Dr. Suresh Reddy: Leader in Electrification & Control Systems

Dr Suresh B Reddy is an accomplished engineering and technology leader, with over three decades of experience and expertise in energy systems, electrification and advanced control systems. Following education at prestigious Institutes including Bachelor's at Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur and Ph.D. at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he has been involved in research and new content product launches at iconic companies of General Electric Company and Caterpillar Inc. His contributions ranged energy including electric power, renewables and oil/gas, transportation including rail and marine, mining as well as aerospace, telecommunications, industrial systems, plastics, appliances, and lighting. He has had many firsts at the companies, that he has been part of. He has been:

• An award winning contributor, as Senior Engineer, to the 1st AC locomotive development at GE, particularly, its traction performance, suspension ride quality, and GE's 1st steerable bogie/truck

• An early adopter of 6 Sigma statistical and DFSS methodologies, particularly for locomotive adhesion/traction performance under varying rail conditions, leading to individual and team recognitions

• A pioneer (technical/program/people/supply chain) of proprietary control systems development with 1st wide use of Matlab/Simulink for software automation for GE's evolution series locomotives, in his role as Engineering Manager. A leader for engine controls development to meet Tier 2 emissions requirements.

• A leader (technical/program/people/supply chain) of 1st electric (AC) drive development for (industry's first sourced electric drive) mining trucks at Caterpillar Inc including integration of acquired Bucyrus Unit Rig trucks, with diesel and trolley power options, in his roles as 6 Sigma Black Belt, and Engineering Manager. These developments also laid foundation for future battery/fuel cell electric options

• A team builder, that built system modeling and control systems team at GE Transportation from scratch, establishing its first engineering center and projects in India, expanded Caterpillar Inc's mining truck electric drive team, catalyzed Caterpillar Inc's power conversion and control team build up in the U.S. and India

• A change agent adapting and deploying desktop analysis/simulations, off the shelf rapid prototyping and hardware in the loop tools for system/components/control/software development at GE for industrial, engine and auxiliary electric system controls, and at Caterpillar Inc for electric drive, microgrid and battery/fuel cell inverter, and energy storage battery charger controls

• A leader in developing strategy, as Strategy Manager, for Caterpillar Inc's electric power conversion with visibility to Executive Office and Board of Directors levels, ultimately laying the steps towards formation of a separate division for electrification and advanced power

• A technical leader, laying out and demonstrating concepts for variable speed gensets, UPS power and electric drive for hydraulic fracturing pumps

• An innovator in his role as Sr Control Strategist and Chief Engineer, of Caterpillar Inc's first proprietary microgrid control system and deployment, and its next generation, integrating renewables, gensets and energy storage and any generic asset, with rule based as well as real time optimization and machine learning based forecasting approaches

• A provider of technical oversight as Chief Engineer for Electrification, of Caterpillar Inc's first 1 MW energy storage system, with 1 MW bi-directional inverter, first fuel cell back up power power conversion system for data centers, and first DC fast charger developments (500 kW, multi-MW), enabling battery electric mining vehicles

• The Head of R&D for Fronius USA for Solar Energy, leading and expanding its software and systems engineering teams to introduce solar energy product family to North American market, adapting Gen24 solar/hybrid inverter product for certification for North American grid code rules, develop back up solutions, and engage various battery suppliers

• A mentor and coach, developing several team members at GE and Caterpillar Inc, into project leadership and management roles.

Beyond his industrial career, Dr Reddy has been providing consulting services with his E-Conversion & Control Consulting LLC to several management and investment consulting firms on electrification, construction, mining and energy industry trends via various expert networks, as well as being an expert witness for patent disputes, as in preparing reports for Goodmans LLP, a Canadian law firm, in settlement of an electrified mining vehicle patent dispute between Sandvik and Epiroc. Dr Reddy is also a Science Advisor to elseborn.ai, a start up initiative by his college mate, Raja Abburi, in providing rigorous review and iterative feedback to his AI system's scientific contributions.

Dr Reddy has also served as Adjunct Professor at Bradley University and Gannon University, local schools in Peoria, IL and Erie, PA respectively. Dr Reddy served as advisory board member for Purdue University Northwest's computer science, and Argonne National Lab's cybersecurity research.

Outside of his professional life, Dr Reddy served as United Way campaign manager for Caterpillar Inc's Advanced Components and Systems division, over two years, leading to increased participation and contributions by employees, over each year. Dr Reddy also served as Team Manager for JGSA 01 Boys, a Peoria based travel soccer team, and as a member of Peoria Chess Foundation board.

See more about Dr Reddy's career profile here

Patents/Patent Publications

Academic Publications

External Presentations

Awards