Dr. Medina-Cetina Named TEES Smart Grid Center Collaborator of the Month

The Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES) Smart Grid Center has named Dr. Zenon Medina-Cetina its Collaborator of the Month for September. Medina-Cetina is an Associate Professor in the Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Texas A&M University and Director of the SGL - Stochastic Geomechanics Laboratory , where they focus on stochastic geomechanics with an emphasis on designing early warning systems and risk analysis through the use of Bayesian Networks.

In one of his earlier publications, titled "Risk Assessment of Transmission Line Insulation Breakdown Due to Lightning and Severe Weather," Medina-Cetina's work focused on the economic impacts associated with developing automated risk-based early warning systems (EWS) for the prediction of transmission line insulation breakdown integrated with Geographical Information Systems (GIS). By studying how lightning and severe weather affected the wear and tear on transmission lines, they were able to develop risk mitigation strategies and proper maintenance plans.

Medina-Cetina's Lab is currently collaborating with the Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence: Cross-Border Threat Screening & Supply Chain Defense on TAMU Campus. They are studying risk analysis within North American supply chains to help better predict risk factors that could affect the North American economy. Ultimately developing regional risk models that could help better inform policy and decision makers.