October 1, 2024
The award is given annually for outstanding contributions to the understanding and control of the dynamics of the power system
Marija Ilic has received the 2024 IEEE PES Prabha S. Kundur Power System Dynamics and Control Award for her pioneering contributions to hierarchical and distributed modeling and control of large power systems. This award recognizes outstanding contributions to the understanding and control of the dynamics of the power system and honors Dr. Prabha S. Kundur, who, for nearly four decades, worked on the leading edge of developments in power system dynamics and control. It is conferred annually at the IEEE PES General Meeting.
Marija Ilic currently holds a position of a Joint Adjunct Professor in the Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department and a Senior Research Scientist at the Laboratory for Information and Decision Systems (LIDS) and at the Institute for Data, Systems and Society (IDSS) at MIT.
Ilic’s work involves the toolbox of systems, optimization, and control, but is also combined with a deep knowledge of real-world aspects of power systems and a strong engagement with the power industry. Her contributions span from detailed dynamical models of the physical aspects of power systems to high-level issues involving coordination and economics. She is a strong advocate of an integrated hierarchical approach that faithfully takes into account the multiple temporal and spatial scales that are present in the power network. In the recent past, Ilic has worked to define the next generation of SCADA systems for power networks that can take advantage of new capabilities in sensing and communications accompanied by powerful and realistic simulation tools. Ilic remains involved in teaching and mentoring. She leads the LIDS Electric Energy Systems Group (EESG) and has recently undertaken the Coordinator role of the LIDS Energy & Infrastructure Systems: Modeling, Computing and Control (EIMC2) Research Group comprising several LIDS PIs working in this field. She was the co-founder of SmartGridz, Inc (formerly NETSS, Inc).
Ilic has authored hundreds of journal and conference publications, supervised close to 100 doctoral theses, and is the coauthor, with late Professor John Zaborszky, of a major text on "Dynamics and Control of Large Electric Power Systems.” Among several other awards, she is an IEEE Life Fellow, International Federation for Automatic Control (IFAC) Fellow, and an Elected Foreign Fellow of the Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering (CSEE). Ilic served as an NSF Program Director from 1999-2001. Most recently, she was awarded a prestigious IEEE PES Outstanding Teaching Award and was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the European Academy of Science, Informatics (Europea).
Ilic received her doctorate in Systems Science and Mathematics from Washington University, in 1980. After teaching at Drexel University and Cornell, she moved to the University of Illinois (UIUC, 1984-89), where she rose to the rank of Associate Professor with tenure. From 1989–2003, she was with MIT as a Senior Research Engineer. From 2002 to 2017, she was a tenured Professor at CMU, during which time she also held an honorary chair professorship at TU Delft, Netherlands. She is now a Professor Emerita from CMU.
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Power & Energy Society (PES) provides the world’s largest forum for sharing the latest in technological developments in the electric power industry, for developing standards that guide the development and construction of equipment and systems, and for educating members of the industry and the general public.