Title: AI-based Smart Technologies in Smart Grid Security: A Tool? A Target? A Threat?

Abstract: The smart grid is envisioned to be a modernized infrastructure for dependable,

affordable and sustainable energy, where artificial intelligence (AI), like in many other sectors, has been a key driving force in grid modernization. Despite many promises of AI-based technologies, challenges arise from various aspects of security and resilience. The virtual seminar will discuss the role of AI-based “smart technologies” in smart grid security. We will first review notable cyber-physical vulnerabilities in the modernized grid, where electric vehicles, distributed energy resources, and other trends are also reshaping the landscape with smart technologies. Example use cases of reinforcement learning and adversarial learning techniques will be presented to analyze the benefits and risks. We will discuss some initial findings and potential directions to improve the grid’s preparedness and resilience against smart attacks with smarter defenses.

Bio: Jun Yan received his B.Eng. in Information and Communication Engineering from Zhejiang University, China, and his Ph.D. (with Excellence in Doctoral Research) in Electrical Engineering from the University of Rhode Island, USA. He joined the Concordia Institute for Information Systems Engineering at Concordia University, Montreal, Canada, in December 2017 and was promoted to Associate Professor in June 2022.

His research focuses on computational intelligence and its applications in the digital transformation of infrastructures like smart grids and smart cities. He has published over 90 peer-reviewed articles in related areas and received best paper awards from IEEE ICC and IEEE WCCI. He is also a founding member of the Security Research Centre (SRC) and the Applied AI Institute (AI2) at Concordia University.