Wangkun Xu

About Me

I’m a Research Associate at Control and Power Research Group at EEE Department, Imperial College London, under the UK - Electric Power Innovation for a Carbon-free Society Center (UK-EPICS) project.

I received my Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College London in 2024. Before that, I received my M.Sc. degree in Control Systems from Imperial College London in 2019 and my B.Eng. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from University of Liverpool and Xi-an Jiaotong Liverpool University in 2018. I also interned at MediaTek research, UK as deep learning research intern in 2024.

I am the recipient of EEE Department Ph.D. Scholarship at Imperial in 2019, William Rathbone Medal at UoL in 2018, and David Inglis Prize at UoL in 2017 for academic excellence. I am also a member of IEEE and IET.

AI Behind the Control Center. Image generated by Adobe Express

AI Behind the Control Center. Image generated by Adobe Express

My current research interests include a broad intersection of machine learning, optimisation, and system dynamics, with a focus on efficient and robust power system operation and control under high penetration of renewable.

In my free time, I enjoy hiking, video games, and watching football. I am a big fan of Arsenal FC since 2010.

News

  • 2025-05-10 [Paper]: New preprint available “LAPSO: A Unified Optimization View for Learning-Augmented Power System Operations” [paper link].
  • 2025-04-01 [Event]: We will host the Inaugrial launch of the CIGRE UK London Region Universities Hub at Imperial College London on 06th May. You can now register for the event here.
  • 2025-03-01 [Personal]: I have been officially awarded as Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) by Advance HE!
  • 2025-02-21 [Paper]: New preprint available ‘Qubit-Efficient Quantum Annealing for Stochastic Unit Commitment’ led by Mr. Wei Hong [paper link].
  • 2025-02-01 [Paper]: Our paper “On the Incorporation of Stability Constraints into Sequential Operational Scheduling” [paper link] has been accepted by PES General Meeting 2025.
  • 2025-02-26 [Event]: I presented my work on “Smart Predict and Optimize for Energy Forecast” in G-PST/ESIG Webinar Series: Reliable Energy Forecasting for Power System Operations with Dr. Akylas Stratigakos. The slides and recording are available at the website.
  • 2024-11-18 [Paper]: New preprint available “On the Incorporation of Stability Constraints into Sequential Operational Scheduling” [paper link].
  • 2024-11-01 [Personal]: My Ph.D. thesis “Blending Data and Model for Robust and Secure Power System Operaitons” has been published by Imperial [thesis link].
  • 2024-10-01 [Paper]: Our paper Efficient Sampling for Data-Driven Frequency Stability Constraint via Forward-Mode Automatic Differentiation has been accepted by IEEE PES ISGT-EU 2024 [paper link].
  • 2024-09-26 [Paper]: My internship paper “Exact, Tractable Gauss-Newton Optimization in Deep Reversible Architectures Reveal Poor Generalization” at MediaTek research, UK has been accepted by NeurIPS 2025 [paper link].
  • 2024-07-01 [Personal]: I have started my new position as a Research Associate at Control and Power Research Group at EEE Department, Imperial College London.
  • 2024-04-17 [Personal]: I have successfully defended my Ph.D. thesis.

Academic Services

  • Member of IEEE and IEEE Power and Energy Society (2022-Now).
  • Member of IET (2023-Now).
  • Committee member of the London Hub of the CIGRE UK Next Generation Network (CIGRE-UK-NGN) (2025-Now).
  • Associate Fellow of Higher Education Academy (AFHEA) (2025-Now).

Work Experience

  • Research Associate, Control and Power Research Group, Imperial College London, 2024 - Present
  • Deep Learning Research Intern, MediaTek Research, UK, 2024
  • Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, Energy Future Lab and Department of EEE, Imperial College London, 2019 - 2024

Education

  • Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Imperial College London, 2024
  • M.Sc. in Control Systems, Imperial College London, 2019
    • Distinction, Top One
    • Supervisor: Dr. Imad M. Jaimoukha.
    • Thesis: Robust Positively Invariante Sets for Model Preidictive Control
  • B.Eng. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Liverpool and Xi-an Jiaotong Liverpool University, 2018
    • First Class with Honors, Top One
    • Supervisor: Dr. Lin Jiang.
    • Thesis: High Efficient Vector Control of Induction Motor Drives

Awards

  • EEE Department Ph.D. Scholarship, Imperial College London, 2019
    • The only recipient in Control and Power research group in 2019.
    • Fully funded Ph.D. scholarship for distinguished performance for achieving Master degree from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, covering both tuition fees and living expenses for 3.5 years.
  • William Rathbone Medal, University of Liverpool, 2018
    • Awarded to a candidate who has specially distinguished himself or herself in the final year of the programme for the degree of Meng (Hons) or BEng (Hons).
  • David Inglis Prize, University of Liverpool, 2017
    • Awarded to the most distinguished him/herself in the second year study in University of Liverpool in the department of EEE.