Professor Xin Zhang
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Professor in Control and Power Systems
Electrical Machines and Drives Research Group
UKRI Future Leaders Fellow
Associate Editor - IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (TSG)


+44 114 222 25619
Full contact details
School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Amy Johnson Building
Portobello Street
Sheffield
S1 3JD
- Profile
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I am the Professor and Chair in Control and Power Systems at University of Sheffield. Currently, I hold the prestigious 'Digitalisation of Electrical Power and Energy Systems Operation, MR/W011360/2, £1.5m', and the 'Grid flexibility through multiscale modelling and integration of power systems with electrified air transport, EP/W028905/1, £400k'.
My research experience covers power system operation and control, cyber-physical power systems, cybersecurity and resilience of power systems, real-time digital simulation, and grid integration with land-air transport electrification.
I lead the (CAPS Lab) of University of Sheffield. At CAPS, we investigate digitalisation technologies that could potentially improve the monitoring and control of power grids in both cyber and physical aspects. We explore the advanced grid monitoring platform, state estimation techniques, cybersecurity strategy, contingency analysis, vulnerability assessment, and robust network control. At CAPS, we develop co-simulation platform for digital power grids, that enables the fundamental integration of cyber and physical simulators for the accurate, efficient and large-scale grid simulation. Our work involves the interfacing design for model-to-model integration of different complex networks, simulation synchronisation at various time steps, and advanced computing methods and algorithms to create a co-optimised analysis of cyber-physical power systems.
My industrial experience (2011-19) was gained from National Grid ESO as the GB Electricity System Operator, where I was professionally trained as a power system engineer in the real-time power system operation, mainly in the GB Electricity National Control Centre. My specific industrial expertise includes power system modelling and operational tools development for energy balancing and network control, to improve the security, resilience and economic operation of the GB power transmission systems.
- Qualifications
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- PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (2010), The University of Manchester
- MSc (distinction) in Electrical Power Engineering (2007), The University of Manchester
- B.Eng in Automation, Control Science and Engineering (2006), Shandong University
- Research interests
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My research is interdisciplinary across power, energy, and digital aspects of system engineering. My primary research interest is in power systems, with wider research interests of cyber-security, machine learning, digital twins and their applications in power & energy industry.
Broadly, I investigate net-zero energy networks as critical infrastructure, integrating transport, information and communications, renewable, storage and hydrogen. I address energy security and resilience challenges across Energy Theme.
- Power system planning, operation and control (transmission, distribution, microgrid, renewables)
- Cyber-physical system modelling and co-simulation (networked system control, power, energy, communications, transport)
- Laboratory research platforms, hardware and facilities for simulation and control of power grid (real-time digital simulators, power electronics, intelligent computing)
- Transport electrification (electric vehicle / aircraft charging, transport-energy nexus)
- Publications
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Journal articles
Chapters
Conference proceedings papers
- Grants
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Royal Society International Exchanges Grant, “Multi-Agent Interactive Game and Network Co-Evolution for Shared Energy Storage Communities” £12,000, 2025-2027, IEC\NSFC\242449, as PI
UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship, “” £1,490,121, 2022-2026, MR/W011360/1, as PI
EPSRC New Investigator Award, “” £402,860, 2022-2025, EP/W028905/1, as PI
Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL), “Human Resilience in Cybersecurity of Future Energy Systems” £100,000, 2023-2027, RQ0000024688, as PI
UK Department for Transport, Transport-Technology Research and Innovation Grants, “” £30,000, 2020-2021, T-TRIG 2020, as PI
EPSRC, Supergen Energy Networks Hub Flexible Fund, “” £50,000, 2019-2021, EP/S00078X/2, as PI
UK Department for Transport, Transport-Technology Research and Innovation Grants, “” £30,000, 2019-2020, T-TRIG 2019, as PI
- Professional activities and memberships
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- Associate Editor, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (TSG)
- Associate Editor, IEEE Power Engineering Letters (PELS)
- Associate Editor, Cyber-Physical Energy Systems (CPES)
- Associate Editor, Protection and Control of Modern Power Systems (PCMP)
- Associate Editor, Energy Conversion and Economics (ECE)
- Senior Member, IEEE
- Chartered Engineer, IET