Rate My Professor Mario Paolone

Mario Paolone is a Full Professor in the School of Engineering at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), where he has held the position since 2011. He serves as Chair of the Distributed Electrical Systems Laboratory (DESL) within EPFL's STI IEM. Previously, Paolone was an Assistant Professor in power systems at the University of Bologna's Power Systems Laboratory from 2005 to 2011. He earned his M.Sc. degree with honors and Ph.D. in electrical engineering from the University of Bologna in 1998 and 2002, respectively. At EPFL, he holds multiple teaching appointments as Full Professor in SEL, EDEY, and EDEE, delivering courses such as Power Systems Analysis (EE-362). Paolone is actively involved in EPFL governance, serving on the STI Academic Evaluation Committee, the Doctoral Program in Energy committee, the EPFL Academic Strategic Committee, and the Hydraulic Machines Platform administration.

Paolone's research centers on power systems, with emphasis on real-time monitoring, operational aspects, protection, dynamics, and transients. His work addresses PMU-based situational awareness for Active Distribution Networks, development of exact, convex, and computationally efficient methods for optimal planning and operation of ADNs, modeling and control of dynamic phenomena, integration of distributed generation and storage technologies into power distribution networks, advanced metering and monitoring, real-time operation and control of electrical grids, advanced protection techniques, and ICT integration into smart grids. The DESL, under his leadership, develops smart grid solutions for efficient, sustainable, economic, and secure electricity supply, including self-healing capabilities amid renewable uncertainties and dispersed resources. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Elsevier journal Sustainable Energy, Grids and Networks. Paolone has garnered significant recognition, including elevation to IEEE Fellow in 2022 for contributions to situational awareness and control of power distribution systems, the IEEE EMC Society Technical Achievement Award in 2013, the Richard B. Schulz Best IEEE Trans. on EMC Paper Award in 2017 and 2018, the 2020 IEEE PES Working Group Recognition Award, the 2020 IEEE Power System Dynamic Performance Committee’s Prize Paper Award, the Basil Papadias Best Paper Award at the 2013 IEEE PowerTech, and the Best Paper Award at the 13th International Conference on Probabilistic Methods Applied to Power Systems in 2014. Key publications include the book Electromagnetic Time Reversal: Application to Electromagnetic Compatibility and Power Systems (John Wiley & Sons, 2017); Learning Power Flow Models and Constraints from Time-Synchronised Measurements: A Review (Proceedings of the IEEE, 2025); General and Unified Model of the Power Flow Problem in Multiterminal AC/DC Networks (IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2024); Optimal Short-Term Dispatch of Pumped-Storage Hydropower Plants Including Hydraulic Short Circuit (IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 2024); and Ensuring Solution Uniqueness in Fixed-Point-Based Harmonic Power Flow Analysis with Converter-Interfaced Resources: Ex-post Conditions (IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid, 2024).