ECE 600 Seminar

Methodology for Identifying Near-Optimal Interdiction Strategies for a Power Transmission System

Prof. Vicki Bier

UW Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering

Date, Time, and Place: Monday, Oct. 20, 2008 from 3:45-4:45 pm in 1106 ME.

Abstract:

Previous methods for assessing the vulnerability of complex systems to intentional attacks or interdiction have either not been adequate to deal with systems in which flow readjusts dynamically (such as electricity transmission systems), or have been complex and computationally difficult. We propose a relatively simple, inexpensive, and practical method (“Max Line”) for identifying promising interdiction strategies in such systems. The method is based on a greedy algorithm in which, at each iteration, the transmission line with the highest load is interdicted. We apply this method to sample electrical transmission systems from the Reliability Test System developed by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and compare our method and results with those of other proposed approaches for vulnerability assessment. We also study the effectiveness of protecting those transmission lines identified as promising candidates for interdiction. These comparisons shed light on the relative merits of the various vulnerability assessment methods, as well as providing insights that can help to guide the allocation of scarce resources for defensive investment.

Bio:

Dr. Bier holds a joint appointment as Professor in the Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering and the Department of Engineering Physics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she has directed the Center for Human Performance and Risk Analysis (formerly the Center for Human Performance in Complex Systems) since 1995. She has more than twenty years of experience in risk analysis for the nuclear power, chemical, petrochemical, and aerospace industries. Before returning to academia, she spent seven years as a consultant at Pickard, Lowe and Garrick, Inc. While there, her clients included the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the U.S. Department of Energy, and a number of nuclear utilities, and she prepared testimony for Atomic Safety and Licensing Board hearings on the safety of the Indian Point nuclear power plants. Dr. Bier's current research focuses on applications of risk analysis and related methods to problems of security and critical infrastructure protection, under support from the Army Research Office, the National Science Foundation, the Midwest Regional University Transportation Center, and most recently the Department of Homeland Security.

Dr. Bier received the Women's Achievement Award from the American Nuclear Society in 1993, and was elected a Fellow of the Society for Risk Analysis in 1996, from which she received the Distinguished Achievement Award in 2007. She has written a number of papers and book chapters related to uncertainty analysis and decision making under uncertainty, and is the author of two scholarly review articles on risk communication. She served as the engineering editor for Risk Analysis from 1997 through 2001, and has served as a councilor of both the Society for Risk Analysis and the Decision Analysis Society. Dr. Bier has also served as a member of both the Radiation Advisory Committee and the Homeland Security Advisory Committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board.

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