Pablo Paz

Function: Research Associate

Biography:

Dr. Pablo Paz earned his Bachelor's degree in Electromechanical Engineering in 2007 and began his professional career at a major electric utility company, where he worked full-time until 2015. During this period, he held several technical and operational positions, including Power System SCADA Operator and Pre- and Post-Dispatch Engineer, supporting distribution and transmission systems at voltage levels of 10.5 kV, 24.9 kV, 69 kV, and 115 kV.

He received his Master's degree in 2018 and his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, with an emphasis in Power Systems, from the University of São Paulo, Brazil, in 2022. As part of his doctoral research, he served as a Visiting Ph.D. Researcher in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at The University of Texas at Austin from 2021 to 2022.

From September 2022 to February 2026, Dr. Paz was a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Electromechanics (CEM) at The University of Texas at Austin.

Since March 2026, he has served as a Research Associate at CEM. His research interests include fault protection in DC power systems, advanced sensing technologies for overhead medium-voltage distribution feeders, and dynamic security assessment of microgrids. His work on High-Impedance Fault (HIF) detection and the development of a prototype edge-sensing device for overhead distribution systems has advanced the state of the art in fault detection and wildfire-risk mitigation. This research has attracted interest from utilities, government agencies, and industry partners seeking improved grid reliability, resilience, and situational awareness.

Research Areas/Areas of Interest

Stability, Protection and Control of Power Systems, Real Time Simulation and Hardware in the Loop analysis of Power Systems. Electromagnetic Transient Simulation (EMT).

Education

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering, University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, 2022

M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering, University of São Paulo (USP), Brazil, 2018

B.S. in Electromechanical Engineering, Universidad Autónoma Gabriel René Moreno (U.A.G.R.M.), Bolivia, 2007

Awards

CAPES PDSE Scholarship Recipient (2021–2022) – Merit-based funded research as a visiting Ph.D. student at The University of Texas at Austin.