Qing-Chang Zhong

Education

Ph.D. in Control and Power Engineering, Imperial College London, UK, 2004
Ph.D. in Control Theory and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao-Tong University, China, 2000
M.Sc in Control Theory and Engineering, Hunan University, China, 1997
Diploma in Electrical Engineering, Xiangtan Institute of Mechanical and Electrical Technologies (now Hunan Institute of Engineering), China, 1990

Research Interests

Qing-Chang Zhong, an IEEE Fellow and an IET Fellow, holds the Max McGraw Endowed Chair Professor in Energy and Power Engineering and Management at Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, USA. He was educated at Imperial College London (Ph.D., 2004, awarded the Best Doctoral Thesis Prize), Shanghai Jiao Tong University (Ph.D., 2000), Hunan University (MSc, 1997), and Hunan Institute of Engineering (Diploma, 1990).

Zhong is well recognized worldwide as one of very few leading experts in control, power electronics and power systems, being appointed as a Distinguished Lecturer of three IEEE Societies (Control Systems/Power Electronics/Power and Energy), and an Associate Editor of seven flagship journals in control and power electronics, including IEEE Trans. on Automatic Control, IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics and IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics. He is also truly globalized, having previously held positions in the UK, Israel and China. Before joining Illinois Institute of Technology, he was the Chair Professor in Control and Systems Engineering at The University of Sheffield, UK, where he built up a $5M+ research lab dedicated to the control of energy and power systems and attracted the support of Rolls-Royce, National Instruments, Texas Instruments, Siemens, ALSTOM, Turbo Power Systems, Chroma, Yokogawa, OPAL RT etc.

Zhong is a dedicated educator. Two of his four graduated Chinese Ph.D. students received the National Award for Outstanding Chinese Students Abroad including one Grand Prize (only 10 such awards worldwide each year and only two UK students have received the Grand Prize so far). Ten of his researchers have secured faculty positions.

Zhong’s current research focuses on advanced control theory, power electronics and the seamless integration of both to address fundamental challenges in various energy and power systems. In 2016 alone, he had 30 journal papers accepted/published, including 20 papers in IEEE Transactions. In total, he has published 200+ papers. He (co-)authored three research monographs, including Control of Power Inverters in Renewable Energy and Smart Grid Integration (Wiley-IEEE Press, 2013) and Robust Control of Time-delay Systems (Springer, 2006). He solved a series of fundamental theoretical problems about robust control of time-delay systems. He is the lead inventor of virtual synchronous machines (synchronverters) and proposed the architecture, together with two technical routes, for next-generation smart grids based on the synchronization mechanism of synchronous machines. This unifies the interface of all different players --- such as wind turbines, solar panels, electric vehicles, energy storage systems and the majority of loads --- with the grid so that they can play the same role as conventional power plants to maintain system stability, enhance system resiliency, and reduce the chance of large-scale blackouts.

He served as a Senior Research Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering/Leverhulme Trust, UK, the UK Representative to the European Control Association, a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of US NSF FREEDM Systems Center at North Carolina State University and the Rolls-Royce UTP Board in Power Electronics Systems. He also served as grant reviewer for funding bodies from the UK, China, Singapore, Finland, Kuwait, Italy, Netherlands, Israel, and other countries.

Awards

• Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Power and Energy Systems Society, 2016 - .
• Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Control Systems Society, 2015 - .
• Distinguished Lecturer, IEEE Power Electronics Society, 2014 - .
• IEEE Fellow, 2017.
• IET Fellow, 2010.
• Highly Commended, IET Innovation Awards 2009 for synchronverters (jointly with G. Weiss), November 2009.
• Best Doctoral Thesis (the Eryl Cadwaladar Davies Prize), Imperial College London, 2004.
• Outstanding Reviewer for Automatica, 2004.

Publications

[1] Q.-C. Zhong and G. Konstantopoulos, Current-limiting Three-phase Rectifiers, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.64, no.x, pp. xxx-xxx, 2017.

[2] S. Gadelovits, Q.-C. Zhong, V. Kadirkamanathan and A. Kuperman, UDE-based Controller Equipped with a Multi-Band-Stop Filter to Improve the Voltage Quality of Inverters, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.64, no.x, pp. xxx-xxx, 2017.

[3] Q.-C. Zhong, Y. Wang, and B. Ren, UDE-Based Robust Droop Control of Inverters in Parallel Operation, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.65, no.xx, pp. xxx-xxx, 2017.

