EPIC Staff

Website Personal Website Overview Technology and innovation in green energy and power systems

Biography A graduate of the University of South Carolina – Columbia, with a B.A. in Criminal Justice and Criminology, and a Minor in Women and Gender Studies, Surabhi Manjrekar joined the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) in January 2024. As the Travel and Procurement Coordinator, her role in EPIC is to serve as the […]

Biography A graduate of UNC Chapel Hill, Robin Moose joined EPIC in its infancy in April 2012 as Business Officer. She began her working career in the jewelry industry with Finlay Enterprises which operated the fine jewelry department in many department store groups such as Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Lord & Taylor. She started as a […]

Biography Dr. Park’s expertise is geotechnical engineering with emphasis on laboratory and field experimentation, sensors and instrumentation for short- and long-term monitoring. Examples of recent research topics include resilient modulus testing, erosion protection of dams through adequate filter materials, and the modification of a new resonant and torsional shear testing device. Personal Website Education Ph.D., […]

Biography Dr. Babak Parkhideh, Associate Professor, is tenured in Electrical and Computer Engineering. His research focus is in power electronics systems and control, sensors for power electronics, artificial intelligence (AI) in power electronics, wide bandgap semiconductor devices and packaging, and renewable energy systems. Dr. Parkhideh received his Ph.D in Electrical Engineering from North Carolina State […]

Biography Professor Nenad Sarunac supports activities of EPIC in the area of power generation, efficiency improvement, and energy in general. Prior to joining EPIC, Dr. Sarunac served as Associate Professor in the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science (MEES) Department at UNC Charlotte, and as Associate Director of the Energy Research Center (ERC) at Lehigh University. […]

Biography Dr. Ehab Shoubaki is the Lab Manager of the Duke Energy Smart Grid Laboratory at EPIC. He attained his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Central Florida in 2009 and worked for six years in Industry as a Senior Controls Engineering for microinverter startup PetraSolar Inc. He has authored/co-authored more than […]

Biography Nataly Tapper joined the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center in July 2023 to work with the William States Lee College of Engineering in the Contracts and Grants Office as the Senior Award Management Specialist. She provides post award support for EPIC, as well as the Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and OSDS departments. She joined […]

Biography Dr. Matthew Whelan is the EPIC Assistant Director of Research for Energy Infrastructure, and Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. His areas of research expertise include full-scale experimental testing and performance monitoring of structures, structural health monitoring and condition assessment, sensing and instrumentation for structural and geostructural applications, response of […]

Biography Dr. Tiefu Zhao has been an Associate Professor since 2022, and Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte since 2016. From 2010 to 2016, he was with Eaton Corporation Research & Technology, Milwaukee, WI. He has extensive academic and industry R&D experience in […]