Dr. Yilu Liu
Dr. Yilu Liu, an expert in technologies used to monitor power grids and an innovator who is helping to develop the next generation "smart grid," was appointed as the fourth UT-ORNL Governor's Chair in June 2009.
In her previous position, Liu was the director of the Center for Power Engineering at Virginia Tech, where she spent her entire post-doctoral career. She began as an assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1990, rising to the rank of full professor in 2001. While at Virginia Tech, she led the creation of FNET, the North American power grid monitoring network, which is still in operation.
Liu's work focuses on developing new and better ways to monitor and understand the flow of energy through the nation's power grid on a large scale. She has also researched methods to develop the "smart grid," a term used to describe the next generation of electric transmission technology that will move energy more efficiently and effectively from where it is generated to where it is used.
She earned her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Xian Jiaotong University in Xian, China, in 1982 and received her master's degree and doctorate in electrical engineering from Ohio State University in 1985 and 1989, respectively.
Liu holds an appointment in ORNL's energy and transportation science division, where the lab’s Electric Grid Research and Development Program currently conducts about $20 million in research each year. She is also a professor in the engineering college’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science.
