About

Adam Birchfield is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Texas A&M University. He holds a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University, obtained in 2018, a Master of Science in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2016, and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Auburn University in 2014. His research interests include power system modeling, power system computational analysis, synthetic power grids and datasets, the impacts of extreme events on power systems, and the dynamics and stability of power systems. Birchfield has been recognized with awards such as the National Science Foundation CAREER Award in 2025, the Thomas W. Powell ’62 and Powell Industries Inc. Fellowship at Texas A&M University, and the Grainger Power Engineering Award at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His work has contributed to the development and validation of large synthetic power grids, voltage stability analysis under geomagnetic disturbances, and the structural characterization of electric–gas networks.

Research topics

• Computer Science
• Engineering
• Telecommunications
• Remote sensing
• Computer graphics (images)
• Mathematics
• Aerospace engineering
• Electrical engineering
• Real-time computing
• Geography
• Geometry
• Simulation

Selected publications

• System Frequency Nadir and Trajectory Prediction With Discontinuity Constraints in Governor Dynamics

  IEEE Open Access Journal of Power and Energy · 2026-01-01

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Accurately predicting the frequency nadir and estimating the overall frequency trajectory are crucial analytical tasks in power system planning. Given the large number of operating scenarios and contingency events that must be evaluated, low-order frequency nadir prediction (FNP) models have been recently developed to avoid the computational burden of full dynamic simulations in large, complex systems. However, a major technical limitation of existing FNP models is their inability to capture inherent discontinuities such as limits, piecewise functions, and deadbands that strongly influence the actual frequency dynamics. To overcome these challenges, this paper proposes a discontinuity-aware frequency nadir prediction (DA-FNP) model that explicitly implements discontinuity constraints into the frequency response estimation. By implementing these discontinuities, the model not only predicts the system frequency trajectory with high fidelity but also identifies which generators are subject to enforced constraints. This capability provides new insights for system planners, enabling a more realistic evaluation of frequency security margins and resource adequacy in future power systems with high renewable penetration. The methodology is validated against detailed dynamic simulations on both small-and large-scale synthetic grids. The case study demonstrates significant enhancement on the accuracy of system configuration and system frequency trajectory, while retaining computational efficiency of low-order models. Furthermore, the approach offers a practical and scalable tool for planning studies in large, complex power systems.

  PublisherDOI

• Cascading Failure Propagation and Perfect Storms in Interdependent Infrastructures

  ASCE OPEN Multidisciplinary Journal of Civil Engineering · 2025-02-18 · 8 citations

  articleOpen access

  The increasingly complex conditions that are reshaping environments demand novel analysis of infrastructure weaknesses and behavior. Of critical concern are cascading failures and how small disruptions can spiral into large-scale outages. Significant evidence indicates infrastructures are increasingly stressed given a combination of disruptions including extreme climate events, disrepair, cyberattacks, and emerging and disruptive technology integration. Small disruptions appear increasingly likely to cascade to larger failures within and beyond infrastructures, and there is limited insight into how to protect systems that are increasingly integrated. As novel capabilities emerge to expedite the analysis of cascades (namely, synthetic infrastructure models and open-source network solvers), new opportunities exist to provide critical insights into cascading failures. Using the City of Phoenix as a case study, synthetic power and water networks are constructed and coupled, and disturbances are simulated to capture cascading failure behaviors within and across power and water distribution systems. Network solvers [PyPSA (version 0.24.0) for power and EPANET (version 2.2) for water] are used to capture network rebalancing. Failures are simulated starting with transmission line outages and 120,000 simulations used to capture stochasticity in the rebalancing of power and water systems and resulting differences in failure dynamics. In 89% of the simulations initial transmission line outages did not cause outages at substations or in water systems. Power failures did not lead to water outages in 96% of simulations. Despite significant variability in the networks, emergent failure patterns are observed when substation and resulting pump outages occur—a critical insight for resilience planning. Approximately 3.69% of the simulations lead to large cascading failures across both power and water systems. Furthermore, low-likelihood but high-consequence perfect storm outcomes were observed in many of the simulations, often resulting in widespread power outages. Combined, the results provide important insights for resilience planning across increasingly vulnerable and interdependent infrastructures.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Large-Scale Transmission Expansion Planning with Network Synthesis Methods for Renewable-Heavy Synthetic Grids