[4] Q.-C. Zhong, G.C. Konstantopoulos, B. Ren and M. Krstic, Improved Synchronverters with Bounded Frequency and Voltage for Smart Grid Integration, IEEE Trans. on Smart Grid, vol. xx, no.x, xxx-xxx, 2017.

[5] Q.-C. Zhong, The Ghost Operator and its Applications to Reveal the Physical Meaning of Reactive Power for Electrical and Mechanical Systems and Others, IEEE Access, vol. 5, pp. 13038-13045, 2017.

[6] Q.-C. Zhong and W.-L. Ming, Reducing the Inductors of Rectifiers having Two Outputs to Improve Power Density, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 32, no. 10, pp. 8150 - 8162, 2017.

[7] R. Sanz-Diaz, P.J. Garcia Gil, P. Albertos and Q.-C. Zhong, Robust Controller Design for Input-Delayed Systems using Predictive Feedback and an Uncertainty Estimator, Int. Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, vol. 27, no. 10, pp. 1826–1840, 2017.

[8] Q.-C. Zhong and G. Konstantopoulos, Current-limiting Droop Control of Grid-connected Inverters, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.64, no.7, pp. 5693-5973, 2017.

[9] Q.-C. Zhong, Power Electronics-enabled Autonomous Power Systems: Architecture and Technical Routes, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.64, no.7, pp. 5907-5918, 2017.

[10] B. Ren, Q.-C. Zhong and J. Dai, Asymptotic Reference Tracking and Disturbance Rejection of UDE-Based Robust Control, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.64, no.4, pp. 3166-3176, 2017.

[11] Z.-H. Liu, H.-L. Wei, Q.-C. Zhong, and K. Liu, Parameter Estimation for VSI-Fed PMSM based on a Dynamic PSO with Learning Strategies, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 3154-3165, 2017.

[12] W.-L. Ming and Q.-C. Zhong, Current-stress Reduction for the Neutral Inductor of θ-Converters, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 32, no. 4, pp. 2794-2807, 2017.

[13] B. Ren, Y. Wang, and Q.-C. Zhong, UDE-based Control of Variable-speed Wind Turbine Systems, Int. Journal of Control, vol. 90, no. 1, pp. 137-152, 2017.

[14] R. Sanz-Diaz, P.J. Garcia Gil, Q.-C. Zhong and P. Albertos, Predictor-based Control of a Class of Time-Delay Systems and its Application to Quadrotors, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.64, no.1, pp. 459-469, 2017.

[15] Q.-C. Zhong, W.-L. Ming, W. Sheng and Y. Zhao, Beijing Converters: Bridge Converters with a Capacitor added to Reduce Leakage Currents, DC-bus Voltage Ripples and Total Capacitance Required, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.64, no.1, pp. 325-335, 2017.

[16] Q.-C. Zhong, Virtual Synchronous Machines – A unified interface for smart grid integration, IEEE Power Electronics Magazine, vol. 3., No. 4, pp. 18-27, Dec. 2016.

[17] G.C. Konstantopoulos, Q.-C. Zhong, B. Ren and M. Krstic, Bounded Integral Control of Input-to-State Practically Stable Non-linear Systems to Guarantee Closed-loop Stability, IEEE Trans. on Automatic Control, vol. 61, no.12, 4196-4202, 2016.

[18] Q.-C. Zhong and W.-L. Ming, A theta-Converter that Reduces Common Mode Currents, Output Voltage Ripples and Total Capacitance Required, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 31, no. 12, pp. 8435-8447, 2016.

[19] X. Zhang and Q.-C. Zhong, Improved Adaptive-Series-Virtual-Impedance Control Incorporating Minimum Ripple Point Tracking for Load Converters in DC Systems, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 31, no. 12, pp. 8088-8095, 2016.

[20] X. Zhang, Q.-C. Zhong, and W.-L. Ming, A Virtual RLC Damper to Stabilize DC/DC Converters Having an LC Input Filter while Improving the Filter Performance, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 31, no. 12, pp. 8017-8023, 2016.

[21] Q.-C. Zhong, W.-L. Ming and Y. Zeng, Self-Synchronized Universal Droop Controller, IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 7145-7153, 2016.

[22] L. Sun, D. Li, Q.-C. Zhong, and K.-Y. Lee, Control of a Class of Industrial Processes with Time Delay based on a Modified Uncertainty and Disturbance Estimator, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.63, no.11, pp. 7018-7028, 2016.

