Title:
Advanced Grid-Connected Power Electronics for Power Quality Management

Abstract:
The massive proliferation of nonlinear electric devices at the load level (three-phase rectifiers, adjustable-speed drives, uninterruptible power supplies, etc.) and the generation level (renewable sources, storage devices, etc.) could have a severe impact on the power quality of the grid. The presence of current and/or voltage harmonics may cause technical and economic damages due to additional losses in the transmission lines, over-voltages, over-heating, Electro Magnetic Interference (EMI) problems, and other undesirable effects. In addition, harmonic reduction is becoming more and more relevant due to the limitations imposed by grid requirements by international standards. This talk will address the solutions adopted to mitigate power quality issues in distributed power systems, at the load, generation and distribution levels. More specifically, it will present advanced power electronics topologies used for power quality enhancement and reactive power compensation in the grid. Also, the mathematical modeling of the converters will be addressed on the basis of which control systems are designed. Several case studies will be presented and discussed.

Biography:
Hadi Y. Kanaan (S’99-M’02-SM’06) received the diploma in electromechanical engineering from Saint-Joseph University of Beirut (USJ), the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Ecole de Technologie Supérieure (ETS), Montreal, Canada, and the Habilitation à Diriger des Recherches (HDR) from the Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Paris, France, in 1991, 2002 and 2009 respectively. He is currently a Full-Professor, Head of the Department of Graduate Studies at Ecole Supérieure d’Ingénieurs de Beyrouth (ESIB) and Director of the Doctoral School of Sciences, Engineering and Technology at USJ, which he joined in 2001, and executive member of the USJ Research and Technology Transfer Office since 2019. He is also an Associate Professor at ETS, Canada, since 2021, and associate member of the Canada Research Chair in Energy Conversion and Power Electronics since 2001. His research interests concern modeling and control of switch-mode converters, modern rectifiers, power factor correction, active power filters, and grid-connectivity of renewable energy systems. He is an author of 1 book, 3 book chapters, 1 patent and more than 260 technical papers published in international journals and conferences. He served as an Associate Editor of the IEEE Transactions Industrial Electronics, and is currently an Associate Editor of the IEEE Journal of Emerging and Selected Topics on Industrial Electronics (JESTIE). He is an AdCom member-at-large of the IEEE Industrial Electronics Society (IES), vice-chair of the IEEE Lebanon Section, and member of the IEEE Power Electronics Society (PELS), the Industry Applications Society (IAS) and the IEEE James H. Mulligan, Jr. Education Medal Committee.

Title:
Multisensory Interactions in the Metaverse: Perspectives & challenges

Abstract:
---PUT-ABSTRACT-HERE---

Biography:
Prof. Abdulmotaleb El Saddik is acting chair of the computer vision department at MBZUAI, UAE & Distinguished University Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He is an internationally recognized scholar who has made strong contributions to the knowledge and understanding of intelligent multimedia computing, communications and applications. His research focus is on the establishment of digital twins to enhance the quality of life of citizens using AI, IoT, SN, AR/VR, haptics and 5G to allow people to interact in real-time with one another as well as with their smart digital representations in the metaverse in a secure manner. He is Editor-in-Chief of the ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications (ACM TOMM). He has co-authored 10 books and more than 600 publications and chaired more than 50 conferences and workshops and has supervised more than 150 researchers. He has received research grants and contracts totaling more than $20M. He is the author of the book Haptics Technologies: Bringing Touch to Multimedia. Dr. El Saddik is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Fellow of IEEE, Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and Fellow of the Engineering Institute of Canada. He is an ACM Distinguished Scientist and has received several awards, including the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Award from the German Humboldt Foundation, the IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Society Technical Achievement Award. He also received IEEE Canada C.C. Gotlieb (Computer) Medal and A.G.L. McNaughton Gold Medal for important contributions to the field of computer engineering and science and the IEEE TCSC Achievement Award for Excellence in Scalable Computing.