The Guru

Interview with PAC World guru Damir Novosel

PAC World:  When and where were you born?

D.N.: 1957 in Doboj, Bosnia and Herzegovina, at that time Yugoslavia.

PAC World:  Where did you go to school? 

D.N.: Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

PAC World:  What were your interests while in school?  

D.N.:  I always had eclectic interests: Once I learnt to read, I used to read a book per week for close to 20 years.

Geography – memorized all world capitals when I was 8 years old.

Sports – basketball, volleyball, handball.

PAC World:  Do you remember anything from your childhood that you think contributed to you becoming an engineer?

D.N.: As a kid I was always asking questions about how things work. Growing up I liked solving problems in math and physics and “fixing” things. I was intrigued by doing something providing concrete and practical results, so electrical engineering shaped up as my career path.

PAC World:  Was there a person that had the most influence on you when you were growing up?

D.N:  My parents who installed in me values of independent thinking, achieving results, and respecting others.

PAC World:  When and why did you decide to continue your education?

D.N.:  I was a good student, and it was natural to continue expanding my education, so I can gain more knowledge to accomplish more. I was intrigued by electrical power engineering as it encompasses various areas of interest – managing the electrical grid that spans a continent, requires advanced tools and communications, and knowledge of physics and math. The computers were just getting used for more and more practical power system applications and I was intrigued by how the latest technology can improve managing the electrical grid.

PAC World:   How did you choose the university to go to?

D.N:  For my BSc degree I went the University of Tuzla which had an Electrical Engineering department with nationally recognized professors. For my MSc I went to the University of Zagreb, one of the top global schools. In October 2024, I returned to my alma mater as a keynote speaker at the IEEE PES ISGT Europe organized by this university.

PAC World:  Did you study electric power systems or protection while in college? 

D.N.:  We had an opportunity to study protection for more than a year. I liked that to learn protection one needs to understand both how every power system equipment operates and what power system needs are, be knowledgeable in other engineering areas, such as controls and communications, as well as utilize math and physics knowledge.

PAC World:  Was there any professor that helped you select your future career path?

D.N.: I had some great professors and professor Franjo Bozuta from the University of Tuzla, a protection expert who came from the industry and wrote a popular book, inspired me to focus on protection and control.

PAC World:  Did you have any other interests while in university?

D.N.: I have always been interested in different things. I played basketball for the College of Engineering. We won 3 gold medals at the annual National Basketball competitions, and I was the captain of the team in my senior year.

PAC World:  Why did you decide to continue your education in the US? 

D.N.: After my master’s at the University of Zagreb, I applied and was awarded a couple of scholarships as I needed to expand my horizons. I decided to take the Fulbright scholarship at the Mississippi State University as it provided a path to a doctorate degree. I was very fortunate to have Professor Roger King as my mentor who directed me to work on Artificial Neural Networks and Expert Systems. I did my thesis in 1991 when the use of Machine Learning in power system was very new. 

PAC World:  What made you interested in system protection and control?

D.N.:  It started during my college years and then continued throughout my career. My initial interest has been in understanding how to prevent power system blackouts using automation and advanced methods. My master’s thesis at the University of Zagreb was on Underfrequency Load Shedding, and it won a Yugoslav national Vratislav Bedjanic award. The system of Bosnia and Herzegovina was modeled using detailed short- to long-term dynamic simulations. That work was used to set underfrequency relays in the power system of Bosnia and Herzegovina. 

As there was a war in that part of the world and the system was under a lot of stress, underfrequency load shedding operated often. I was very glad to hear that the system operated very well and saved it from blackouts. This motivated me to further focus on system protection and control.

PAC World:  What was your first job and how did you get it?

D.N: My first job in Yugoslavia was teaching at the University and I got it as one of the top students in my class. 

My first job in the US was with ABB, which was looking for people to help start the new Electrical System Technology Institute (ESTI). I got my first interview and my first job as a Senior Engineer at ESTI. I was hired among the first and eventually became a manager of the Power System Center.

PAC World:  Why did you choose to work for industry instead of academia?

D.N: Although I really like to teach and do research, I thought that having practical experience would be helpful. Since ABB ESTI was also conducting research and I volunteered to teach at North Carolina State University, I was able to pursue both of my passions in parallel. 

PAC World: What was the most exciting project that you worked on at your early years at ABB?