  Energies · 2025-07-19 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  With increasing electrification and the connection of more renewable resources at the transmission level, bulk interconnected electric grids need to plan network expansion with new transmission facilities. The transmission expansion planning (TEP) problem is particularly challenging because of the combinatorial, integer optimization nature of the problem and the complexity of engineering analysis for any one possible solution. Network synthesis methods, that is, heuristic-based techniques for building synthetic electric grid models based on complex network properties, have been developed in recent years and have the capability of balancing multiple aspects of power system design while efficiently considering large numbers of candidate lines to add. This paper presents a methodology toward scalability in addressing the large-scale TEP problem by applying network synthesis methods. The algorithm works using a novel heuristic method, inspired by simulated annealing, which alternates probabilistic removal and targeted addition, balancing the fixed cost of transmission investment with objectives of resilience via power flow contingency robustness. The methodology is demonstrated in a test case that expands a 2000-bus interconnected synthetic test case on the footprint of Texas with new transmission to support 2025-level load and generation.

  PublisherDOI

• EMT Simulation with Spectral Graph Wavelets

  2025-02-10

  articleSenior author

  Electromagnetic transient (EMT) simulations provide a precise method to assess stability and simulate disturbances on electrical networks. Due to a rise in Inverter Based Resources (IBR), simulations require a smaller simulation time step to accurately model the high frequency controls in power electronics. This severely reduces the ability of system operators to study system dynamics with large electrical models, where simulations can occur upwards of days. This paper introduces a novel wavelet framework to reduce time-scale issues in co-simulation studies. A general method of multi time-step spatial partitioning is developed to address convergence issues in co-simulations. The proposed method leverages the Spectral Graph Wavelet Transformation (SGWT) to produce a low-resolution response to a high-resolution localized disturbance. The spectral transformations are used to approximate wave propagation in the external system, reducing the total simulation time and improving convergence.

  PublisherDOI

• Voltage Stability in Plausible Non-Uniform Geomagnetic Disturbances

  IEEE Transactions on Power Systems · 2025-07-17

  articleSenior author

  Geomagnetic disturbances (GMD) are rare events that threaten grid reliability, where the severity of the impact is highly uncertain. Notably, geomagnetically induced currents (GICs) produce an excess of reactive power loading due to transformer saturation, which has an impact on voltage stability. Interface flow limits that serve to maintain voltage stability can become obsolete during a GMD due to large reactive power deviations from the nominal operating point. This paper presents methods to determine GMD-informed voltage stability limits to assist in mitigation during extreme solar storms. In this paper, a characterization of plausible, non-uniform electric fields caused by GMDs is developed to determine new interface stability limits with respect to a base operating condition. Active power limits are discussed as a function of the scale of a given GMD, characterized by bounds on electric field magnitude, signal frequencies, and earth conductivity. The presented methods use finite modeling to define a plausible set of non-uniform electric fields that is searched with a nonlinear programming formulation leveraging continuation power flow and linear sensitivities. Case studies (20-Bus and 2000-Bus) quantify the increased severity of non-uniform electric fields compared to uniform fields with the same electric field magnitude. The proposed non-uniform electric field model is used to efficiently model and identify realistic electric fields and associated flow limits to help ensure voltages remain within a safe range during a GMD.

  PublisherDOI

• Analyzing Power Grid Structure with Triangle Centrality Metrics

  2025-02-10

  articleSenior author

  Studies to solve the transmission expansion problem (TEP) for a power system can benefit from employing complex network or graph theory metrics to speed up analysis and lead to more realistic methodologies. Currently, very little research has been conducted on solving TEP problems by understanding the electric grid as a spatially embedded complex network, and no work has been done before to explore the relation between the graph theory metric triangle centrality and power grid structure. Triangle centrality is the focus of this paper because it can provide insights into grid structure, and because it can be computed very quickly. This paper outlines a method to rapidly compute the triangle centrality for the graph of a power system, and also describes the methodology to test for a correlation between triangle centrality and power grid structure to determine triangle centrality's potential for assisting in solutions to the TEP. The structural metrics used in this paper are transmission line overloading, minimum bus voltage, islanded load, islanded generation, and number of contingency violations. Different sized synthetic power grid cases are used to test the relationship between triangle centrality and grid metrics.

