Keynote Speakers
(alphabetic order)
Dr Arshad Mansoor
Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
Arshad Mansoor is President and Chief Executive Officer of the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), responsible for the institute’s operation and portfolio of R&D and demonstration programs. Mansoor has been with EPRI for 21 years and previously served as SVP of research and development, and VP of the Power Delivery and Utilization sector.
Mansoor holds five U.S. patents in power electronics and distributed energy resources. He is a senior member of IEEE, served as VP of the U.S. National Committee of CIGRE, and is a member of the board for the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte.
He earned a B.S. in electrical engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology; and a M.S. (1992) and doctorate (1994) in electrical engineering from the University of Texas in Austin. He completed the MIT Reactor Technology Course and the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.
As an energy thought leader, Arshad Mansoor has been widely quoted on related matters in both national and global press and has presented in various forums worldwide including board briefings. In addition, he has published numerous papers in journals and conference proceedings.
Prof Debbie Terry, AO
Vice-Chancellor and President, The University of Queensland
Professor Deborah Terry AO is a highly experienced leader in the Australian university sector – and an internationally recognised scholar in psychology.
Since August 2020, Professor Terry has served as Vice-Chancellor and President of The University of Queensland (UQ). Prior to this, she was Vice-Chancellor of Curtin University in Western Australia, from 2014 to 2020.
Having grown up in Perth and Canberra, Professor Terry completed her PhD in Social Psychology at the Australian National University in Canberra. She moved to Brisbane in 1990 to begin her academic career in UQ’s School of Psychology. Between 1990 and 2014, Professor Terry progressed through a range of academic positions at UQ before moving into senior university leadership roles, eventually becoming Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
Professor Terry is a Fellow and past President of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and an appointed member of the Australian Research Council Advisory Council. She currently serves on the Board of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, AARNET and the National Schools Resourcing Board. She is also a former Chair of the Board of Universities Australia and a member of the Universitas 21 Executive Committee.
Professor Terry was made an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) in June 2015, in recognition of her distinguished service to education in the tertiary sector.
Dr Imre Gyuk
Department of Energy, United States of America
Dr. Imre Gyuk is Director of Energy Storage Research at the U.S. Department of Energy. For the past 2 decades, he has directed work on a wide portfolio of storage technologies for a broad spectrum of applications. He supervised the $185M ARRA stimulus funding for Grid Scale Energy Storage Demonstrations and is now partnering with the states on numerous projects for grid resilience. Dr. Gyuk’s Program includes research on materials, devices, and systems; it also funds work on analytics, policy, finance, and most recently, social equity and long duration storage… His work has led to 12 R&D 100 awards, two EPA Green Chemistry Challenge Award, and Lifetime Achievement Awards from ESA and NAATBatt. He is internationally recognized as a leader in the energy storage field.
After receiving a B.S. from Fordham University, Dr. Gyuk did graduate work at Brown University on Superconductivity. Having received a Ph.D. in Theoretical Particle Physics from Purdue University he became a Research Associate at Syracuse. As an Assistant Professor he taught Physics, Civil Engineering, and Environmental Architecture at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Gyuk became an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics at Kuwait University where he became interested in issues of sustainability.
Dr Jessica Bian
IEEE PES President
Dr. Jessica Bian is a visionary leader and architect. She has spearheaded electric industry’s reliability metrics and grid risk assessment. Currently she is the Vice President of Grid Services at Grid-X Partners. Before that, she was with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Washington, DC. Previously, she was the Director of Performance Analysis at North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) in Atlanta, Georgia. Under her leadership, a total of 18 industry-wide reliability indicators were established to determine grid reliability, adequacy, and associated risks. She is widely recognized as a pioneer and trusted world leader in the field.
Before joining NERC, Dr. Bian was with PJM, ERCOT and Westinghouse Electric. She earned her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Tulane University and published over 70 articles. She volunteers at the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES); was the Society Secretary from 2016 to 2019. She is the PES President-Elect for 2020-2021.
Mr Peter Price
Energy Queensland Executive
Peter was appointed to the Energy Queensland Executive in November 2016 and is responsible for leading the Group’s engineering and asset management strategies, which includes the safe and efficient management of the Group’s electricity distribution networks. Peter is also accountable for the Energy Queensland Corporate Strategy and Regulatory outcomes.
Prior to joining Energy Queensland, Mr Price was a member of Energex’s executive management team for ten years undertaking a number of roles which included managing and leading capital planning and program delivery, asset management, procurement, regulatory issues and the growth of new commercial business.
He has a strong background in Queensland’s skills and training sector including being Chair of Energy Skills Queensland, the deputy Chair of the TAFE Queensland Board, and Chairperson of SkillsTech Australia.
Mr Price holds a bachelor degree (with honours) and a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Queensland and is a Fellow of AICD.