Recently, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power & Energy Society (PES) announced the recipients of the 2024 Society-Level Awards. Professor Kang Chongqing from Tsinghua University was granted the IEEE PES Peter W. Sauer Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award (Graduate), in recognition of his contributions to education and mentoring in the field of low-carbon power systems engineering. Professor Kang is the first Chinese recipient of this award since its establishment 35 years ago in 1989.

Since earning his Ph.D. from Tsinghua University in 1997, Professor Kang has dedicated himself to the cultivation of talent in electrical engineering. He has been actively involved in teaching and has achieved significant educational outcomes. He has served as the Director of Tsinghua University’s Teaching Research and Training Center and currently holds the positions of Dean of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics (EEA) and Director of the National Experimental Teaching Demonstration Center for Electrical Engineering. He has led several teaching reform projects and has received national and municipal awards for teaching excellence, including the Baosteel Excellent Teacher Award in 2016, the Beijing Municipal Teaching Master Award in 2021, and the Beijing Municipal Excellent Teacher Award in 2022.

Congratulation Letter from IEEE PES Chairman Shay Bahramirad

As the Dean of EEA, Professor Kang actively promotes curriculum reform to continuously improve the quality of graduates in the electrical engineering discipline. Professor Kang has authored several textbooks in the field of power systems, which have become important teaching references in the industry. His book “Theory and Application of Low-Carbon Power Systems” established a curriculum framework for this area in China and won the first prize for excellent teaching materials at Tsinghua University in 2022. To raise students’ awareness of carbon emissions, he requires each student to research data and calculate the total carbon emissions and intensity of electricity consumption in their home province, proposing ideas and implementation plans for their hometown’s low-carbon transition. This activity has been ongoing for 12 years and has seen high participation and positive feedback. The textbook “Load Forecasting for Power Systems” was published in its first and second editions in 2007 and 2017, respectively, and has been recognized as an excellent textbook by Tsinghua University. It has become a bestseller in the field of power system forecasting in China. The course incorporates a “competitive experiment” assessment method, where students are provided with historical load data from a provincial power system and must choose or design their own forecasting methods. The students’ predictions are then ranked based on accuracy, and their results are assessed alongside their reports. This engaging and competitive model has received high praise from students, and it has been in place for 15 years. In 2014, students participated in the IEEE PES global power forecasting competition, winning the team excellence award. Professor Kang’s teaching evaluations consistently place his courses among the top 5% at the university, and he has received Tsinghua University’s annual teaching excellence award multiple times.

In graduate student mentorship, Professor Kang is seen as an excellent mentor by his students. He exhibits patience and a strong commitment to guiding student research. Regardless of his busy schedule, he allocates time each week for one-on-one discussions with each of his students, allowing him to stay informed about their research progress and personal developments. He has personally supervised or co-supervised over 40 master’s students and more than 30 doctoral students, many of whom are active in academia and industry within the power and energy field. Inspired by his mentorship philosophy, many of his graduates aspire to pursue academic research and teaching careers, becoming academic backbones at their institutions, including early jointly cultured graduate Li Canbing (Shanghai Jiao Tong University) and later independently supervised students Zhang Ning (Tsinghua University), Chen Xinyu (Huazhong University of Science and Technology), Wang Yi (University of Hong Kong), and He Guannan (Peking University). Recently graduated doctoral student Yong Pei has also been recommended by him to teach at Chongqing University. Professor Kang Chongqing is deeply invested in graduate student development, caring for their growth in every aspect. He has been selected three times in Tsinghua University’s Graduate Student Association “Good Teacher and Friend” evaluation, recognized by students for embodying the ideals of moral integrity, academic excellence, and mentorship. His message to students emphasizes “self-breakthrough and diverse development to serve the country and create the future.”

Receiving the IEEE PES Peter W. Sauer Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award not only acknowledges Professor Kang’s achievements and contributions in talent cultivation but also reflects international recognition of EEA’s educational and mentoring efforts. Previously, Professor Kang was granted the IEEE PES Roy Billinton Power System Reliability Award in 2021.

About the Awardee:

Kang Chongqing

Professor Kang Chongqing is the Dean of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Applied Electronics at Tsinghua University and serves as the Director of the Energy Internet Innovation Research Institute and the Sichuan Energy Internet Research Institute, Tsinghua University. He is an IEEE Fellow, an IET Fellow, a member of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering, and a member of the Chinese Electrotechnical Society. He has been selected for the National Distinguished Young Scholar program and the Ten Thousand Talents Program, and is recognized as a teaching master in Beijing. His main research areas include power system planning, optimization of power system operation, renewable energy, low-carbon power technology, load forecasting, and power markets. He has led two major national research and development projects and three key projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation. He serves as the chair of the IEEE PES China Chapter, a member of the IEEE PES Long-Range Planning Committee, and a member of the CIGRE SC C1 Strategic Committee, as well as the chair of the CIGRE SC C1 China National Committee. He is also the deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering and has published seven books in Chinese and English, and over 400 papers, including more than 130 articles in IEEE Transactions, making the Elsevier list of China’s high citation scholars for several consecutive years. He has been recognized as an IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer and has received several awards, including the IEEE PES Global Power Energy Forecasting Competition Excellence Award, the 2018 China Power Outstanding Contribution Award, the 2021 IEEE PES Roy Billinton Power System Reliability Award, and the 2021 IET Achievement Medal.

About the IEEE PES Peter W. Sauer Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award:

The IEEE PES annual society awards represent the highest honor in the field of international power systems academia. The Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award was established in 1989 to recognize outstanding educators who have made significant contributions to education and talent cultivation in the field of power engineering. The award is presented at the IEEE PES General Meeting. Before 2023, only one awardee was selected each year. Starting in 2024, to honor the outstanding educator and member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, Professor Peter W. Sauer, the award has been renamed the IEEE PES Peter W. Sauer Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award, with one awardee each for graduate and undergraduate education. This year, Professor Kang received the graduate education award, while Professor Henry Louie from Seattle University received the undergraduate education award.

Related Link:

https://ieee-pes.org/news/just-announced-2024-ieee-power-amp-energy-society-award-recipients/