[23] Y. Wang, B. Ren, and Q.-C. Zhong, Robust Power Flow Control of Grid-connected Inverters, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.63, no.11, pp. 6887-6897, 2016.

[24] Q.-C. Zhong and D. Boroyevich, Structural Resemblance Between Droop Controllers and Phase-Locked Loops, IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 5733-5741, 2016.

[25] J. Chen, B. Ren, and Q.-C. Zhong, UDE-based Trajectory Tracking Control of Piezoelectric Stages, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.63, no.10, pp. 6450-6459, 2016.

[26] G. Konstantopoulos, Q.-C. Zhong, and W.-L. Ming, PLL-less Nonlinear Current-limiting Controller for Single-phase Grid-tied Inverters: Design, Stability Analysis and Operation Under Grid Faults, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.63, no. 9, pp. 5582-5591, 2016.

[27] X. Zhang, Q.-C. Zhong, and W.-L. Ming, Stabilization of Cascaded DC/DC Converters via Adaptive Series-Virtual-Impedance Control of the Load Converter, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 31, no. 9, pp. 6057-6063, 2016.

[28] G. Konstantopoulos, and Q.-C. Zhong, Nonlinear Control of Single-Phase PWM Rectifiers with Inherent Current-Limiting Capability, IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 3578-3590, 2016.

[29] R. Sanz-Diaz, P.J. Garcia Gil, Q.-C. Zhong and P. Albertos, Robust Control of Quadrotors Based on an Uncertainty and Disturbance Estimator, ASME J. Dyn. Syst., Meas., Control, vol. 138, no. 7, 071006, 2016.

[30] Q.-C. Zhong, W.-L. Ming, X. Cao and M. Krstic, Control of Ripple Eliminators to Improve the Power Quality of DC Systems and Reduce the Usage of Electrolytic Capacitors, IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 2177-2187, 2016.

[31] H. Wu, X. Ruan, D. Yang, X. Chen, Q.-C. Zhong and Z. Lv, Small-Signal Modelling and Parameters Design for Virtual Synchronous Generators, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.63, no. 7, pp. 4292-4303, 2016.

[32] Q.-C. Zhong and Y. Zeng, Universal Droop Control of Inverters with Different Types of Output Impedance, IEEE Access, vol. 4, pp. 702-712, 2016.

[33] X. Zhang, Q.-C. Zhong and W.-L. Ming, Stabilization of a Cascaded DC Converter System via Adding a Virtual Adaptive Parallel Impedance to the Input of the Load Converter, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 31, no. 3, pp. 1826-1832, 2016.

[34] W.-L. Ming and Q.-C. Zhong, A Single-phase Four-Switch Rectifier with Significantly Reduced Capacitance, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 31, no. 2, pp. 1618-1632, 2016.

[35] X. Zhang, X.-B. Ruan and Q.-C. Zhong, Improving the Stability of Cascaded DC/DC Converter Systems via Shaping the Input Impedance of the Load Converter with a Parallel or Series Virtual Impedance, IEEE Trans. on Ind. Electronics. vol. 62, no. 12, pp. 7499-7512, 2015.

[36] B. Ren, Q.-C. Zhong and J. Chen, Robust Control of Non-affine Nonlinear Systems with an Uncertainty and Disturbance Estimator (UDE), IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.62, no.9, pp. 5881-5888, 2015.

[37] G.C. Konstantopoulos, Q.-C. Zhong, B. Ren and M. Krstic, Stability and fail-safe operation of Inverters Operated in Parallel, International Journal of Control, vol. 88, no. 7, pp. 1410-1421, 2015.

[38] A. Kuperman and Q.-C. Zhong, UDE-based linear robust control for a class of nonlinear systems with application to wing rock motion stabilization, Nonlinear Dynamics, 2015.

[39] W.-L. Ming and Q.-C. Zhong, A single-phase rectifier having two independent voltage outputs with reduced fundamental frequency voltage ripples, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 30, no. 7, pp. 3662-3673, 2015.

[40] X. Cao, Q.-C. Zhong and W.-L. Ming, Ripple eliminator to smooth DC-Bus voltage and reduce the total capacitance required, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.62, no. 4, pp. 2224-2235, 2015.

[41] A.T. Alexandridis, G.C. Konstantopoulos, and Q.-C. Zhong, Advanced Integrated Modeling and Analysis for Adjustable Speed Drives of Induction Motors Operating with Minimum Losses, IEEE Trans. on Energy Conversion, vol.30, no.3, pp. 1237-1246, 2015.

