Spotlight on research excellence: EEE’s PhD prizewinners

The Eryl Cadwallader Davies Prize for Outstanding Thesis is awarded to students who have submitted an exceptional doctoral thesis. This year’s winners are Sharjeel Javaid, Tianyi Zhong and Chenghong Bian.

Our congratulations to Sharjeel, Tianyi and Chenghong on their achievements. We look forward to seeing where their research takes them next.

Read more about their prizewinning work:

Sharjeel Javaid

Sharjeel’s research explored a practical challenge facing the future electricity grid: what happens when traditional spinning generators are increasingly replaced by wind, solar and battery systems connected through power electronics.

“These technologies are needed for a zero-carbon electricity system,” he explains, “but they can sometimes interact with the grid in unexpected ways.”

His work focused on modelling those interactions and designing control systems to help keep future power networks stable and reliable as renewable energy use increases.

Sharjeel says he was particularly inspired by Professor Balarko Chaudhuri’s ability to connect control theory with real-world power-system challenges.

“I was also motivated by the bigger promise of a future with zero carbon emissions, and by the idea that this is not just a policy ambition but an engineering challenge we can help solve.”

Sharjeel is now continuing at Imperial as a postdoctoral researcher, focusing on the stability and future development of power systems with large amounts of inverter-based renewable energy.

Tianyi Zhong

Tianyi’s PhD focused on how to coordinate large groups of independent decision-makers in complex systems, such as electric vehicles connected across a power grid.

“In many real-world systems, each participant has their own objectives and may not always follow prescribed rules,” she explains. “This can lead to inefficiencies or even system instability.”

Her research developed mathematical tools and algorithms designed to help these systems operate safely and efficiently, while aligning individual incentives with wider collective goals. The work has potential applications in smart energy systems, transportation, and other large-scale networked systems.

Tianyi says she was especially inspired by her supervisor, Professor David Angeli, whose approach to research shaped the way she thinks about complex engineering problems.

“His strong theoretical foundations not only shaped my technical understanding but also helped me develop the ability to abstract complex real-world problems into clear and tractable models.”

After completing her PhD, Tianyi joined a technology company working on autonomous driving systems. Her current work applies AI-based methods to advanced vehicle control systems, including future multi-vehicle interaction scenarios designed to support safer and more efficient decision-making.

Chenghong Bian

Chenghong’s PhD research developed AI-powered techniques for more efficient wireless content delivery in future 6G networks, combining ideas from signal processing and information theory.

His work explored how future wireless systems can deliver data more effectively and reliably as communication networks continue to grow in complexity and scale.

Chenghong thanked his supervisor, Professor Deniz Gunduz, for encouraging him to investigate fundamental research problems and broaden his research perspective throughout his PhD.

He also highlighted the support of postdoctoral researchers and senior PhD students in the Information Processing and Communications Lab (IPC Lab).

Chenghong is currently a postdoctoral researcher at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).