Dr. Rama Ramakumar
Regents Professor and PSO/Albrecht Naeter Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering
Director, Engineering Energy Laboratory
Rama Ramakumar received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in India and his Ph.D. degree from Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. He joined the faculty of Oklahoma State University in 1967 and was elevated to the rank of Professor in 1976. In 1987, he became the Director of the OSU Engineering Energy Laboratory in addition to being a Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. In October 1991, he was named the PSO/Albrecht Naeter Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. From January 1994 to August 1995 and from August 1996 to April 1997, he served as the Interim Head of the OSU School of Electrical and Computer Engineering. He was named a Regents Professor in 2008. His research interests are in renewable energy, energy conversion, power engineering, energy storage, engineering reliability, and alternate energy sources. In 1992, Dr. Ramakumar received the Halliburton Outstanding Faculty Award in the OSU College of Engineering, Architecture, and Technology. He received the university-wide Burlington Northern Foundation Faculty Achievement Award in 1993.
Dr. Ramakumar has published over 200 technical papers in various journals, transactions, and conference proceedings, is co-awardee of 4 U.S. Patents, and contributed chapters in three books, and sections in six handbooks in the areas of energy and power. His textbook entitled Engineering Reliability: Fundamentals and Applications was published by Prentice Hall in 1993. He co-authored a monograph (with John Jiang and Choon Yik Tang of the University of Oklahoma) entitled Control and Operation of Grid-Connected Wind Farms‑Major Issues, Contemporary Solutions, and Open Challenges published by Springer in 2016. During 1978-1979 he was a consultant to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. His other consulting activities include working with the UNU in Tokyo, UNEP in Nairobi, National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C., Kuwait University, and the Florida Solar Energy Center. He was a member of the Wind Division Board of the American Section of International Solar Energy Society during 1976-1980.
Dr. Ramakumar was invited to deliver the Keynote Address in a National Seminar on Renewable Energy Sources for Generation of Electricity conducted in Pune, India during August 31-September 1, 2001. This was organized by the IEEE Bombay Section, IEE (UK) Bombay Section and The Institution of Engineers (India), Pune local center. He presented a Keynote Address entitled “The Buzz About Smart Grids” at the ICES-2010 International Conference on Embedded Systems held in Coimbatore, India, in collaboration with Coimbatore Institute of Technology in July 2010.
He presented a Keynote Address entitled “Smart Grid to Strengthen Electrical Energy Infrastructure” at the International Conference on Smart Technologies (ICST 2011) held in Chennai, India in collaboration with VELTECH Dr. RR and Dr. SR Technical University (VTU) in January 2011.
He presented a Keynote Address entitled “Renewable Energy Utilization: Past, Present and Future” at the International Conference on Renewable Energy Utilization (ICREU 2012) held in Coimbatore, India in collaboration with Coimbatore Institute of Technology in January 2012.
Dr. Ramakumar was invited to make a presentation (the only one from the U. S.) at an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on “Potential of renewable energy options in off-grid areas in Africa: Importance of mini-grid energy systems,” organized by the International Center for Science and High Technology of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (ICS-UNIDO) held in Trieste, Italy during April 3-5-2012.
Dr. Ramakumar presented a Keynote Address entitled “Grids Galore-From Nano to Mega Grids” at the International Conference on Smart Technologies (ICST-2013) held in VELTECH Dr. RR and Dr. SR Technical University (VTU) in Chennai, India in January 2013.
He presented two Keynote Addresses in October 2013-one entitled “Sustainable World” at the International Conference IECEITSW-2013 held in Shridevi Institute of Engineering and Technology in Tumkur, Karnataka, India and the other entitled “Sustainability and Smart Grid” at the International Conference C2SPCA held in the Oxford College of Engineering in Bengaluru, India. In January 2014 Dr. Ramakumar was invited to present a Keynote Address entitled “Microgrids versus IRES-Promises and Prospects” in conjunction with the Second International Conference on Renewable Energy Utilization (ICREU-2014) held in Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, India
Dr. Ramakumar presented a Keynote Address entitled “Smart Integrated Renewable Energy Systems for Rural Communities (SIRES)” at the Third International Conference on Renewable Energy Utilization (ICREU-2016) held in Coimbatore Institute of Technology, Coimbatore, India in January 2016.
He served as the Chairman of the Awards Committee for the IEEE Power and Energy Society’s Technical Council from 2000-2011. He is the past Chairman of the Energy Development Subcommittee of the Energy Development and Power Generation Committee of the IEEE/PES. Dr. Ramakumar is the Chairman and Organizer of the IEEE Working Group on Renewable Technologies which was elevated to a subcommittee as of 2010. He is also a Member of the Power Engineering Education Committee of the IEEE/PES and chaired its Awards Subcommittee and the Fellows Working Group. His other memberships include the Energy Development and Power Generation Main Committee, International Practices Subcommittee of ED&PGC, Task Force on Distributed Generation, and the Working Group (now a sub-committee) on Distributed Generation and Energy Storage. Dr. Ramakumar is a Life Fellow of the IEEE and his other professional affiliations include American Society for Engineering Education, American Solar Energy Society, International Solar Energy Society, and Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers. He received the IEEE/ED & PGC’s Distinguished Service Award twice—1999 and 2008. He is a member of the honorary societies Sigma Xi and Eta Kappa Nu. He was an editor of the IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion and is listed in Who’s Who in America. He edited the Special Issue of IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion on Wind Energy in 2006.
In December 2010, Dr. Ramakumar established “The Ramakumar Family Energy Scholarship,” an endowed scholarship focused on renewable energy at Oklahoma State University. In October 2011, he established the “IEEE Power and Energy Society Ramakumar Family Renewable Energy Excellence Award” under the IEEE-PES awards program.
Dr. Ramakumar received the Distinguished Service Award from the Tulsa Section of IEEE in October 2016.