D.N: There were quite a few but I would choose an Automated Fault Location system using advanced algorithms based on available data (very accurate double-ended and improved one-ended), which was deployed at TVA. It was somewhat ahead of its time as most of the relays were still electromechanical.  Further development was in fault location for distribution and industrial systems and with Phasor Measurements. Few patents resulted from that work. I am proud that those methods and ideas are now implemented in practice not only by ABB but by other vendors globally.

PAC World:  What was the most satisfying project you worked on?

D.N.: The toughest one was leading deployment of a fully digital substation just before the Olympics in Sydney, Australia, in 2000. It was the first deployment of a kind and very challenging, but it was very satisfying to deliver the industry’s leading technology on time. I got an award for the accomplishment and ABB offered me to take responsibility for all automation products, including process automation.

PAC World:  After ABB you moved to KEMA. Why?

D.N: In my last five years at ABB, I was working at ABB headquarters in Zurich and had been ready to go back to the US. As KEMA was starting a new business area in the US, they reached out and as a result I created the successful U.S T&D consulting business.

PAC World:  In 2006 you started Quanta Technology that you have developed into a very successful consulting, technology, and testing company, leading probably the most qualified team in our industry. What is the secret to good leadership? 

D.N.:  Thank you for saying that. It is all about people and empowering and enabling them to achieve results. I am very proud of building a culture of excellence, respect, and sharing that has been the key to success. Although the company has grown to over 400 people, keeping the entrepreneurship approach while valuing steady, quality work and avoiding bureaucracy has helped attract amazing talent. We show people that this is their company by sharing success and profit with the whole team, as well as having full transparency of the results and enabling people to influence the strategy.

PAC World:  What is the most challenging project you worked on at Quanta Technology? 

D.N.: I would not pick up an individual project but a challenge to build a winning company culture. Diversity in every dimension (thought, experiences, knowledge, ethnicity, gender, etc.) is an important aspect of success. However, it comes with challenges to understand and appreciate differences. I am proud of our success in helping create a very collaborative and transparent environment.

PAC World: What was your most satisfying project?

D.N.: Building an industry leading industry organization which continues to grow and work with partners to navigate the unprecedented transformation the electrical energy industry is experiencing.  Our team has depth and breadth in all aspects of the business and addresses strategic initiatives such as data centers and electrification forecasting and grid impact, grid resilience and reliability (including wild-fire mgmt.), digital substations, data management, IBR integration, and resource & T&D planning and operations, among others. Also, my role as Quanta Energized Services president was very rewarding. I appreciated all the knowledge and experience linemen have, especially doing work on HV energized lines with perfect safety record.

PAC World:  You have been actively involved in the development of the Smart Grid and wide area protection. How did that happen?

D.N.: Since I was in colleague, I was intrigued with addressing how to prevent outages and wide area blackouts. I started with protection, e.g. underfrequency load shedding relays, but learnt that this is a system issue with system frequency changing due to the imbalance between generation and load. This led me to study broader system wide area issues, such as cascading outages caused by equipment faults and overload, as well as transient and voltage instability. It also led to addressing System Integrity Protection Schemes and technologies like synchronized measurements which provide system-wide visibility. 

PAC World: For many years you have been involved with IEEE and CIGRE. When and why did you join each one of them?

D.N.: While in Yugoslavia, I initially became involved with CIGRE around 1984. After coming to the US, I also became involved with IEEE in May 1992, when I attended my first PES Power System Relaying Committee (PSRC) meeting. I felt that engaging in volunteering activities would help me and allow me to help the industry.

PAC World:  How important do you think is their role for your development as a professional? 

D.N.: Being an active IEEE and CIGRE member was critical for my career. At the PSRC meetings I was in awe of meeting industry legends. Thanks to IEEE, some of these legends became my mentors and friends. Participation in working groups helped me learn not only about technical issues, but also how to work with peers. Later, chairing working groups was an invaluable experience in developing my management skills. There is a saying, “if one can manage volunteers, one can manage any group of people.” My colleagues and I have published papers and participated in conferences that have helped me better communicate what we have accomplished, which in turn has opened doors to new collaboration and business opportunities. 

PAC World:  You have been in tens of leadership positions in IEEE and CIGRE. Why did you do that? 

