Md Salman Nazir works to improve the power grid and research papers

Md Salman Nazir, a PhD candidate working at the Michigan Power and Energy Laboratory (MPEL), received an Outstanding Reviewer recognition from the IEEE Transactions on Power Systems. The award recognizes members who’ve given a large amount of high-quality reviews in a timely manner on papers submitted to the journal.

“It’s my responsibility as a young member of the society to contribute,” Nazir said. “It’s also a valuable experience for me, because I get to know about various research activities carried out at different universities across the world and learn about the latest developments in the field. It helps broaden my research perspective, and sharpens my analytical skills.”

Nazir is working to make the electrical grid more efficient while integrating more renewable energy. He develops optimization and control algorithms to efficiently manage electric loads, storage devices, and solar-photovoltaic inverters in the grid. For him, being a reviewer has helped shape his research goals and expectations.

“It helps knowing what has been done and what new tools are available,” Nazir said. “Good papers offer original work and come up with out-of-the box ideas to solve very difficult research problems.”

While Nazir has always been interested in engineering, he is also passionate about economics and the impact of engineering on society. The power and energy field interested him for his ability to solve technical problems, as well as rate their direct impact on society.

“I can quantify the economic and environmental benefits of various technologies to make electricity cheaper and more beneficial to everyone,” Nazir said.

Nazir is advised by Ian Hiskens, the Vennema Professor of Engineering. Nazir grew up in Bangladesh and completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees at McGill University in Canada before coming to U-M.

“I like the people around here,” Nazir said. “U-M provides great atmosphere for research. Great facilities and great minds. There’s so much to learn from every professor, and I think that’s a great resource that U-M can provide. I’m glad to be here.”