[42] G.C. Konstantopoulos, Q.-C. Zhong, B. Ren, and M. Krstic, Bounded Droop Controller for Parallel Operation of Inverters, Automatica, Vol. 53, no. 3, pp. 320-328, 2015.

[43] Q.-C. Zhong, Z. Ma, W.-L. Ming and G.C. Konstantopoulos, Grid-friendly wind power systems based on the synchronverter technology, Energy Conversion and Management, vol. 89, pp. 719-726, 2015.

[44] Q.-C. Zhong and Y. Zeng, Control of inverters via a virtual capacitor to achieve capacitive output impedance, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 29, no. 10, pp. 5568-5578, 2014.

[45] Q.-C. Zhong, P.-L. Nguyen, Z. Ma and W. Sheng, Self-synchronised synchronverters: Inverters without a dedicated synchronisation unit, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 29, no. 2, pp. 617–630, Feb., 2014.

[46] Q.-C. Zhong, AC Ward Leonard drive systems: Revisiting the four-quadrant operation of AC machines, European Journal of Control, vol. 19, No. 5, 426–436, 2013.

[47] S.M. Disney, R.D. H. Warburton and Q.-C. Zhong, Net present value analysis of the economic production quantity, IMA Journal of Management Mathematics, vol. 24, No. 4, 423–435, 2013.

[48] T. Hornik and Q.-C. Zhong, Parallel PI voltage–H-infinity current controller for the neutral point of a three-phase inverter, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.60, no.4, 1335-1343, 2013.

[49] Q.-C. Zhong and T. Hornik, Cascaded current-voltage control to improve the power quality for a grid-connected inverter with a local load, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.60, no.4, 1344-1355, 2013.

[50] Q.-C. Zhong, Robust droop controller for accurate proportional load sharing among inverters operated in parallel, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.60, no.4, 1281-1290, 2013.

[51] Q.-C. Zhong, Harmonic droop controller to reduce the voltage harmonics of inverters, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.60, no.3, 936-945, 2013.

[52] X.-L. Wang, Q.-C. Zhong, Z.-Q. Deng and S.-Z. Yue, Current-controlled multi-phase slice permanent magnetic bearingless motors with open-circuited phases: Fault-Tolerant Controllability and its Verification, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol. 59, no. 5, 2059-2072, 2012.

[53] Q.-C. Zhong, A. Kuperman and R.K. Stobart, Design of UDE-based controllers from their two-degree-of-freedom nature, Int. Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, vol. 21, 1994–2008, 2011.

[54] T. Hornik and Q.-C. Zhong, A current control strategy for voltage-source inverters in microgrids based on H-infinity and repetitive control, IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 26, no. 3, 943-952, 2011.

[55]Q.-C. Zhong and G. Weiss, Synchronverters: Inverters that mimic synchronous generators, IEEE Trans. on Industrial Electronics, vol.58, no.4, 1259-1267, 2011.

[56]R.K. Stobart, A. Kuperman and Q.-C. Zhong, Uncertainty and disturbance estimator (UDE)-based control for uncertain LTI-SISO systems with state delays, ASME J. Dyn. Syst., Meas., Control, vol. 133, 024502, 1-6, 2011.

[57]A. Kuperman and Q.-C. Zhong, Robust control of uncertain nonlinear systems with state delays based on an uncertainty and disturbance estimator, Int. Journal of Robust and Nonlinear Control, vol.21, no.1, 79-92, 2011.

[58]T. Hornik and Q.-C. Zhong, H-infinity repetitive voltage control of grid-connected inverters with a frequency adaptive mechanism, IET Power Electronics, vol.3, no.6, 925-935, 2010.

[59]S. Shen, J. Zhang, X. Chen, Q.-C. Zhong and R. Thornton, ISG hybrid powertrain: A rule-based driver model incorporating look-ahead information, Vehicle System Dynamics, vol. 48, no.3, 301-337, 2010.

[60]S. Hadd and Q.-C. Zhong, On feedback stabilizability of linear systems with state and input delays in Banach spaces, IEEE Trans. on Automatic Control, vol. 54, no.3, 438-451, 2009.

[61]Q.-C. Zhong, A. K. Nandi and M. F. Aburdene, Efficient implementation of the discrete Pascal transform using difference operators, IET Electronics Letters, vol. 43, no. 24, 1348-1350, 2007.