D.N.: There are a few reasons. I wanted to make a difference in the industry and give something back as those organizations have helped my career. Those roles also continued to help me learn and develop. IEEE and CIGRE are uniquely positioned to provide objective technical leadership through immense membership talent and peer-review process, as well as, in the case of IEEE, in standards development. As our industry is changing fast, it is critical to our society and the industry to leverage immense membership talent. Some of the examples of joint efforts during my tenure on the Governing Board as IEEE PES President and VP of Technology resulted in significant increase in active industry participation and global membership growth through the following new initiatives:

  • Formation of the Industry Technical Support Leadership Committee to cooperate with governments, regulators, and other industry organizations globally, including development of well-received reports on fast-track, tutorials, and panels
  • Creation of successful Corporate Engagement Program and the Executive Advisory Council
  • Reorganization of Technical Committees to better address industry changes
  • Enhanced cooperation with the Standards Association and help in developing standards for new technologies (e.g. synchronized measurement-related)

We also managed to change the IEEE Fellow process to better value contributions by the PES members resulting in significant increase in Fellow elevations.

I also believe in engaging as many volunteers as possible and not having the same people in leadership positions as one can be engaged in numerous other ways, e.g., mentorship.  

PAC World: Today we are part of the transition from hard wired protection and control systems to IEC 61850 communications based fully digital substations. What is your opinion about it, the benefits and challenges?

D.N.: Digital substations are still very much an untapped opportunity, not only for designing and operating substations more efficiently and reliably, but also as a cornerstone of building a reliable, resilient, and efficient electrical grid. For example, there is much information in digital relays that have not been utilized. Leveraging all sensors, including equipment monitoring devices, synchronized measurements, PQ meters, AMI, etc. is critical for efficient planning, operations, and asset management.  Challenges are in making that initial investment, not only in direct costs, but in time to change processes and provide training. The benefits are there but making that initial major step is never easy.

PAC World: The electric power grid now is very different from the power grid of the twentieth century. What do you think about the impact of inverter based distributed energy resources on protection and control systems?

D.N.:  IBRs provide necessary technology to integrate renewable resources and storage and connect electrical vehicles and data centers. As with every new technology, there is a learning curve and need to change the way we operate the electrical power system.  For example, systems with large-scale inverter-based renewable energy resources experience faster and more dynamic system behavior with lower system inertia and lower fault currents (with challenges for conventional relays). When there is an imbalance between load and generation, frequency will decline faster. However, as IBRs can operate faster than conventional generation (as they do not have inertia), this capability needs to be explored, but it requires communications and real-time control, rather than relying on the natural response by conventional generation.  Markets also need to value reserves provided by IBRs. Furthermore, having a lower fault current is safer for people and equipment, but new ways of detecting faults with adaptive protection are needed. 

PAC World: What do you believe is the best way to share your knowledge and experience with the new generation of protection engineers?

D.N.: There are so many ways to share knowledge and experience, e.g., by participating in IEEE and CIGRE through presentations, tutorials, papers and just by meeting people. There are also more formal ways that companies like mine do, for example mentorship and training programs, regular lunch ‘n learn sessions, etc. Our internship program has been very successful as we often hire people who come to us to learn. I also teach at North Carolina State University and give regular talks, as it gives me great satisfaction to share what I have learned with the younger generation.

Another important aspect is engaging the young generation on projects and teaching them through practical examples.

PAC World: What do you think is most important for a protection engineer’s development?

D.N.: It is very important to be passionate about what you do and try to make a difference through dedicated work. The key is to get engaged, for example in IEEE committees, chapters, conferences, and other initiatives. As a young volunteer, I wrote a paragraph on under-frequency load shedding that ended up in the PES Report – I was very proud that all these experts included my contribution. It motivated me to get more engaged and contribute further. 

Having mentors is also important.  I was fortunate to have so many mentors, both in IEEE and at my work, that helped me immensely. People like Arun Phadke, Jim Thorp, Walt Elmore, Eric Udren, Solveig Ward, Lee Willis, and Alex Apostolov are some that I need to mention. They taught me that working together with your colleagues makes you more successful.

PAC World: What do you consider the biggest challenge in your professional career?

D.N.: The biggest challenge has been working with people that are not motivated and dishonest.

PAC World: What do you consider your biggest professional accomplishment?

D.N.: Building a successful team which is making a difference and helping individual careers grow. Whether my colleagues have worked with me at the same company or have chosen a different path, I am most honored to have been able to support them. Individual careers are the most important, and building long-term relationships with trust and loyalty based on accomplishments is priceless. 

Helping build Quanta Technology, which has emerged as an industry-leading technology, consulting, and testing company providing solutions to the energy industry is my crown achievement.

I am also proud of my 18 patents, over 200 publications, and contributing to 8 books which help share knowledge.

PAC World: You have received many awards and recognitions. Is there one that is the most important to you?

