Chen-Ching Liu, Cyber-Physical System Security of the Power Grid

The electric power grid is a complex cyber-physical system that forms the lifeline of a modern society. Its reliable and secure operation is of paramount importance to national security and economic well-being. The power grid today is a highly automated network, wherein a variety of communication networks and information systems are interconnected to the physical grid for the purpose of monitoring, protection, control, and market functions. The increased reliance on information and communications technology in the smart gird significantly increases the vulnerabilities, which further underscores the importance of cyber security. As a result, cyber-physical system security of the power grid is a critical area encompassing vulnerability assessment, anomaly detection, and mitigation for substations and the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems. The purpose of this presentation is to provide new concepts and testbed-based methodologies for the integrated cyber-power systems. Future research directions will be discussed. About the speaker: Chen-Ching Liu is American Electric Power Professor and Director, Power and Energy Center, at Virginia Tech. During 1983-2017, he was on the faculty of University of Washington, Iowa State University, University College Dublin (Ireland), and Washington State University. Professor Liu received an IEEE Third Millennium Medal in 2000 and the Power and Energy Society Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award in 2004. In 2013, Dr. Liu received a Doctor Honoris Causa from Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Romania. He chaired the IEEE Power and Energy Society Fellow Committee, Technical Committee on Power System Analysis, Computing and Economics, and Outstanding Power Engineering Educator Award Committee. Chen-Ching is the U.S. Representative on the CIGRE Study Committee D2, Information Systems and Telecommunication. Professor Liu is a Fellow of the IEEE, Member of Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, and Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering.