I am an independent consultant and provide services in the areas of SynchroPhasor Technology and Energy Management Systems (EMS) in Power Systems. I am the founder of NDRs SEMS Consultancy LLC which helps to provide services in these areas.

I am an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, USA, since November 2016. I am also an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering at the National Institute of Technology (formerly Regional Engineering College), Warangal, Telangana State, India, since Jan 2024.

I completed the following consulting assignments recently:

• Principal Engineer at GE and involved in Testing EMS Network Applications

• Electric Power Group to write a report on Deployment of Synchrophasor Technology in Grid Operations

• Principal Engineer - Consultancy at Dominion Energy and was involved in deploying SynchroPhasor Technology in its operations

Currently working on the following :

• Working for IIIT Hyderabad as a Subject Matter Expert and advising on the Project on 'The development of substation dashboard and AI-based Predictive Analytics for Transformers at BYPL (BSES Yamuna Power Limited)', for The Deutsche Gesellschaft Fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), since November 2023.

I also worked as Supervisor, EMS and Advanced Network Applications at Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) at Austin, TX during Oct 2018 - Feb 2020. Prior to joining LCRA in Oct, 2018, I worked as a Principal EMS Network Applications Engineer at PEAK Reliability at Vancouver, WA, during Feb 2017 to Oct 2018. Peak’s Reliability Coordinator Area included all or parts of 14 western states, British Columbia, and the northern portion of Baja California, Mexico. I was involved in providing support for the advanced network applications such as State Estimation, Real-Time Contingency Analysis, Forced Outage Detection, etc.. I also represented PEAK at the WECC RAS Regional Sub Committee.

I was with Electric Reliability Council of Texas, Inc (ERCOT), in the Advanced Network Applications Group of the Operations Support Department during Aug 2007 to Mar 2016. I was also involved in the use of Synchrophasor Technology in Managing the grid at ERCOT.

I worked in the R&D Division of CMC Limited in India, for about 8 years and was involved in several Technology Development Projects in the area of Energy Management Systems (EMS) and Distribution Automation for power utilities.

I spent about 5 years at Texas A&M University, College Station, USA as a Post Doctoral Research Associate/Research Scientist and worked for several projects in the area of shipboard power systems, which were funded by the Office of Naval Research, USA.

I worked as an Associate Professor and Head of Power Systems Research Center at International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Hyderabad, India from May 2003 to Feb, 2006, focusing on IT Applications to Power.

I am the editor for the following books:

• Power System Grid Operation Using Synchrophasor Technology, by Springer, 2019. 

• Use of Voltage Stability and Transient Stability Assessment Tools in Grid Operations, by Springer, June 2021

• 'Experiences on Use of State Estimator for Power System Operations', by Springer, October, 2024 (Co-editor with Dr Veera Raju Vinnakota)

Education

• BTech (Electrical Engineering) - National Institute of Technology, Warangal, (formerly called as Regional Engineering College, Warangal), India, in 1983

• MTech (Power Systems Engineering) - National Institute of Technology, Warangal, (formerly called as Regional Engineering College, Warangal), India, in 1986.

• PhD - Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, India, in 1995. 

Topic: Network Reconfiguration in Distribution Systems under the supervision of late Dr. K.S. Prakasa Rao. The research work involved developing new algorithms for various aspects of network reconfiguration such as reconfiguration for Service Restoration, Load Balancing and Loss Minimization in Distribution Systems. These methods are very useful in the context of Smart Grids and Distribution Automation.

Experience

• Over 15 years of experience working at ERCOT, PEAK Reliability, LCRA, in providing technical support to operations engineers, control center operators in the areas of EMS advanced network applications such as Dispatcher Training Simulator (DTS), State Estimation, Real-time 

• Contingency Analysis, Remedial Action Schemes (RAS), Topology Consistency Analyzer, Critical Measurements, Forced Outrage Detection, Transmission Congestion Manager, Outage Evaluation and Voltage Support Service. Was actively involved in testing and providing training in these areas.

• Over 3 years of experience in interaction with Market Operations at ERCOT in validating EMS data that is sent for Day Ahead Studies.

• Over six years of experience in Wide Area Visualization using PMU data and Synchrophasor Technology

• Over 8 years of experience, in architecture, design, development, testing and implementation of Applications Functions for Energy Management Systems (EMS) and Distribution Automation Systems (DAS)

• Over 7 years of experience in the area of shipboard power systems

• Led a team that was responsible for designing, developing, testing and field implementation of application functions for EMS and DA Systems

• Was actively involved in setting up ISO Procedures and conducting Internal Auditing

• Has specific domain experience in the areas of Utility Power Systems and Naval Shipboard Power Systems

• Over 3 years of experience as Associate Professor and Head of the Power Systems Research Center and developed new curriculum for a graduate level program in IT Applications to Power

• Published several papers in top journals and conferences

• Organized and chaired several special panel sessions at the IEEE PES General Meetings

• Gave several seminars/presentations in the areas of SCADA, EMS, DA and Shipboard Power Systems at various conferences, organizations and Universities in US, Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Nepal and India

• Served as Secretary (2004-2005) and Vice Chair(2006-2007) of the IEEE PES Distribution Automation Working Group

• Initiated and led IEEE Task Force on State Estimation Concepts and Terminology , July 2009 – July 2014

• Initiated and led an IEEE Task Force on Real-time Contingency Analysis , Aug 2014 – Dec 2019.

• Co-chair of the IEEE Task Force on Synchrophasor Applications in Power System Operations and Control, April 2018 - July 2023.

• Guest Editor along with Dr. Arun Phadke for the September/October 2015 issue of the IEEE PES Magazine focusing on the theme of Use of Synchrophasor technology in managing the grid.

• Editor for the book on Power System Grid Operation Using Synchrophasor Technology by Springer, June 2018

• Editor for the book on Use of Voltage Stability Assessment and Transient Stability Assessment Tools for Grid Operations by Springer, June 2021

• Member of the NERC Standard Drafting Team on Project 2009-02 Real-Time Monitoring and Analysis Capabilities, which developed new standards and are enforced in the industry  during April 2015- May 2016. The standards IRO-018-1 and TOP-101-1 were approved by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in an order issued September 22, 2016.

• Member of the NERC Synchronized Measurement Working Group (SMWG) – Since August 2015

• IEEE Distinguished Lecturer in the IEEE PES Distinguished Lecturer Program (DLP), since November, 2015.

• Co-chair of the Control Room Solutions Task Team and Leadership Team, NASPI, November 2019 - June 2020.

Recognition

• Recognized as an Expert in the area of Synchrophasor Technology and a recipient of the Most Valuable Player Award for Control Room Solution by NASPI and the US DOE (Department of Energy) in 2015.  The citation reads:

"... Sarma has been a leading organizer and contributor to the CRSTT and the NERC Synchronized Measurement Subcommittee and a public champion for synchrophasor technology ...".

• Recipient of the NASPI / DOE  Control Room Solution Award, Volunteer of the Year Award in 2018. The citation reads: 

"… NDR has been a huge contributor to the CRSTT’s efforts to help control room operators understand and use PMU data.  He has led development of Oscillation Detection and Phase Angle Alarming papers and contributed to the video event library and other papers.  His knowledge and enthusiasm encourage others to do better …".