[62]J. Sun, Q.-G. Wang and Q.-C. Zhong, A less conservative stability test for second-order linear time-varying vector differential equations, Int. Journal of Control, vol. 80, no. 4, 523–526, April 2007.

[63]Q.-C. Zhong, J. Liang, G. Weiss, C.-M. Feng and T. Green. H-infinity control of the neutral point in 4-wire 3-phase DC-AC converters. IEEE Trans. Industrial Electronics, vol. 53, no.5, 1594-1602, 2006.

[64]B. Wang, D. Rees and Q.-C. Zhong. Control of Integral Processes with Dead Time. Part IV: Various Issues about PI controllers. IEE Proc. Control Theory & Appl., vol. 153, no. 3, 302-306, 2006.

[65]R. Majumder, B. Chauduri, B. Pal and Q.-C. Zhong. A unified Smith predictor approach for power system damping control using remote signals. IEEE Trans. on Control Systems Technology, vol. 13, no.6, 1063-1068, 2005.

[66]Q.-C. Zhong, L. Hobson, M.G. Jayne. Classical control of the neutral point in 4-wire 3-phase DC-AC converters. Electrical Power Quality and Utilisation, vol. 11, no.2, 111-119, 2005.

[67]Q.-C. Zhong. J-spectral factorization of regular para-Hermitian transfer matrices. Automatica, vol.41, no.7, 1289-1293, 2005.

[68]Q.-C. Zhong. On distributed delay in linear control laws. Part II: Rational implementations inspired from the -operator. IEEE Trans. on Automatic Control, vol. 50, no.5, 729-734, 2005.

[69]Q.-C. Zhong and D. Rees. Control of uncertain LTI systems based on an uncertainty and disturbance estimator. ASME J. Dyn. Syst., Meas., Control, vol.126, no.4, 905-910, 2004.

[70]Q.-C. Zhong and G. Weiss. A unified Smith predictor based on the spectral decomposition of the plant. Int. J. of Control, vol. 77, no.15, pp.1362-1371, 2004.

[71]Q.-C. Zhong. On distributed delay in linear control laws. Part I: Discrete-delay implementations. IEEE Trans. Automatic Control, vol. 49, no.11, pp.2074-2080, 2004.

[72]Q.-C. Zhong and C.-C. Hang. Control of processes with dead time and input constraints using control signal shaping. IEE Proc. Control Theory & Applications, vol. 151, no.4, pp.473-480, 2004.

[73]G. Weiss, Q.-C. Zhong, T. Green and J. Liang. H-infinity repetitive control of DC-AC converters in micro-grids. IEEE Trans. on Power Electronics, vol. 19, pp.219-230, 2004.

[74]L. Mirkin and Q.-C. Zhong. 2DOF Controller parametrization for systems with a single I/O delay. IEEE Trans. Automatic Control, vol. 48, no.11, pp. 1999-2004, 2003.

[75]Q.-C. Zhong. Robust stability analysis of simple systems controlled over communication networks. Automatica, vol.39, no.7, pp. 1309-1312, 2003.

[76]Q.-C. Zhong. On standard H-infinity control of processes with a single delay. IEEE Trans. Automatic Control, vol.48, no.6, pp. 1097-1103, 2003.

[77]Q.-C. Zhong. Frequency domain solution to the delay-type Nehari problem. Automatica, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 499-508, 2003.

[78]Q.-C. Zhong. H-infinity control of dead-time systems based on a transformation. Automatica, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 361-366, 2003.

[79]Q.-C. Zhong. Control of integral processes with dead time. Part 3: Dead-beat disturbance response. IEEE Trans. Automatic Control, vol. 48, no. 1, pp. 153-159, 2003.

[80]G. Meinsma, L. Mirkin and Q.-C. Zhong. Control of systems with I/O delay via reduction to a one-block problem. IEEE Trans. Automatic Control, vol. 47, no.11, pp.1890-1895, 2002.

[81]Q.-C. Zhong and L. Mirkin. Control of integral processes with dead time. Part 2: Quantitative analysis. IEE Proc. Control Theory & Applications, vol. 149, no. 4, pp. 291-296, 2002.

[82]Q.-C. Zhong, J.E. Normey-Rico. Control of integral processes with dead time. Part 1: Disturbance-observer based 2DOF control scheme. IEE Proc. Control Theory Applications, vol. 149, no. 4, pp. 285-290, 2002.