  PublisherDOI

• A 31–300 Hz Frequency Variator Inverter Using Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation Implemented in an 8-Bit Microcontroller

  Processes · 2025-06-17 · 1 citations

  articleOpen access

  With the advancement in power electronics technology, variable-frequency drives have been widely adopted for motor operation due to their inherent benefits: control performance, extending equipment life, and energy savings. The most used technique is Sine Pulse Width Modulation, as it solely requires the modification of the reference signal (sine wave). However, Space Vector Pulse Width Modulation offers lower total harmonic distortion. Therefore, this study presents a technique for the control of induction motors operating in open-loop mode, utilizing a two-level voltage source inverter with a frequency range of 31 to 300 Hz. The proposed control system is modified to encompass between 930 and 1848 switching periods, varying the number of switching periods along with the frequency variation. This approach allows the use of a single LCL filter across the whole frequency spectrum. It is adapted for implementation in an 8-bit microcontroller, which has its inherent limitations, yet it achieves performance levels similar to those found in high-level processors like FPGAs and DSPs. The signals generated by the microcontroller are captured by a DAQ card and input into a MATLAB/Simulink model to observe and analyze the performance of the proposed control system.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Dynamic Performance Design and Validation in Large, IBR-Heavy Synthetic Grids

  Energies · 2025-07-24 · 1 citations

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  Cross-validation and open research on future electric grids, particularly in their stability modeling and dynamic performance, can greatly benefit from high-fidelity, publicly available test cases, since access to dynamic response models of actual grid models is often limited due to legitimate security concerns. This paper presents a methodology for designing and validating the dynamic performance of large, IBR-heavy synthetic grids, that is, realistic but fictitious test cases. The methodology offers a comprehensive framework for creating dynamic models for both synchronous generators (SGs) and inverter-based resources (IBRs), focusing on realism, controllability, and flexibility. For realistic dynamic performance, the parameters in each dynamic model are sampled based on statistical data from benchmark actual grids, considering power system dynamics such as frequency and voltage control, as well as oscillation response. The paper introduces system-wide governor design, which improves the controllability of parameters in dynamic models, resulting in a more realistic frequency response. As an example, multiple case studies on a 2000-bus Texas synthetic grid are shown; these represent realistic dynamic performance under different transmission conditions in terms of frequency, voltage control, and oscillation response.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Methodology and Convergence Considerations in an Integrated Transmission and Distribution System Power Flow

  2025-10-26

  articleSenior author

  The growing integration of distributed generation (DG), electric vehicles (EVs), demand response programs, and advanced metering infrastructure has significantly increased the coupling between transmission and distribution networks. Traditionally, transmission and distribution systems have been modeled and analyzed under differing assumptions, making their combined representation both nontrivial and computationally demanding. As a result, there is a pressing need for efficient power flow algorithms capable of handling the complexity of integrated T&D systems. This paper compares two transmission and distribution power flow methods: one with a back-and-forth co-simulation approach and the other with direct full-system modeling. Both methods were tested on a smaller system consisting of 4 transmission buses and 2 distribution feeders, each with 3 balanced loads. Finally, the two approaches were applied to the 150-transmission-bus Travis County synthetic grid, incorporating various distribution feeders in different regions, to assess performance at scale.

  PublisherDOI

• Impact of Uncertainty in Composite Load Composition on Large Grid Dynamic Voltage Stability

  2025-10-26

  articleSenior author

  Composite load models are commonly used to represent the dynamic load behavior of aggregated end-use load; however, how we parameterize this remains uncertain when limited data is available. This paper presents a methodology for analyzing and visualizing how variations in load composition across motors, power electronic devices, and static components impact dynamic voltage stability. The approach incrementally increases power transfer under fault conditions and evaluates the system’s voltage stability based on voltage and oscillation criteria. The methodology is demonstrated on a large-scale 2000-bus synthetic Texas case focusing on power transfer from the Panhandle to the Dallas metropolitan area. Results show that load composition significantly influences voltage stability limits while offering insight for utilities to estimate feasible parameter ranges when there is limited data.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Thomas J. Overbye

  Texas A&M University

  55 shared

• Komal S. Shetye

  Texas A&M University

  23 shared

• Ti Xu

  19 shared

• Farnaz Safdarian

  Texas A&M University

  9 shared

• Jonathan Snodgrass

  College Station Medical Center

  8 shared

• Jessica L. Wert

  8 shared

• Hanyue Li

  7 shared

• Kathleen M. Gegner

  University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

  5 shared

Education

• Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering

  Texas A&M University

  2018

• Master of Science, Electrical and Computer Engineering

  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

  2016

• Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, Samuel Ginn College of Engineering

  Auburn University

  2014

Awards & honors

• National Science Foundation CAREER Award (2025)
• Thomas W. Powell ’62 and Powell Industries Inc. Fellowship,…
• Grainger Power Engineering Award, University of Illinois at…