Zhou Yifan, an alumna of the Department of Electrical Engineering (undergraduate, 2010–2014; PhD, 2014–2019), received the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) Award in April 2026. The award will support her research group in developing new quantum computing methods for modern power grid analysis. As power systems continue to expand in scale and become increasingly complex in operation, their strong nonlinearities, highly dynamic characteristics, and diverse operating scenarios are placing greater demands on existing computational methods. The project will explore the use of quantum computing to improve the efficiency and scalability of key power grid analysis tasks, providing new computational theories and technological support for rapid simulation, risk assessment, and secure operation of future power systems. The project will also integrate curriculum development, open-source tools, and industry collaboration to promote the interdisciplinary convergence of quantum information science and power systems engineering.

Profile of the Award Recipient

Zhou Yifan joined the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Stony Brook University, State University of New York, as an assistant professor in fall 2022. She received her Bachelor of Engineering degree from Tsinghua University in 2014, and was recognized as an Outstanding Graduate of Tsinghua University, an Outstanding Graduate of Beijing, and an Outstanding Graduate with an Excellent Undergraduate Thesis by the Department of Electrical Engineering. In 2019, she received her PhD in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University under the supervision of Professor Min Yong. Zhou Yifan’s research focuses on modern computational and trustworthy intelligent methods inspired by power grid structures. Building on the physical structures and operating principles inherent in power systems, she explores the application of emerging technologies—including quantum computing, artificial intelligence, and formal verification—to dynamic power grid analysis, stability assessment, real-time decision-making, and resilient operation, contributing to the development of a new generation of reliable, adaptive, and scalable intelligent technologies for power grids.

Zhou Yifan’s academic work has received numerous honors, including the NSF CAREER Award, Stony Brook Trustees Faculty Award, National Academy of Inventors Young Academic Inventors Award, and Stony Brook University Discovery Prize Finalist recognition. Her research has also received Best Paper Awards at conferences and venues including the IEEE PES General Meeting, iEnergy, CIGRE NGN Symposium, and IEEE Big Data Conference.