northeastern Director,  CURENT

Contact

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Office

  • 416 Dana Research Center
  • 617.373.3051

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Research Focus

Power system monitoring, estimation and optimization, fault location and identification in power grids

About

Ali Abur obtained his B.S. degree from Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi, Ankara, Turkey and both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the Ohio State University. He was a Professor at Texas A&M University until November 2005 when he joined the faculty of Northeastern University as a Professor and Chair of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. His research and educational activities have been in the area of power systems. He is a Fellow of the IEEE for his work on power system state estimation and IEEE PES Distinguished Speaker. He is the 2014 recipient of the IEEE Power & Energy Society Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award. He co-authored a book and published widely in IEEE journals and conferences.

Education

  • B.S, Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi, Ankara, Turkey, 1979.
  • M.S., The Ohio State University, 1981.
  • PhD, The Ohio State University, 1985.
  • Joined Northeastern in 2005.

Honors & Awards

  • Member of the National Academy of Engineering (2023)
  • IEEE Power & Energy Society Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award (2014)
  • IEEE PES Boston Chapter Outstanding Engineering Award (2014)
  • Elected Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (2003)
  • American Electric Power Faculty Fellow, Texas A&M University (2003)
  • National Science Foundation, Research Initiation Award (1989)

Leadership Positions

  • Department Chair, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, Northeastern University, Boston (2005 – 2013 )

Research Overview

Power system monitoring, estimation and optimization, fault location and identification in power grids

Selected Research Projects

Department Research Areas

Selected Publications

  • Khalili, R., and Abur, A., “Transmission Line Parameter Error Identification and Estimation in Three-phase Networks,” IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, (Early Access), 2022.
  • Donmez, B. and Abur, A., “Static state estimation without topology processor,” IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 4712–4722, 2021.
  • Khalili, R., and Abur, A., “PMU-Based Decoupled State Estimation for Unsymmetrical Power Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 36, no. 6, pp. 5359-5368, Nov. 2021.
  • Oner, A. and Abur, A., “Computationally efficient method for placing reactive power sources against contingencies,” International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems, vol. 133, p. 107253, 2021.
  • Angelos, E. W. S., Abur, A., Asada, E. N. and Saavedra, O. R., “External topology tracking based on state estimation,” IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 2623–2631, 2021.
  • Galvez C. and Abur, A., “Fault location in active distribution networks containing distributed energy resources (DERs),” IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, vol. 36, no. 5, pp. 3128–3139, 2021.
  • Langner, A. and Abur, A., “Formulation of three-phase state estimation problem using a virtual reference,” IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 36, no. 1, pp. 214-223, Jan. 2021.
  • Lin Yuzhang, Abur, A., and Xu, H., “Identifying security vulnerabilities in electricity market operations induced by weakly detectable network parameter errors,” IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics, vol. 17, no. 1, pp. 627–636, 2021.
  • Galvez, C. and Abur, A., “Fault Location in Meshed Distribution Systems Using a Minimum Number of Digital Fault Recorders,” 2021 North American Power Symposium (NAPS), College Station, TX, USA, 2021, pp. 01-06.
  • Khalili, R. and Abur, A., “Three-phase Linear State Estimation Based on SCADA and PMU Measurements,” 2021 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Europe (ISGT Europe), Espoo, Finland, 2021, pp. 01-05.
  • M. Dorier, G. Frigo, A. Abur and M. Paolone, “Leverage Point Identification Method for LAV-Based State Estimation,” IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement, vol. 70, pp. 1-10, 2021, Art no. 1008810.
Ali Abur

Faculty

Feb 28, 2024

Integrating Renewable Energy Sources into Power Grids

ECE Professor Ali Abur was awarded a $350,000 NSF grant for “Robust Transient State Estimation for Three-Phase Power Systems.” The project aims to facilitate the efficient integration of inverter-based (IB) renewable energy sources into future generation of power systems. 

Faculty

Dec 07, 2023

2023 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations

The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2% of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above. The list below includes those […]

Faculty

Feb 07, 2023

Abur Elected as Member of the National Academy of Engineering

ECE Professor Ali Abur was elected as a member of the National Academy of Engineering for contributions to power system state estimation and power engineering education. Election to the National Academy of Engineering is among the highest professional distinctions accorded to an engineer.

Faculty

Nov 02, 2022

2022 Stanford University Annual Assessment of Author Citations

The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2 percent of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above. The list below includes […]

Faculty

Sep 20, 2022

Northeastern in Top 100 Universities with U.S. Utility Patents

For the seventh consecutive year, Northeastern University has appeared in the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) list of Top 100 Universities that were granted U.S. utility patents in 2021, cementing it as a world leader in academia and research.

Ali Abur

Faculty

Aug 18, 2022

Designing Computer Models for Multi-Area Power Grids That Isolate Divergence Anomalies

ECE Professor Ali Abur was awarded a patent for “Computer-implemented methods and systems for avoiding divergence in multi-area power grid state estimation.”

Faculty

Dec 23, 2021

COE Professors Selected in Stanford University List of Top 2% Scientists Worldwide

The following COE professors are among the top scientists worldwide selected by Stanford University representing the top 2 percent of the most-cited scientists with single-year impact in various disciplines. The selection is based on the top 100,000 by c-score (with and without self-citations) or a percentile rank of 2% or above. The list below includes […]

Faculty

Nov 22, 2021

Best Paper Award at IEEE PES ISGT Europe 2021

Ramtin Khalili, PhD’23, electrical engineering, and Professor Ali Abur received the Best Paper Award at the IEEE PES Innovative and Smart Grid Technologies-Europe 2021 conference for their paper titled “Three-phase Linear State Estimation Based on SCADA and PMU Measurements”.

Ali Abur

Faculty

Nov 16, 2021

Managing Power System Network Information

ECE Professor Ali Abur was awarded a patent for creating “Techniques for processing power system network information.”

Ali Abur

Faculty

Aug 10, 2021

Addressing Future Distribution Systems Challenges

ECE Professor Ali Abur was awarded a $380K NSF grant for designing “A Comprehensive Approach to Monitoring Active Distribution Systems.”

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