Research achievements
Prof. Irena Wasiak conducts research on the power system operation, and in particular on distribution grids incorporating distributed generation. Her work includes grid elements modeling, studying the effects of RES on the power system performance, as well as improvement of the efficiency of energy sources as well as of the quality and reliability of electric power supply to consumers.
Her research output comprises more than 130 publications, including 2 monographs and 5 monograph chapters, articles in high-impact international and national journals, and papers in peer-reviewed international scientific conference proceedings.
Prof. Wasiak headed a research group that conducted research on the integration of distributed sources into the electric power system funded with 4 international grants from the EU's Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Framework Programs. She was also the principal investigator in 4 national projects on similar topics funded with KBN, MNiSzW and NCBiR grants, as well as co-investigator in a further three research projects. She considers participation in international projects to be her most important contribution to the foundation of the Distributed Generation Laboratory at the Institute of Electric Power Engineering, a nationally pioneering and one of Europe's premier research facilities. The laboratory supports research and testing in the field of distributed generation systems, and at the same time provides a viable energy microgrid that supplies electricity and heat to the EEIA Faculty buildings.
Prof. Wasiak completed a research internship at the University of Strathclyde in Glagow as well as many shorter-term appointments at research centers in Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria, Denmark, France and Finland.
Organizational activity
From 2002 to 2008, prof. Irena Wasiak served as vice dean for student affairs at the EEIA Faculty, while from 2013 to 2020 she was Head of the Institute of Electrical Power Engineering. Since 2008, she has been in charge of the power grid research group at the Institute. She is an associate member of the Section of Electrical Power Systems of the Committee on Electrical Engineering of the Polish Academy of Sciences, the Łódzkie Towarzystwo Naukowe, PTETiS and SEP associations. She has been awarded, among others, the Medal of the Commission of National Education and the Silver and Gold Cross of Merit.
Activity as an expert
She is a member of the Scientific Council of the national Distributed Energy Competence Network, an expert of the National Smart Specializations in the High-efficiency, low-emission and integrated systems of power generation, storage, transmission and distribution group. Upon the invitation of the Italian government agency ANVUR, she participated, as a reviewer of papers on electric power engineering, in the process of evaluating the quality of research conducted at Italian universities and research institutions. She is a member of the scientific and program committees of international conferences, a member of the Program Council and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Electrical Power Quality and Utilization Journal.