Innovation in Power, Control, and Optimization

Developing a system that can cope with variations of system or control parameters, measurement uncertainty, and complex, multi-objective optimization criteria is a frequent problem in engineering systems design. The need for a priori knowledge and the inability to learn from past experience make the design of robust, adaptive, and stable systems a difficult task. Innovation in Power, Control, and Optimization: Emerging Energy Technologies unites research on the development of techniques and methodologies to improve the performance of power systems, energy planning and environments, controllers and robotics, operation research, and modern artificial computational intelligent techniques. Containing research on power engineering, control systems, and methods of optimization, this book is written for professionals who want to improve their understanding of strategic developments in the area of power, control, and optimization.

Pandian Vasant was born in Sungai Petani, Malaysia in 1961. Currently, he is a Senior Lecturer of Engineering Mathematics for Electrical & Electronics Engineering Program and Fundamental & Applied Sciences Department at University Teknologi Petornas in Tronoh, Perak, Malaysia. He graduated in 1986 from the University of Malaya (MY) in Kuala Lumpur, obtaining his BSc Degree with Honors in Mathematics, and in 1988 also obtained a Diploma in English for Business from Cambridge Tutorial College, England. In 2002 he obtained his MSc in Engineering Mathematics from the School of Engineering & Information Technology of University of Malaysia Sabah, Malaysia, and has earned a Doctoral Degree (2008) from University Putra Malaysia in Malaysia. After graduation, during 1987-88 he was a Tutor in operational research at University Science Malaysia in Alor Setar, Kedah and during from 1989-95 he was teacher of Engineering Mathematics at the same university but with Engineering Campus at Tronoh, Perak. From 1996-2003 he became a lecturer in Advanced Calculus and Engineering Mathematics at Mara University of Technology, in Kota Kinabalu. He became Senior Lecturer of Engineering Mathematics in American Degree Program at Nilai International College, Nilai (MY), during 2003-2004 before taking his present position at University Teknologi Petronas in Tronoh. His main research interests are in the areas of optimization methods and applications to decision making and industrial engineering, fuzzy optimization, computational intelligence, and hybrid soft computing. Vasant has published seven articles in national journals and another 50 in international journals and book chapters, and more than 80 in international and national conference proceedings. He has been serving on TC-9.3 (Developing Countries) as a group initiator and Vice Chair for Asia from 2004-2011.

Nader Barsoum obtained his PhD from University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK, 1989 in Eclectic Machines and Drives and his first three degrees from Alexandria University, Egypt in Power Engineering 1976, Applied Mathematics 1979 and Engineering Mathematics 1983. He has academically jointed University Sains Malaysia, University Malaysia Sabah, University of Western Sydney and Curtin University of Technology in the past 20 years. He obtained School Research and Developments Excellence Award 2010, Highest Research Performance Incentive Award 2010, Best Researcher Award 2009, ANAK Sarawak Award 2009 and University Encouragement Award 1992. He completed several funded projects such as: Implementation of an Optimal Energy Saving System with solar tracker 2010, Development of Smart Drive Build in AC Motors for Optimal Operations 2010, Investigation of Electrical Properties of Palm Oil Using Kerr-effect Technique 2009, Hardware design of body sensor device 2008, Low cost hydrogen fuel cell for hybrid renewable energy system 2006 and Simulation of Micro-Controller for Induction Motor Drive 1995. Besides supervising many Master and PhD degrees, he selected several times as an external examiner and published over 86 papers in both international scientific journals and conferences. He is the President of Malaysian Solar Energy Society since 2010, Editor In Chief of the Global Journal Of Technology and Optimization since 2010, General Chairman of an Annual Global Conference on Power Control and Optimization since 2008 and Guest Editor of the International Journal Of Computers & Mathematics With Applications.

Jeffrey F. Webb has a Ph.D. degree in photothermal physics from Strathclyde University, Scotland, U.K. He is now an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering, Computing and Science, Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak (Malaysia). His research experience is in the areas of optics, electromagnetic waves, ferroelectric materials and nanoelectronics.