The appointment is with the Electrical Energy Systems group of the TU Eindhoven and started on 1 November. Valentin Robu will devote 20 percent of his time to the professorship. His core research expertise is in the area of multi-agent systems and distributed AI, more specifically designing strategies and interactions between strategic agents, such as in negotiation and auction settings.
Smart grids
A large part of his research in recent years has focused on using AI techniques to address challenges in building next-generation energy systems and smart grids. Some examples of challenges in this area: coordination of charging between multiple electric vehicles, such that the capacity of the distribution networks is not exceeded, using game-theoretic models for the integration of renewable energy suppliers into existing grids or incentive design for distributed demand-side response.
Over his career, Robu has collaborated with many researchers in many countries, and co-authored over 150 journal papers, conference papers and book chapters. He has won a number of awards, such as the 2019 UK Innovation of the Year Award (awarded by the IET, the UK's Institute for Engineering and Technology), for his work on network monitoring with Scottish Power Energy Networks. He also won the 2018 Low Carbon Transport Award, from the British Renewable Energy Association, for the work on hybrid vessels on the Thames in London. His research was featured in a number of venues, such as the Conversation, the BBC, the Economist, Nature, World Economic Forum, the US Congres Research Service etc.
