Energy Symposium: About the Presenters
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Dr. Babak Enayati (Keynote)
Babak Enayati received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY in 2009. He joined National Grid, USA in 2010 and is currently the Manager of the Technology Deployment team, which is responsible for development and implementation of the Transmission Network modernization strategy. He joined Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) in 2006 and currently is a Senior IEEE Member. Babak currently serves as the IEEE Power and Energy Society (PES) Governing Board Member-at-Large. Babak is also the Vice Chair of the IEEE Standards Coordinating Committee 21 (SCC21) and IEEE 1547, Standard for Interconnecting Distributed Energy Resources with Electric Power Systems. Babak is a registered Professional Engineer (PE) in the state of Massachusetts.
Dr. Domenic Gugliotti (Keynote)
Dr. Gugliotti has 38 years of experience in the Information Technology field with over 20 years directly tied to the utility industry. Domenic has a proven track record of IT management serving as the Director of Security, Infrastructure, Project Management Office, and Application Development for a large east coast utility. Currently as the managing partner at iOfficeGroup he is responsible for leading consulting engagements on Security, IT infrastructure, Project management and IT Strategies.
Throughout his 38-year career, he has demonstrated repeatedly the ability to securely transform and deliver IT solutions critical to core business strategies. Domenic holds a Doctorate of Management with a specialization in Information Systems and Technology.
Michael F. Ahern
Michael F. Ahern (mfahern@wpi.edu) is a Director of Corporate and Professional Education at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) and an Instructor for WPI’s Foisie Business School. He leads the group that develops graduate education programs for working professionals and corporations. Mike’s personal specialty areas are: Power Systems; Electrical and Computer Engineering; Cybersecurity; and Operational Risk. Mike improves the quality of the student experience by working with the faculty to update the curriculum and share best practices in course delivery, both online and classroom.
Mike has taught graduate WPI’s Operations Risk Management course (OIE 541) and developed and taught customized professional development courses on power industry reliability assurance and cyber-security. Further, Mike has developed and delivered IEEE Power and Energy Society Webinars like: “Green Energy and the Electric Delivery System: Opportunities for Energy Efficiency” and is a regular guest lecturer on energy topics at Yale University and has presented to the New England Governors & Eastern Canadian Premiers, and to alumni groups from both MIT and RPI.
Mike was WPI’s Principal Investigator for a team of 4 faculty and staff helping to perform federally funded research to assess the vulnerability of the US Power Grid to cyber-attacks. He is currently WPI’s Principal Investigator with another team of 5 faculty and staff who are part of the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s Rapid Attack Detection, Isolation and Characterizations Systems (RADICS) development effort.
Mike brings over 35 years of professional experience to this role. He began his career in 1978 at the Pratt & Whitney division of United Technologies Corporation. He joined Northeast Utilities (NU, now part of Eversource Energy) in 1981 and rose through a series of increasingly responsible positions at the Millstone nuclear power plant. He led NU’s Transmission Operations and Planning in 2004 and was promoted to Vice President, Utility Services in 2005. He led NU’s Distribution Engineering and Training activities as part of his overall responsibilities which also included: Safety; System Restoration and Emergency Preparedness; Vegetation Management; Planning Performance and Analysis; and Corporate Transportation. He served on NU’s Executive Committee on Corporate Ethics and Controls; chaired the Safety and Health Committee; and was a member of the Cybersecurity Committee. Following his retirement from NU in 2012, Mike joined WPI in his current capacity.
Ahern earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Worcester Polytechnic Institute where he was selected as a member of Tau Beta Pi (the National Engineering Honor Society). He later earned both Master of Science and Master of Business Administration degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a registered professional engineer in Connecticut and held a Transmission System Operator certification from the North American Electric Reliability Council.
Charlotte Ancel
Charlotte Ancel is the Director of Strategic Development at Eversource Energy. Charlotte leads Eversource’s electric vehicle, storage, and other clean energy development and policy initiatives. She was previous Vice President of Power Supply and General Counsel at Green Mountain Power where she led the power supply, regulatory, legal, and project development teams. In that time, Charlotte’s team increased the Green Mountain Power supply portfolio from 20% to 60% renewable. Charlotte was previously a partner at the law firm of Sheehey Furlong & Behm in Burlington, Vermont where she came of age working on permitting of a 63 MW wind project and various solar and other generation projects. She is a graduate of Boston College and University of New Hampshire Law School, from which she graduated first in her class and was Editor in Chief of the Law Review. Charlotte previously served as President of the Board of Directors of the United Way of Chittenden County and was appointed by Governor Peter Shumlin to chair Vermont’s Blue Ribbon Commission on high quality, affordable childhood care.
Dr. Don Gelosh
Dr. Don Gelosh is the Director of Systems Engineering Programs at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). He is responsible for leading, growing and developing the various Systems Engineering programs delivered through WPI’s Academic and Corporate Engagement department.
Dr. Gelosh has over 43 years of systems engineering leadership experience from the US Air Force, government, industry, and academia. Before WPI, Dr. Gelosh was Deputy Director for Workforce Development for the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Systems Engineering at the Pentagon. In previous assignments, he was lead systems engineer for communications and payload integration on NASA’s Vehicle Integration and Test Team supporting the Space Shuttle, he taught Electrical and Computer Engineering at the USAF Academy, he served as Deputy Department Head for Electrical and Computer Engineering at the Air Force Institute of Technology and was Dean of Learning and Technology at the National Defense University.
