Valentin Robu
- Full Name
- Dr. V. Robu
- Function(s)
- Scientific Staff Member
- Valentin.Robu@cwi.nl
- Telephone
- +31 20 592 4123
- Room
- M357
- Department(s)
- Intelligent and Autonomous Systems
Biography
Valentin Robu is a scientific staff member (tenured) in the Intelligent and Autonomous Systems Group at CWI. He is a part-time associate professor in the Algorithmics Group at TU Delft, and a research affiliate in the Collective Intelligence group at MIT. Before coming to CWI (in October 2020), he was associate professor at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh, UK, where I was part of (and co-founded) the Smart Systems Group with Prof. David Flynn and where he still has a part-time affiliation (full-time between March 2014-October 2020). Before Heriot-Watt he was a senior research fellow in the Agents, Interaction and Complexity Group at the University of Southampton for 5 years (between Feb. 2009 - Feb. 2014), working with Prof. Nick Jennings and Prof. Alex Rogers. Before moving to Southampton, he obtained his PhD at CWI and TU Eindhoven, under the supervision of Prof. Han La Poutré (in July 2009). I was also a visiting scholar in the Economics and Computer Science research group at Harvard University (hosted by Prof. David Parkes) on several occasions, longest in the Fall (October-December) of 2015. I was also a visiting scientist in the Collective Intelligence group at MIT (in July/August 2018 and 2019), working with Dr. Mark Klein, where I still have an ongoing research affiliate appointment. His core research interests are in the area of multi-agent systems and distributed AI, more specifically designing strategies and interactions between strategic agents, such as in negotiation and auctions settings. 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. Example challenges in this area include: 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, he has collaborated with many researchers in many countries, and co-authored over 150+ journal/conference papers/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, or the 2018 Low Carbon Transport Award, from the British Renewable Energy Association, for our 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 Congressional Research Service etc. In the course of his career, he has visited and collaborated widely with researchers from a range of institutions, such as MIT, Harvard, Santa Fe Complex Systems Institute, IIT Delhi, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nagoya Institute of Technology, Microsoft Research, TU Delft, University of Toronto etc. I was also investigator or Co-investigator in a number of projects, including CESI - the UK's National Research Centre for Energy Systems Integration, CEDRI (Community Energy Demand Reduction in India), or ORCA, the UK Offshore Robotics for Certification of Assets Hub.
Publications
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Norbu, S, Couraud, B, Robu, V, Andoni, M, & Flynn, D. (2021). Modelling the redistribution of benefits from joint investments in community energy projects. Applied Energy, 287. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116575
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Andoni, M, Robu, V, Couraud, B, Früh, W.-G, Norbu, S, & Flynn, D. (2021). Analysis of strategic renewable energy, grid and storage capacity investments via Stackelberg-Cournot modelling. IEEE Access, 9, 37752–37771. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3062981
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Roman, D, Saxena, S, Bruns, J, Robu, V, Pecht, M. (Michael), & Flynn, D. (2021). A machine learning degradation model for electrochemical capacitors operated at high temperature. IEEE Access, 9, 25544–25553. doi:10.1109/ACCESS.2021.3057959
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Zhao, X, Salako, K, Stringini, L, Robu, V, & Flynn, D. (2020). Assessing safety-critical systems from operational testing: A study on autonomous vehicles. Information and Software Technology, 128. doi:10.1016/j.infsof.2020.106393
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Pumphrey, K, Walker, S.L, Andoni, M, & Robu, V. (2020). Green hope or red herring? Examining consumer perceptions of peer-to-peer energy trading in the United Kingdom. Energy Research & Social Science, 68. doi:10.1016/j.erss.2020.101603
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Tang, W, Roman, D, Dickie, R, Robu, V, & Flynn, D. (2020). Prognostics and Health Management for the Optimization of Marine Hybrid Energy Systems. Energies, 13(18). doi:10.3390/en13184676
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McCallum, P, Jenkins, D, Peacock, A, Patidar, S, Andoni, M, Flynn, D, & Robu, V. (2020). A multi-sectoral approach to modelling community energy demand of the built environment. Energy Policy, 132, 865–875.
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Antonopoulos, I, Robu, V, Couraud, B, Kirli, D, Norbu, S, Kiprakis, A, … Wattam, S. (2020). Artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches to energy demand-side response: A systematic review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 130. doi:10.1016/j.rser.2020.109899
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Kirschbaum, L, Roman, D, Singh, G, Bruns, J, Robu, V, & Flynn, D. (2020). AI-Driven Maintenance Support for Downhole Tools and Electronics Operated in Dynamic Drilling Environments. IEEE Access, 8.
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Mokhtar, M, Robu, V, Flynn, D, Higgins, C, Whyte, J, Loughran, C, & Fulton, F. (2020). Automating the Verification of the Low Voltage Network Cables and Topologies. IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 11(2). doi:10.1109/TSG.2019.2941722
Awards
- Best Paper Award Finalist, The 30th International Symposium on Software Reliability Engineering (ISSRE 2019) (2019)
- Best Reviewer Award (2018), IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (2019)
- IET and E&T Innovation of the Year (2019)
- IET innovation Awards 2019, Winner of the Information Technology category (2019)
- Winner, Rising Star Award for Maizura Mokhtar & NCEWS project- 2019 Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards (2019)
- Finalist, Judges Award, Scottish Renewables YPGEA Awards (2019)
- Low Carbon Transport Award, 13th British Renewable Energy Association Awards (2018)
- Rushlight Resource Innovation Award (2018)
- The Business Collaboration category at the Guardian University Awards 2018 (2018)
- Young Professionals Green Energy Awards - Academic Award for Merlinda Andoni (2018)
- Best Paper Award, ACAN 2016 @ AAMAS 2016, Singapore (2016)
- Best Reviewer Award (2015), IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (2016)
- Best student presentation award - RSS, Hakodate, Japan (2006)