Recently, Chen Xin, an alumnus of the Department of Electrical Engineering (B.Eng. admitted in 2011, M.S. admitted in 2015), received the National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award (NSF CAREER Award). The award is intended to support outstanding young faculty members with exceptional research potential, innovative teaching capabilities, and academic leadership, and is the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) upon early-career scholars.

Over the next five years, the award will support Professor Chen Xin and his team in conducting research on artificial intelligence-driven control and optimization for new-type power systems, with a focus on coordinated control theories and technological methods for large-scale power-electronics-based distributed energy resources. The related research will explore AI-based data-driven control and optimization decision-making frameworks, providing theoretical foundations and technical support for the grid integration of large-scale distributed renewable energy sources and the safe and stable operation of power-electronics-dominated power systems, while further enhancing the reliability, flexibility, and intelligence of modern power grids.

Profile of the Award Recipient

Chen Xin is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University. He received dual bachelor’s degrees in Engineering and Economics from Tsinghua University in 2015, and a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University in 2017 under the supervision of Professors Zhang Boming and Wu Wenchuan. During his graduate studies, he was recognized as an Outstanding Master’s Graduate of Tsinghua University and received the Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award. He earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 2022, conducted postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology from 2022 to 2023, and joined Texas A&M University as a faculty member in 2023.

Professor Chen’s research primarily focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence and power systems, including dynamic modeling of large data center loads and power grid stability analysis, large language model agent technologies for power systems, and data-driven coordinated control of large-scale inverter-based distributed energy resources. He has long been committed to developing optimization and control methodologies for modern intelligent power systems to address emerging challenges brought about by high penetration of renewable energy, large-scale integration of power electronic devices, and the rapid growth of artificial intelligence computing loads.

Professor Chen has received numerous academic honors, including the NSF CAREER Award, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid Top-5 Papers, the IEEE PES Outstanding Doctoral Dissertation Award, the 2023 IEEE PES Grid Edge Conference Best Research Award, the 2021 IEEE Conference on Decision and Control Outstanding Student Paper Award, the 2018 IEEE Conference on Control Technology and Applications Best Student Paper Award Finalist, as well as the IEEE PES General Meeting Best Paper Award in both 2025 and 2016. Receiving the NSF CAREER Award reflects the academic community’s high recognition of his research contributions in applying artificial intelligence to next-generation power systems.