Kevin Tomsovic
CURENT director and CTI Professor in the Min H. Kao Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) Kevin Tomsovic can now add another prestigious accolade to his name, as he has been chosen to be a Chancellor’s Professor, one of the highest faculty honors at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Tomsovic joins the select group of 18 other faculty members out of the 1,665 full-time faculty positions at UT, four of which are also from the Tickle College of Engineering: Dean Matthew Mench, Department of Materials Science and Engineering Head Veerle Keppens, Department of Nuclear Engineering Head Wes Hines, and Min H. Kao Professor Leon Tolbert, of EECS.
“It is, of course, nice to be recognized but what I think this reflects is the incredible faculty we have working in power and energy in EECS,” he said. “This power group is among the strongest at any university in the world and includes Drs. Kevin Bai, Chien-fei Chen, Daniel Costinett, Han Cui, Fran Li, Yilu Liu, Hector Pulgar, Kai Sun, Leon Tolbert and Fred Wang. I am lucky to be working with such a group.”
His research involves the exploration of new power grid ideas and capabilities, the distribution, scheduling, operation, diagnostics and maintenance of power systems, market analysis, and stabilization and control methodology.
Among other things in his role as director of CURENT, the National Science Foundation- and Department of Energy-sponsored Engineering Research Center, Tomsovic was part of a team that was acknowledged with an R&D 100 award in 2020 for the development of a large-scale test bed for the center’s lab, in addition to being selected for the award in 2014 for developing a continuously variable series reactor.
“Kevin is been a valued colleague with a tremendous international reputation and impact in his field,” said Dean Mench, the Wayne T. Davis Dean’s Chair of the College. “He has also been a leader in the college, served as department head of EECS and as director for CURENT. This prestigious recognition of his impact on the college and university is extremely well justified, and I am grateful to have high-quality faculty such as Professor Tomsovic in the Tickle College of Engineering .”
He is a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), which made him a Fellow of IEEE in 2007 for his contributions to intelligent systems in power engineering.
Tomsovic graduated with a bachelor’s in electrical engineering from Michigan Technological University in 1982, followed by earning his masters and doctorate from the University of Washington in 1984 and ’87, respectively.