Dr. Gelosh’s research areas include Technical Leadership, Experience Acceleration, Workforce Development, Competencies and Competency Frameworks, Learning Technologies, and US Federal Acquisition. Dr. Gelosh also led the Competency Working Group of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE) to produce the new Systems Engineering Competency Framework that was awarded Product of the Year for 2018.
Dr. Gelosh also serves as Services Director for INCOSE. He holds an INCOSE CSEP-Acquisition certification and is Defense Acquisition Corps Level III certified in Systems Engineering. Dr. Gelosh received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master’s Degree in Computer System Design from the University of Houston at Clear Lake, and a Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from The Ohio State University.
Christopher James Leigh
Christopher Leigh is currently the Director and Chief of Information Officer at Eversource Energy. Christopher has over 18 years of domestic and global experience in leading cyber-security teams. In the current role, he is responsible for all aspects of information security including Threat and Risk Management, Policy and Compliance with Sarbanes Oxley, NERC Critical Information Protection regulations and Incident Response. Christopher has held similar roles at Consolidated Edison, United Technologies Corporation.
Christopher’s education includes a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, specializing in Accounting and Management, minoring in Psychology from Saint Joseph’s College. He also has a Master’s degree in Business Economics from Southern Connecticut State University and a Master’s degree in Information Assurance from Norwich University. Christopher is a Certified Privacy Professional and a Certified Risk and Information Systems Control professional.
Christopher is an adjunct professor at Central Connecticut State University and on the Board of Directors for Community Solutions, Incorporated. He was also a member of the United States Navy Reserves for 14 years.
John Marczewski
As one of the founding members of Energy Initiatives Group (EIG) and Vice President in the Utilities business unit following EN Engineering’s acquisition of EIG in 2017, Mr. Marczewski continually leverages his expertise and experience in many key aspects of electric power system projects and technologies. His past work includes assignments in distribution field engineering; substation engineering/design and project management; and operation of distribution, transmission, and generation projects. As the electric utility industry has evolved through deregulation and establishment of competitive power markets, he has been involved in a wide range of assignments and projects involving state-of-the-art high voltage direct current (HVDC) and controllable AC transmission technologies, renewable energy, electric vehicle charging, and high-speed railroad electrification. He is also actively involved in ISO/RTO processes and stakeholder committees, and has twice served as chair of the NYISO Operating Committee.
Carl Peterson
Carl Peterson is a Senior Electrical Engineer for Holyoke Gas & Electric. Previously, he was the Engineering Manager for Transmission and Distribution Standards at Eversource, a Senior Operations Engineer for National Grid and a retired military intelligence officer. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Texas Tech University and he earned two Master of Science degrees from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the Joint Military Intelligence College. He is also a graduate of the Northeast Utilities/University of Connecticut sponsored Finance Academy. Carl has been a voting member of the National Electric Energy Testing Research and Applications Center Advisory Board and authored an article on using “Vacuum Switches to Boost Reliability and Safety” for T&D World Magazine.
Dr. Gowri Rajappan
Dr. Gowri Rajappan is Director of Technology and Cybersecurity at Doble Engineering. He leads the cybersecurity activities at Doble, in which capacity he works closely with electric power utilities worldwide to help design and improve their cybersecurity operations. He is a key contributor to several International cybersecurity standards and best practice guidelines, including those developed by IEC, IEEE and CIGRE. Prior to Doble, he worked on cybersecurity and data technologies in support of the US Department of Defense. Dr. Rajappan has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Northwestern University.
Chris Root
Mr. Root is Chief Operating Officer at Vermont Electric Power, Inc. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Network Strategy at National Grid. Mr. Root holds a masters in engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Northeastern University. He completed the Program for Management Development at Harvard University Graduate School of Business and has authored, co-authored and presented papers at various forums.
Kimberly Ryan
Over 25 years of experience in a variety of information systems roles, including both programming and infrastructure. BS in Computer Science from Oklahoma Christian University and a Master's Certificate in Cyber Security with a concentration in Power Systems from Worcester Polytechnic Institute. ITIL Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management.
Responsible for the cyber security program at Unitil including all cyber security policies and procedures, security awareness training, threat and vulnerability management, patching, vendor security posture assessment, Industrial Control System(ICS) and SCADA infrastructure protection at electric substations and natural gas plants and leading the Cyber Incident Response Team (CIRT). Manages both internal and external audits and assessments including SOX, NERC-CIP, PCI, C2M2/NIST Framework, and penetration testing. Conducts annual presentations to the regulatory staff at the ME, MA and NH Utility Commissions.
Member – American Gas Association (AGA) Cyber Security Strategy Task Force, Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Security Committee, Energy Council of the Northeast (ECNE) Cyber Security Committee, InfraGard NH and Boston.
Dr. Edvina Uzunovic
Dr. Edvina Uzunovic is the Associate Director of Power Systems and an Adjunct Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. She has more than 15 years of experience with a range of responsibilities in the power systems industry. She has been a vital contributor to the overall success of several leading power industry organizations while serving different roles as a Technical Officer, Smart Grid Transmission Applications, Senior Quantitative Analyst and Senior Research and Technology Development Engineer.
Edvina has a B.Sc. from the University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, M.A.Sc. and doctorate degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. During the course of her career, Edvina has made numerous contributions to the body of knowledge in power systems, which have been shared in many technical publications. She has received a number of awards for her work in power systems, specifically for her work on Flexible Alternating Current Transmission Systems (FACTS).
She is also active in her volunteer work with the IEEE Power and Energy Society, currently serving as IEEE PES Vice President for Education.
An avid triathlete, runner and cyclist; you will find her off in all types of weather and terrain training/racing in events that range from a local 5K to an Ironman Triathlon.