D.N.: Every single accomplishment is the result of teamwork and credit goes to all my colleagues who worked with me to accomplish results. For example, our teams always shared ideas and we created numerous joint patents. While one person may be the first inventor, it was recognized that only by working together were we able to innovate so extensively. This entrepreneurship approach helped us build larger organizations that keep that spirit. The IEEE and CIGRE awards reflect that.

Getting a Fulbright Award to study in the US was critical for my future career.  It is worth mentioning that while I was working in Yugoslavia, the Japanese government selected me as one of the top 20 young professionals across various fields to represent Yugoslavia and visit Japan.

PAC World: What do you think we need to do to attract more young people to our industry?

D.N.: We need to communicate the importance of our industry to make a difference in addressing decarbonization targets and in general improving people’s lives. The only way to address society’s goals is through renewable generation, storage, and electrification of transportation and other sources of carbon. Electrical energy is necessary for society’s progress – we see it now with data centers. Another aspect is that if a young person wants to do various exciting things, this is the place to be as we need diverse skills: data analysts, communications, controls, electronics, economists, etc. The key is our ability to communicate the importance of our industry so we need people that will be able to spread the message, and we need to do it ourselves on every occasion.

PAC World: What is the advice that you would give when you are in front of an audience of young people?

D.N.: Be passionate, dedicated, and have fun. Also, working with your colleagues as a team one accomplishes much more, and it is key to personal success. When you give credit to others, nothing is taken away from you; on the contrary, people value your contribution more.

PAC World: What do you think is your most important personal achievement?

D.N.: I am very proud of my family. We supported each other through tough times when the war started in Yugoslavia and after. I would not be able to accomplish much in my career without their support. I am very proud of my two smart and beautiful daughters. My professional and personal lives are intertwined as I have developed some wonderful friendships through my career, making work fun.

PAC World: You have traveled to many countries. Do you have a favorite place to visit?

D.N.: I have travelled to 63 countries and cannot pick just one. Appreciating nature, history, architecture, and learning from various, diverse cultures is amazing.  I do like the beach though – and some of the most beautiful ones are in Croatia.

PAC World: Do you have a hobby or something that you like to do when you are not working?

D.N.: I have quite a few hobbies and enjoy playing basketball, skiing, playing golf, swimming, reading, movies, music, among others.

PAC World: What is your favorite music?

D.N.: I like all types of music as each genre has great performers. It may be a surprise that my favorite is reggae.  It is not just the rhythm of the heart that reggae brings, but the message of equality among people.

PAC World: What is your favorite form of entertainment

D.N.: I like and follow all forms. I am into comics as well and my favorite is Prince Valiant, which has been published since 1937, with old issues still standing the test of time.

PAC World: Do you have any favorite food?

D.N.: I like various food (probably too much) especially in combination with wine.

PAC World: Do you have a motto?

D.N.: “Teamwork is wanting and helping your colleagues to succeed.”

PAC World: Is there a question that we forgot to ask you?

D.N.: I would like to conclude that long-term friendship and trust, both in business and private life, are the key not only to success but to enjoying life. It is also important to try to make a difference

Biography:

Dr. Novosel Novosel president and founder of Quanta Technology and was also president of Quanta Energized Services. Previously, he was vice president of ABB Automation Products and president of KEMA T&D U.S. Dr. Novosel served on various boards and is presently a member of the Sandia National Laboratories Energy and Homeland Security External Advisory Board and Mississippi State University Industry Advisory Board. Dr. Novosel is also an adjunct professor at North Carolina State University. Damir, a member of the US National Academy of Engineers and IEEE Fellow and Life Fellow, served on the IEEE Standards Board and as IEEE PES President, VP of Technology, and chair of Industry Technical Support Leadership Committee. He is IEEE PES Executive Advisory Council secretary and IEEE Strategic and Emerging Standards Committee chair. He received the IEEE PES Patrick P. Ryan Meritorious Service and Leadership in Power awards. Damir is the CIGRE US National Committee VP of Nominations and received the CIGRE Philip Sporn, Attwood Associate, and Distinguished Member awards. Dr. Novosel holds 18 US and international patents, published over 200 articles and reports, and contributed to 7 books.  Damir holds PhD, MSc, and BSc degrees in electrical engineering from Mississippi State University (where he was a Fulbright scholar), the University of Zagreb, Croatia, and the University of Tuzla, Bosnia and Herzegovina, respectively. Dr. Novosel was selected as Mississippi State University Distinguished Engineering Fellow and received the Distinguished Alumni Award.