Keynote Speaker Bios
Dr. Ben Kroposki, PhD, PE, IEEE Fellow
Director – Power Systems Engineering Center
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Dr. Ben Kroposki is the Director of the Power Systems Engineering Center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) where he leads NREL’s strategic research in the design, planning and operations of electrical power systems. He has over 30 years of experience in the design, testing, and integration of renewable and distributed power systems and has more than 150 publications in these areas with over 10,000 citations. Dr. Kroposki received his BSEE and MSEE from Virginia Tech and Ph.D. from the Colorado School of Mines. Dr. Kroposki is the recipient of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) Ramakumar Family Renewable Energy Excellence Award whichrecognizes outstanding contributions in the field of developing, utilizing and integrating renewable energy resources in the national and global energy scenarios. As an IEEE Fellow, Dr. Kroposki was recognized for his leadership in renewable and distributed energy systems integration. Dr. Kroposki is also an Adjunct Professor at the Colorado School of Mines and University of Colorado and teaches courses on integrating renewable energy into power systems. Dr. Kroposki serves as the organizational director for the Universal interoperability for Grid-forming Inverters (UNIFI) consortium tackling the challenges with seamless integration of inverter-based resources and synchronous machines in all power systems.
Daniel Brooks
Vice President of Integrated Grid & Energy Systems
EPRI
Daniel Brooks is Vice President of Integrated Grid and Energy Systems at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). In this role, he leads teams responsible for EPRI's research, development, and demonstration of integrated energy systems planning, delivery systems planning, grid and market operations, and the integration of renewables, energy storage, and distributed energy resources. Brooks joined EPRI in 2004 as manager of the renewables integration research and power system studies teams. From 2011 to 2019, he managed the Grid Operations and Planning research area as a Senior Program Manager and Director responsible for transmission and distribution system operations and planning research. Prior to joining EPRI, Brooks was Manager of Power System Studies for the consulting company Electrotek Concepts managing a team of modeling and simulation experts conducting power quality and renewables integration research and transmission and distribution planning and operations consulting services to electric utilities, equipment vendors, and other stakeholders. Brooks earned his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in electrical engineering from Mississippi State University and his Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Tennessee, Martin. He is member of the Department of Energy’s Electricity Advisory Committee, a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Tennessee, and a Senior Member of the IEEE Power & Energy Society.
Jeffrey Csank
Electrical Engineer
NASA
Jeffrey Csank is an Electrical Engineer in the Power Management and Distribution Branch of the Power Systems Division at the NASA Glenn Research Center. Mr Csank received his MS of Electrical Engineering from Cleveland State University in 2007. Since 2016, Mr Csank has been leading the development an autonomous power control capability for human rated deep space exploration vehicles and is currently serving as the Advanced Modular Power Systems (AMPS) project manager. Mr Csank has been advocating to investigate and develop technologies for a lunar microgrid including the Universal Modular Interface Converter (UMIC) that will enable long distance power transmission on the Moon.
Dr. Wolfgang Demmelbauer-Ebner
Engineering Vice President & Chief Engineering Officer
Volkswagen Group
Dr. Wolfgang Demmelbauer-Ebner is the Engineering Vice President & Chief Engineering Officer of the Volkswagen Group of America at VW’s US Headquarter in Herndon, VA, where he is at the forefront of VW’s electric transformation in the North American region. Under his leadership, Dr. Demmelbauer-Ebner oversees all VW Engineering locations and activities within Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Prior to his current role, he held various leading positions within the Volkswagen Group, as Head of Gasoline Engine Development and Head of Powertrain Development at the Volkswagen Group Headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, as well as Head of Engine Development at Audi Hungaria Zrt., Hungary and Head of Diesel Engine Development at SEAT S.A. in Spain.
Dr. Demmelbauer-Ebner graduated with a diploma (Dipl.-Ing.) and a doctorate (Dr. techn.) in Mechanical Engineering from the Technical University of Vienna, Austria.
In his free time, Dr. Demmelbauer-Ebner is a passionate aviator, sailor, skier, and mountaineer, with the latter preferably in the mountains of his home country of Austria.
Juan Castaneda
Principal Manager, Grid Technology Innovation Group
Southern California Edison
Juan Castaneda Juan is currently a Principal Manger of the Grid Technology Innovation group within the Asset Strategy & Planning organizational of Southern California Edison (SCE). He holds a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from California State University Long Beach and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern California. He joined SCE in April of 2003 and served in different engineering and leadership roles. Prior to his 2003 hiring at SCE, he worked in different electrical engineering positions at Siemens Energy & Automation, Schneider Electric, and Operation Technology, Inc. In addition, since 2008, He has served as a part-time faculty in the Electrical Engineering Departments at California State University Long Beach (CSULB), California state University Los Angles (CSULA) and the Master Online Program at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He enjoys spending time with his family. He also loves spending time watching sports and documentaries.
