Energy Systems Researcher
Power Systems and Macro-Energy Systems Modeling for Industrial Demand Flexibility and Energy Infrastructure
I am currently a Postdoctoral Research Scientist in the Department of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia University, working with Prof. Bolun Xu. I received my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Tsinghua University, advised by Prof. Chongqing Kang. Before joining Columbia, I held research appointments at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, where I worked with Dr. Ziqing Zhu and Prof. Siqi Bu, and Princeton University’s Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, where I worked with Prof. Jesse Jenkins.
Contact
Mudd 1038G, 500 W 120th St, New York, NY 10027
Tel: +1 (609) 436-8628
Email: rl3763@columbia.edu
My research examines how energy infrastructure and the systems it serves can be co-designed to enable a reliable and affordable transition to clean energy. Grounded in power systems, optimization, and electricity markets, I focus particularly on the interaction between electricity infrastructure and flexible industrial demand. I combine macro-energy systems optimization, engineering models of industrial processes, and empirical analysis of smart-meter data to develop physically grounded, scalable representations of demand flexibility and assess its value to energy-system planning and operations.
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Selected Impact
Nature Energy
Cover Article (2026). Industrial overcapacity and product inventories as a source of seasonal grid flexibility.
Industrial Implementation
US$4 million/year in estimated operating-cost savings from coordinating manufacturing load, battery storage, and solar generation.
Open-Source Modeling
Implemented models of aluminum, ammonia, and methanol production in MacroEnergy.jl, an open-source framework for optimizing large, multi-sector energy systems.
Current Research
Physically Grounded and Scalable Modeling
Optimization methods that represent industrial production constraints while remaining tractable for power-system planning and operations.
Large Loads and Energy Infrastructure Planning
Co-optimizing production capacity, inventories, facility locations, computing workloads, and operating schedules with generation, storage, and grid investments.
Markets and Institutions for Demand Flexibility
Procurement mechanisms, contracts, and electricity markets that compensate firms for the capital, inventory, and operating costs of providing flexibility.
Research Vision
My broader vision is to build a demand flexibility economy in which large energy users adapt their operations and investments to renewable electricity availability while earning predictable returns for the flexibility they provide.
Latest News
- [10/2026] I joined the Xu Group at Columbia University as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist. Visit the Xu Group.
- [09/2026] Professor Jan Rosenow, Leader of the Energy Programme at the University of Oxford’s Environmental Change Institute, published a Joule Preview discussing our Nature Energy study on industrial overcapacity and seasonal electricity flexibility. Read the Preview.
- [08/2026] Our study on industrial overcapacity and seasonal flexibility appeared as the cover article of the August 2026 issue of Nature Energy. View the issue.
- [08/2026] We released a new preprint comparing the levelized cost of demand flexibility with increasingly inexpensive battery storage. Read the preprint.
- [06/2026] I completed my Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering at Tsinghua University, graduating with the university’s highest honor for graduates. Read the dissertation.
- [05/2026] I defended my Ph.D. dissertation on industrial load modeling and optimization decision-making for market-based grid interaction. View the slides.