Keith Moffat

Curriculum Development

Introduction to Electric Power Systems

My Introduction to Electric Power Systems curriculum is a fundamentals-based approach to teaching power systems concepts. This approach differs from power systems curricula that I have seen elsewhere that are generally more applications-based. I see both fundamentals-based and applications-based curricula as necessary material for students that will go on to work in the field of power systems.

Introduction to Electric Power Systems lecture notes

Computational Control

I worked with a team in the Automatic Control Lab to develop the material for ETH Zurich's new Computational Control course which covers Model Predictive Control, basic system ID + control, Data Enabled Predictive Control, and Reinforcement Learning. I was in charge of the system ID + control and Data Enabled Predictive Control material and the course project. For the course project, we deployed the control techniques covered in the course on a custom OpenAI Gym simulation of a rocket landing, emulating SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket. The course contributed to the lead instructor, Dr. Saverio Bolognani, being awarded the Golden Owl Award, which is both nominated and decided by students.

Computational Control Project Assignment
Computational Control Project Announcement

Attribution: The rocket landing code was built on top of the code from Reuben Ferrante's Masters Thesis at the University of Edinburgh. The code modifications were done by ETHZ Masters students Dylan Vogel and Gerasimos Maltezos. The simulation screenshot and DeePC plot above are from student Joshua Näf's project submission.

Postdoctoral Instructing at ETH Zurich

Computational Control

In addition to developing curriculum for ETH Zurich's Computational Control course, I taught the Data Enabled Predictive Control tutorials.

Data Enabled Predictive Control tutorial
Data Enabled Predictive Control exercises

Control Systems

In the Fall semesters of 2022 and 2023 I ran exercise sessions for ETH's Control Systems course, the Bachelor/Masters introductory course on control theory. My exercise sessions covered the prerequisite linear systems theory, stability, the concept of feedback, and feedback control design (i.e. Root Locus, Pole Placement, Bode, Nyquist, and PID heuristics).

Control Systems exercise session slides

Graduate Student Instructing at Berkeley

UC Berkeley's EE137A Introduction to Electric Power Systems

I served as the graduate student instructor (GSI) for the 2019 and 2021 fall offerings of UC Berkeley's EE 137A. EE 137A is a semester-long course with an enrollment of around 50, representing a mixture of undergraduate, Masters, and Ph.D. students in the power systems, power electronics, and other related fields. My responsibilities/contributions included:

• Writing discussion/lecture notes,

• Conducting sections,

• Helping students during weekly office hours,

• Occasionally giving the main lecture,

• Setting up and running a Piazza online question-and-discussion forum,

• Grading exams.

‘‘Keith was a great GSI. He was always very well prepared for discussion sections, and each week kept on pace with lecture and highlighted topics he thought were important. The discussion notes were helpful (although sometimes a little long). While helping with homework questions, he really tried to make sure we understood the question and content instead of just giving out the answers, which forced me to have a deeper conceptual understanding. I really appreciated Keith's effort and engagement in the course; it made a huge difference in my understanding of the material and enjoyment of the course.’’
- Anonymous student review, Fall 2019

Anonymous instructor evaluations from the Fall 2019 EE 137A.

After receiving feedback from my 2019 offering of EE137A I adjusted my teaching methods. I also adopted an inverted classroom model for my discussion to accommodate remote learning due to Covid-19, and to engage students with the material in person.

Anonymous instructor evaluations from the Fall 2021 EE 137A.

‘‘Keith was a exceptionally instructor, whose knowledge about the subject was evident and ability to teach resonated.’’
- Anonymous student review, Fall 2021

‘‘Great GSI –– clearly knows his stuff, and is very approachable & friendly. I also love how the discussion worksheets doubled as a study resource.’’
- Anonymous student review, Fall 2021

‘‘Absolutely amazing GSI! I would be very happy with Keith leading a class of mine in the future. He is incredibly knowledgeable on the material, explains content very clearly, and (even when we're in person and have masks on) can clearly tell whether people are following along.’’
- Anonymous student review, Fall 2021

Hybrid in person/Zoom review session recording from the Fall 2021 EE 137A.

Industry Outreach and Professional Training

The Flow of Power Information and Money in Tomorrow’s Electric Grid: Storage, Renewables, and Demand Response

In 2022 I was the Graduate Student Instructor for The Flow of Power Information and Money in Tomorrow’s Electric Grid: Storage, Renewables, and Demand Response course, offered to the Dubai Electric and Water Authority (DEWA, the utility company that provides power to the United Arab Emirates) as a part of the Master of Future Energy Systems and Technology program. I conducted fifteen remote lectures on energy markets and power system operations for the DEWA employees/students. The course material and project improved the DEWA employees’ understanding of power systems concepts such uniform-clearing-price electricity markets, locational marginal prices, and reactive power that affect DEWA's bottom line.