Dr. Payman Dehghanian, associate professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering and director of Smart Grid Technologies at the GW Environmental & Energy Management Institute, has been actively working on emerging digitalization in power grids. Digitalizing power grids will facilitate growing decarbonization in the energy sector as well as ensure situational awareness of growing fast- and slow-dynamic threats in complex grids.
For his work in digitalization, Dehghanian was selected as a “future digileader!” He was invited among 40 young rising stars from all over the world to attend this year's Future Digileaders, a flagship event hosted by Digital Futures, on October 17, 2023, in Stockholm, Sweden.
“Being selected as a “future digileader” is both a privilege and a call to action for myself and my research group at GW SmartGrid Laboratory,” Dehghanian stated. “It is an opportunity to learn and contribute to shaping a digital energy ecosystem of the future: a digital energy landscape that renders itself a force for positive change to empower, connect, and enrich the lives of individuals and communities.”
Future Digileaders is a yearly event for selected early-career researchers interested in digitalization. This event serves as an international platform to share successful experiences and insights, have in-depth discussions, and connect with established leaders. It also includes an intimate career workshop with talks, panels, and discussions and provides opportunities for professional development and to meet inspiring role models and industry leaders.
Future Digileaders was immediately followed by another Digital Futures event, Digitalize in Stockholm 2023. Digitalize in Stockholm is an annual conference and meeting place for global thought leaders and rising stars engaged in transformation through digitalization in academia, industry, government and civil society.
These events offered an opportunity for the invited participants to:
- Gain insights into the joys and struggles of becoming and being faculty, and awareness of a broad range of career paths and strategies one can choose from
- Have shaped values and practices that should be promoted in a good research environment
- Establish new connections to research and industry leaders and a network of international peers
- Understand the potential of digitalization research in a broader societal context, a peek into different areas of digitalization research, as well as knowledge about state-of-the-art research challenges and advancements