Team

Kevin Chen, PE

Kevin Chen received his master's degree in Power Systems from the University of Wisconsin, Madison in 2011. He has a proven track record of driving multi-disciplinary teams through a lean, agile-based incubation and implementation process, and managing product development & deployment. He has been engaged in research, design, and implementation on applications of smart grid technology, and utilization of time-series data for grid stability analysis, real-time situational awareness, data mining, asset management, and predictive maintenance. Kevin has worked with large ISOs and utilities on deployment and use of both model-based and data-driven analytical applications for grid reliability and resilience. Kevin served as Principal Investigator and technical advisors for several DOE, WECC funded projects. Kevin Chen is a licensed Professional Engineer in Electrical Engineering in the State of California and a Senior Member of IEEE.

Yi Ding, MLIS

Yi Ding (Ding) is a Certified PBS Media Literacy Educator and a tenure-track faculty librarian with California State University Northridge, where she leads the Library’s Online Instruction Team. She is also the Vice President of Outreach with her neighborhood council, part of the largest civic engagement system in the US. Ding’s teaching, research, and community services all aim to remove barriers to education equity and diversity. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Wesleyan University in 2014 and her Master of Library and Information Science from UCLA in 2017. Previously, she has worked with Oxford University Press, Los Angeles Central Library, National Art Museum of China, and various other cultural institutions in both US and China. She was selected as one of the 50 American Library Association Emerging Leaders in 2020 and one of the 150 delegates of the prestigious Yenching Global Symposium in 2021.

Michael Yu, MBA, CIA, CIG

Michael Yu received his MBA from the University of South Alabama in 1997, and started his career in the field of auditing, enterprise risk management, and fraud prevention and detection. During the past 24 years, he served as a Financial crime analyst, the leading auditor, audit manager, and chief audit executive in various government agencies. Michael has a proven record of managing complex audit projects, developing enterprise risk assessment and management framework, building an effective audit team, and developing and implementing fraud prevention and detection mechanism. He has over 20 years’ experience in conducting performance, compliance, financial, and information technology audits. He is also an expert in enterprise risk management, fraud prevention, and detection. Michael is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), and a Certified Inspector General (CIG). He has been serving as the Director of Audits in a government agency since 2007.

Jiachen Zhang, PhD

Dr. Jiachen Zhang works as Air Resources Engineer in the Mobile Source Analysis Branch at California Air Resources Board. She is responsible for collecting and analyzing data in support of mobile source emissions inventory development in California as well as various programs and policies across the agency.Jiachen earned her PhD in Environmental Engineering from the University of Southern California and her Bachelor’s degree in Atmospheric Sciences from Peking University. Jiachen possesses strong data analysis skills and has published 18 peer-reviewed papers, five as the lead author, in top environmental journals.Beyond her research, Jiachen actively led and organized events to promote technological innovations and environmental protection. Serving on the Board of Directors at PlusYoou, an NPO aiming to build a cross-border entrepreneurial ecosystem, Jiachen hosted the Southern California Innovation Forums and entrepreneurship training workshops. She also promoted public understanding of sustainable development and environmental protection in China through publishing and editing articles on a popular website.

Young Zhang

Young Zhang received his master's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of California, Los Angeles, and his Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University.He currently works at Oscar Health as an Engineer Functional Area leader overseeing 3 teams in his functional area. He has been developing large-scale data pipeline and data automation projects in Oscar Health, including the core member engagement engine (Core competency in Oscar Health’s IPO’s RoadShow). Prior to Oscar Health, he was a full-stack software engineer and developed production-grade real-time & offline analytical platforms and applications. He also has a track record of supporting and developing engineers' career growth.

Maigha, PhD

Maigha received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO with a dissertation focused on electric vehicles (EVs). She led a state-of-the-art industry-utility-university project at Clemson University Restoration Institute, Charleston, SC as the Clemson liaison during her post-doctoral fellowship. Maigha is currently serving as a Senior Engineer in the Relay and Protection Engineering department at Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), Illinois. She is using her expertise to develop a simulation and analysis framework for assessing Distributed Energy Resource (DER) impacts on the electric power distribution system. In her previous role she led and supported many smart grid projects including Value of DER, Bronzeville community microgrid, and DOE-SHINES projects. She has successfully published in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, and presented her research findings at premier conferences. She is a member of IEEE-PES, and Women in Engineering. Her zeal for teaching and sharing knowledge continues beyond the classrooms she conducted during her graduate school to include mentoring and STEM activities at ComEd. Maigha is passionate about narrating compelling stories, making scientific arguments, and finding balance through meditation.

More to come...

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