At the intersection of energy and security

As Associate Laboratory Director, Energy Security, Resilience, and Integration at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Juan Torres works at the nexus of energy systems and cybersecurity principles every day. 

Torres’ recent stop at Carnegie Mellon University was a valuable experience, connecting him with renowned researchers at the Scott Institute for Energy Innovation and the CyLab Security and Privacy Institute, who co-hosted the visit. Scott Institute Director Costa Samaras and CyLab Director Lorrie Cranor were among the subject matter experts whom Torres met with during his time on campus to discuss areas like grid resilience, uncertainty modeling, and a wide range of security considerations for energy systems. On the topic of AI security and privacy, Torres shared strategies with researchers from the CyLab Robotics Security and Privacy Initiative and the Cyber Autonomy for the Future Enterprise Initiative.

Torres also had a chance to connect with the budding generation of energy and cybersecurity professionals, visiting Mike Mattarock’s graduate course “Cyber Risk Modeling,” an Information Networking Institute offering that helps students learn to prioritize risks, secure data assets, and to communicate their security knowledge.

Torres led a meaningful discussion about energy and security during his Distinguished Lecture presentation. 

Torres spoke of NREL’s focus areas, including autonomous energy systems, which refer to AI-driven and grid-interactive devices shaping the future of the US grid; and energy technology supply chains, the strength of which is essential for ensuring energy affordability and security. 

“We are an energy systems laboratory — we work on everything from the materials to the devices, the systems, the markets, to policies and understanding regulations and standards,” said Torres. 

He also highlighted the role of emerging technologies like AI in shaping the future of energy systems and what it means for the current power grid. 

“The operational technology is moving very rapidly. A big challenge is, how can we make the systems of tomorrow much more robust? But we also have to take into account that we live with legacy technologies that are in place — investments in the energy sector are typically for 20 to 30 years.” 

Torres concluded his lecture by engaging with students and faculty during a Q&A session in addition to addressing the skills most needed to support the future of energy: energy system architects; software engineering and cybersecurity knowledge; and AI, quantum, and computing expertise.