Biosketch

Bio

D Venkatramanan was born and raised in Chennai, TN, India. He received the B.Tech. degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Trichy, India, in 2008, and the M.E. and, Ph.D degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India, in 2010, and 2019, respectively. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and has been actively engaged in power electronics technology since 2010---this includes four years of industry experience and more than three years of post-Ph.D research experience in academic institutions.

He was a Senior Design Engineer at APC by Schneider Electric India Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore, from 2010 to 2013, where, he worked on online double-conversion smart-UPS system for home and business networks. He received the promising-newcomer-of-the-year-2011 award in this organization in 2012, as a recognition. Subsequently, from 2013 to 2014, he was with GE Healthcare, Bangalore, where, he worked on motor drive design for the patient-positioning platform in a cardiovascular X-ray imaging system. As a Senior Research Associate at IISc, Bangalore, from 2019 to 2020, his research focussed on sizing and design optimization of Ultracapacitor-based advanced energy-storage banks. Since Nov-2020, he has been a Postdoctoral Associate at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, MN, USA, where, his research focuses on scalable grid-forming inverter control paradigms for large-scale integration of PV resources. He is a reviewer for several peer-reviewed IEEE journals; he was recognized as a star reviewer for 2020 by the editorial board of IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion.  His current research interests are on next-generation inverter-based resources (IBRs), energy storage systems, and realizing their interoperability under a high percentage of PV penetration. His research efforts broadly are channeled toward enabling grid modernization and sustainability.

Education

Ph.D., Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore 

Duration: Aug 2014 -- Dec 2019

Thesis: Modeling, Analysis, and Control of Reconfigurable Battery/Grid-tied Solar Photo-voltaic Inverter [link]

Advisor: Prof. Vinod John

M.E., Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore

Duration: Aug 2008 -- Jul 2010

Thesis: Integrated Magnetic Filter Transformer Design for a Grid-connected Single-phase PWM VSI [link]

Grade: 7.1/8, First class with Distinction

Advisor: Prof. Vinod John

[NOTE: I was immensely fortunate to be at EE, IISc in this particular period, as I could witness, experience, and learn firsthand from Prof. V Ramanarayanan and (late) Prof. V. T. Ranganathan---two extraordinary human beings who were also brilliant teachers & remarkable mentors. I belonged to the last batch of M.E degree students that they taught and trained in full. By watching and following them closely (inside and outside the classroom), I could not only pick up on the art of power electronics but also could glimpse at the true art of living that they practiced. This was a golden period and a turning point in my life, which greatly shaped my character and personality, and, set me on the trajectory toward an academic career. In 2010, Prof. VR retired from academic life, and Prof. VTR passed away.]

B.Tech., Electrical & Electronics Engineering, National Institute of Technology (NIT), Trichy

Duration: Aug 2004 -- Jul 2008

Project: Simulation studies on vector control of three-phase shunt active-filter and STATCOM

Grade: 8.5/10, First class with Distinction

Advisor: C. Nagamani

Duration: June 1992 -- Mar 2004

AISSCE (Class 12): 91%, School First [2004]

AISSE (Class 10): 86% [2002]


Research Experience

Postdoctoral Associate

Duration: Nov 2020 -- present

Affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Minnesota (UMN), Twin-Cities, MN, USA

Senior Research Associate

Duration: Jan 2020 -- Oct 2020

Research Associate

Duration: Dec 2018 -- Dec 2019

Ph. D.  Candidate

Duration: Aug 2014 -- Dec 2018

Affiliation: IISc, Bangalore

Industry Work Experience

Electrical Engineer (Design)

Duration: Nov 2013 -- July 2014

Affiliation: GE Healthcare, John F Welch Technology Centre, Bangalore

Senior Engineer (Design)

Duration: Aug 2010 -- Oct 2013

Affiliation: APC by Schneider Electric pvt. ltd, India, Bangalore

Professional  Activities

Professional Services

Reviewer

Technical Track Chair

Mentoring

Teaching & Lab Assistantships

🚩 muktābhimānī mukto hi baddho baddhābhimānyapi | kiṃvadantīha satyeyaṃ yā matiḥ sā gatirbhavet ||  🚩

Source: Aṣṭāvakra Gītā

TranslIf one thinks of oneself as free, one is free indeed, and if one thinks of oneself as bound, one remains bound.  The saying is true that 'as one thinks, so one becomes'.