[83]Q.-C. Zhong and H.-X. Li. Two-degree-of-freedom PID-type controller with Smith principle for processes with dead-time. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, vol. 41, no.10, pp. 2448-2454, 2002.

[84]Q.-C. Zhong, J.Y. Xie and Q. Jia. Time-delay-filter-based dead-beat control of process with dead time. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, vol.39, no.6, pp. 2024-2028, 2000.

[85]Q.-C. Zhong and J.Y. Xie. Robust Smith predictive controller for processes with inverse response. Journal of Shanghai Jiaotong University, vol. E-4, no.2, pp. 10-16, 1999.

Books

[1] Q.-C. Zhong, Power Electronics-Enabled Autonomous Power Systems: Next Generation Smart Grids, Wiley-IEEE Press, to appear in 2017.

[2] Q.-C. Zhong and W.-L. Ming, Advanced Power Converters with Reduced Capacitance, Ripples and Common-mode Voltages, Wiley-IEEE Press, to appear in 2017.

[3] Q.-C. Zhong and T. Hornik, Control of Power Inverters in Renewable Energy and Smart Grid Integration, Wiley-IEEE Press, 2013.

[4] A. Visioli and Q.-C. Zhong, Control of Integral Processes with Dead Time, Springer-Verlag Limited, London, 2010.

[5] Q.-C. Zhong, Robust Control of Time-delay Systems. ISBN: 1-84628-264-0. Springer-Verlag Limited, London, 2006.

Patents

[1]      Q.-C. Zhong, Self-synchronized robust droop controller, UK Patent GB1601730.3, filed in January 2016.

[2]      Q.-C. Zhong and G. Konstantopoulos, Current-limiting droop controller for power converters, UK Patent GB1521725.0, filed in December 2015.

[3]      Q.-C. Zhong, Theta converter, UK Patent GB1516168.0, filed in September 2015.

[4]      Q.-C. Zhong and T. Hornik, Cascaded Current-Voltage Repetitive Controllers to Improve the Quality of Output Voltage and Current Simultaneously for Grid-Connected Inverters, UK Patent GB2483910, filed in September 2010, granted on 19/02/2013.

[5]      Q.-C. Zhong, Proportional load sharing for inverters, UK Patent GB2483879, filed in September 2010, granted on 11/06/2013.

[6]      Q.-C. Zhong, AC Ward Leonard Drive Systems, UK Patent GB2473853, filed in September 2009, granted on 20/03/2012.

[7]      Q.-C. Zhong, A system and a method for converting the kinetic energy stored in landing aircraft into electricity, UK Patent GB2460132, filed in Dec. 2008, granted on 29/01/2013.

[8]      Q.-C. Zhong and G. Weiss, Static synchronous generators (Inverters that Mimic Synchronous Generators), EU/US/China Patent granted, EP2377238, US008880236B2, CN102257720A, WO2010055322A3, filed in Nov. 2008.

Professional Activities

• Cover story by IEEE Power Electronics Magazine on Virtual Synchronous Machines -- A Unified Interface for Smart Grid Integration, December 2016.
• Semi-plenary talk at The 20th World Congress of the International Federation of Automatic Control, Toulouse, France, July 2017.
• Panel Discussion on Synchronous Control of Power Converters for Renewable Applications and Beyond at the 2017 IEEE PES General Meeting, Chicago, IL, July 2017.
• Semi-plenary talk at The 2017 Asian Control Conference, Gold Coast, Australia, December 2017.
• LinkedIn Group on Virtual Synchronous Machines & Power Electronics-Enabled Autonomous Power Systems
• Primary Frequency Control of Future Power Systems, IEEE Smart Grid, June 2017.
• IEEE Smart Grid, Steering Committee member representing IEEE Power Electronics Society, May 2017
• Power-Electronics-Enabled Autonomous Power Systems: Architecture and Technical Routes, IEEE Transactions on Industrial Electronics, July 2017.
• Expected to be Game Changer for the Grid, Featured by Midwest Energy News.

Expertise

Control/Systems Theory and Power Electronics, together with their applications in electrical engineering (renewable energy, distributed generation, microgrids, power systems, smart grids, electric drives, traction power systems for high-speed trains, marine power systems, aircraft power systems etc.), automotive engineering (engine control, hybrid electric vehicles, energy management etc.), chemical engineering (processes with dead time, continuous stirred tank reactors etc.), and mechanical engineering (mechatronics, UAVs, servo systems etc.).