Dr. Wangkun Xu

Imperial E-mail LinkedIn ORCID Google Scholar

About Me

I’m a Research Associate at the Control and Power Research Group in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, working 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. Prior to that, I completed my M.Sc. degree in Control Systems from Imperial College London in 2019 (Distinction, Top One) and my B.Eng. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Liverpool and Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in 2018 (First Class with Honors, Top One). I also served as a Deep Learning Research Intern at MediaTek Research, UK in 2024.

I am the recipient of the EEE Department Ph.D. Scholarship at Imperial College London (2019), the William Rathbone Medal at the University of Liverpool (2018), and the David Inglis Prize at the University of Liverpool (2017) for academic excellence. I am also a member of IEEE, IET, and an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (AFHEA).

My current research interests lie at the intersection of machine learning, optimisation, and system dynamics, with a particular focus on efficient and robust power system operation and control under high penetration of renewable energy sources.

News

For more news, please visit the News page.

  • 2026-02-26 [Teaching] I am delivering a guest lecture on ‘Introduction to Machine Learning (with Applications in Energy Systems)’ as part of the MECH70039-Data Science and Digitalisation in the Energy Sector course for the MSc in Sustainable Energy Futures students at Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College London. Visit the Course page.

Academic Services

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

Work Experience

  • Research Associate, Control and Power Research Group, Imperial College London (2024–Present)
    Working with Assoc. Prof. Fei Teng and Prof. Mark J. O’Malley.

  • Guest Lecturer, Department of EEE, Imperial College London (2024–Present)
    Teaching the course Machine Learning for Power System.

  • Guest Lecturer, Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College London (2024–Present)
    Teaching the course Data Science and Digitalization in Energy Sector.

  • Visiting Scholar, Department of Electrical Engineering, Tsinghua University, China (Aug.–Oct. 2025)
    Hosted by Assoc. Prof. Ning Zhang.

  • Deep Learning Research Intern, MediaTek Research, UK (2024)
    Working with Prof. Guillaume Hennequin and Dr. Alberto Bernacchia.

  • Postgraduate Teaching Assistant, Energy Futures Lab and Department of EEE, Imperial College London (2019–2024)

Education

  • Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, Imperial College London (2024)
    Supervisors: Dr. Fei Teng and Dr. Imad M. Jaimoukha
    Thesis: Blending Data and Model for Robust and Secure Power System Operations [link]

  • M.Sc. in Control Systems, Imperial College London (2019)
    Distinction, Top One
    Supervisor: Dr. Imad M. Jaimoukha
    Thesis: Robust Positively Invariant Sets for Model Predictive 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

  • Poster Award, Tsinghua University (2019)
    2nd International Summer School on IBR-Dominated Power Systems

  • EEE Department Ph.D. Scholarship, Imperial College London (2019)
    The only recipient in the Control and Power research group in 2019.
    Fully funded Ph.D. scholarship for distinguished performance in achieving a Master’s 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 themselves 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 student in the second year of study in the Department of EEE at the University of Liverpool.