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Dr. Bala Venkatesh

Bala Venkatesh
Professor
Director, CUE
BEng, MEng, PhD, PEng
CUI-235
416-979-5000 ext. 544537

Areas of Academic Interest

Electric power systems

Transmission and distribution systems

Clean energy (storage, smart grids, microgrids, renewables and electric transit)

Education

Year University Degree
2000 Anna University PhD
1993 Anna University MEng
1991 Madras University BEng

Courses Taught

Course Code Course
ELE 302 Electric Networks
ELE 700, ELE 800 Engineering Design Projects
EE 8601 Advanced Topics in Power Systems

Spotlight

When Bala Venkatesh moved with his young family from Malaysia to Canada in 2004, it was to join the University of New Brunswick faculty. It was a coveted posting that provided a good salary. And yet, when he received his first hydro bill, he was taken aback. How am I going to pay for this? he thought. Perhaps more significantly, he also wondered about the impact on wider society. How were his neighbours keeping their lights  – and electric furnaces – on when electricity seemed to be so unaffordable?

Now the academic director of Ryerson’s Centre for Urban Energy, Venkatesh keeps accessibility and affordability top of mind in his research on electric power transmission and distribution systems. While working closely with more than 25 industry partners, including utilities such as Hydro One and Toronto Hydro, Venkatesh has spearheaded more than 70 applied research projects. The result: improved commercial systems that provide greener, more reliable energy, without furthering economic divisions within society. “Electric vehicles and solar panels are great, but if nine-tenths of society cannot buy them, what’s the point? It leaves a whole section of society poorer, unable to connect and suffering, which is completely unacceptable. There should be an economically feasible solution that allows all of society to be a part of the solution.”

Bala Venkatesh

“How you make energy accessible is not an easy question, but why solve easy questions? Try to solve the difficult ones.”

  • Canadian Electricity Association Centre of Excellence Award, May 2018
  • Sarwan Sahota Award, Toronto Metropolitan University (The highest research award at Toronto Metropolitan University)
  • Dean’s Award for Service
  • Department Research Excellence Award, Toronto Metropolitan University
  • O. Alizadeh, B. Venkatesh, and, G. Thompson, Method of Coordinating and Incorporating an Electrical Transformer Station Breaker’s Low-Set Relay with a Recloser in an Electric Power Distribution Line with a Fuse-Saving Scheme, Filed, 2018.
  • C. Sabillon, B. N. Singh, and, B. Venkatesh, Techno-Economic Models for the Optimal Inclusion of Hydrogen Trains in Electricity Markets, IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification - Decision on Manuscript ID TTE-Reg-2019-02-0044.R1, 2019.
  • C. Opathella, A. A. F. Mohamed, A. Elkasrawy, B. Venkatesh, A Novel Capacity Market Model with Energy Storage, IEEE Transactions on Smart Grids, 2018.
  • K. Masteri, B. Venkatesh and W. Freitas, A Fuzzy Optimization Model for Distribution System Asset Planning with Energy Storage, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 33 (5): 5114-5123, 2018.
  • A. A. F. Mohamed and B. Venkatesh, Line-Wise Power Flow and Voltage Collapse, IEEE Transactions on Power Systems, 33 (4): 3768-3778, 2018.