Qing-Chang Zhong

Qing-Chang Zhong, an IEEE Fellow and an IET Fellow, holds the Max McGraw Endowed Chair Professor in Energy and Power Engineering and Management at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA and is the Founder & CEO of Syndem LLC, Chicago, USA. He was educated at Imperial College London (PhD, 2004, awarded the Best Doctoral Thesis Prize), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (PhD, 2000), Hunan University (MSc, 1997), and Hunan Institute of Engineering (Diploma, 1990).

He served as a Distinguished Lecturer for IEEE Power Electronics Society, IEEE Control Systems Society, and IEEE Power and Energy Society. He (co-)authored four research monographs: Control of Power Inverters in Renewable Energy and Smart Grid Integration (Wiley-IEEE Press, 2013), Control of Integral Processes with Dead Time (Springer-Verlag, 2010), Robust Control of Time-Delay Systems (Springer-Verlag, 2006), and Power Electronics-enabled Autonomous Power Systems: Next Generation Smart Grids (Wiley-IEEE Press, 2020). He proposed the SYNDEM grid architecture for the next-generation smart grids based on the synchronization mechanism of synchronous machines, which unifies and harmonizes the interface and interaction of power system players with the grid to achieve autonomous operation without relying on communication networks. This line of research has been featured by IEEE Power Electronics Magazine as a cover story, by Energy News Network as Game Changer for Grid, by IEEE Spectrum as a vision for a harmonious grid, and by IEEE PES Task Force on Primary Frequency Control as the Path to the Future.

He is truly globalized. Before relocating to Chicago, he spent about 14 years in the UK, as Research Associate at Imperial College London, Senior Lecturer at University of Glamorgan and University of Liverpool, Chair Professor in Control Engineering at Loughborough University, and Chair Professor in Control and Systems Engineering at The University of Sheffield, and one year in Israel at Technion -- Israel Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral researcher. He delivered 200+ invited talks in 20+ countries, including delivering a semi-plenary talk on SYNDEM smart grids at the 20th IFAC World Congress, which is the world’s largest conference in control and systems engineering.

He served on the Steering Committee of IEEE Smart Grid and is a Vice-Chair of IFAC TC on Power and Energy Systems. He was a Senior Research Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering/Leverhulme Trust, UK (2009-2010) and the UK Representative to the European Control Association (2013-2015). He served as an Associate Editor for IEEE Trans. on Automatic Control, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, IEEE Trans. on Control Systems Technology, IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics in Power Electronics, IEEE Access, and European Journal of Control. He also served as grant reviewers for funding bodies from USA, UK, China, Singapore, Finland, Kuwait, Italy, Netherlands, Israel and other countries.

His current research focuses on control and systems theory, power electronics, and the seamless integration of both to address fundamental challenges in energy and power systems.

Dr. Zhong's vision is to holistically tackle three global challenges:

1) Climate Change, through large-scale utilization of renewable energy;

2) Grid Stability and Security, through his synchronized and democratized (SYNDEM) grid architecture and technologies; and

3) Energy Freedom, through empowering billions of people with access to low-cost clean electricity.

Here is a version written by Keith Schneider, a New York Times correspondent since 1982.

Zhong did not advance to the uppermost echelons of global energy innovation by privilege of birth or happy accident. Raised in a rural area of Sichuan, China, his family was poor. His prospects for attending a university were slim. For this reason, his family sent him to a technical secondary school in Xiangtan instead of high school. Having his trajectory pointed in that direction for him, his chances of getting a college education were practically zero.

During the technical school, though, Zhong excelled and was promoted to attend college-level courses. After graduation, he began his career as a technician. He soon started his first entrepreneurial endeavour by filing for a patent in 1991. Zhong successfully commercialized it --- manufactured and sold 120 units quickly. The invention stirred enough market interest that the radio station of Xiangtan City promoted the product for one month for free.

Zhong realized that he could achieve even more than he thought and developed these six words as his mantra. Control yourself. Challenge yourself. Excel yourself.

In 1994, Zhong returned to university to study for a Masters degree. One of the entrance requirements was passing a national exam that included knowledge of English. His first foreign language was Japanese, so learning English was nearly Mission Impossible. He tried unsuccessfully to find an English tutor, but in the end he taught himself. He mastered the language portion and was admitted to Hunan University, the best institution of higher learning in the province, with the highest total score among all applicants to the university that year.

In 1997, Zhong temporarily left his wife, Sue, and his one-year old daughter in Hunan and went to Shanghai to earn a PhD degree. After receiving his doctorate in 2000, Dr. Zhong went to Israel for a postdoctoral position. This time, he was accompanied by his family.

After completing the contract in Israel, the Zhongs moved to England to accept an offer at Imperial College London for a second postdoctoral position. Dr. Zhong envisioned to become a full professor in 10 years. In order to accomplish that goal he studied at night for a second PhD degree while working as a postdoctoral researcher by day. Nine years later, Dr. Zhong was appointed to Chair Professor in Control Engineering at Loughborough University.

Just as important is what occurred two years ago. He made a breakthrough in his research and invented the synchronverter, the first-generation virtual synchronous machine. He knew this was revolutionary. While advancing the research, including building a $5 million lab at The University of Sheffield, he started exploring various ways for commercialization.

Dr. Zhong eventually realized that the best prospects for this lay across the ocean and launched the Go Global initiative. After nearly 14 years of work in the UK, he decided to move one more time, this time to the U.S. He was recruited to Chicago, a global hub, where he assumed Max McGraw Endowed Chair Professor in Power and Energy Engineering and Management at Illinois Institute of Technology.

After settling down, Dr. Zhong founded Syndem LLC in 2017. The company focuses on developing virtual synchronous machines to accelerate large-scale adoption of distributed energy resources and to make power systems autonomous without relying on communication networks. Within one year, he led his team to several achievements. Dr. Zhong accomplished the rare -- almost impossible -- task of leading his team to nearly break even in their first year while launching two products and securing contracted revenue for another year of operation.

Zhong lives in a Chicago suburb with Sue, herself an engineer, and their two daughters. Sue is a collaborating partner and engineer in Syndem. The older of their two daughters, Rui, now works for a top investment bank in the green technology sector and an accomplished visual artist. The younger, Lisa, is an energetic reader, dancer, and gymnast, eagerly awaiting attending high school in the U.S. She read over 800 books in 2018.