MEET OUR WIRED STUDENTS AND LEARN ABOUT THEIR WORK
The WIRED Student Highlight series celebrates the outstanding contributions of students across our global research community. Each feature showcases a student’s unique journey, research focus, and impact on advancing grid resilience. From data-driven innovations to interdisciplinary collaboration, these highlights offer a glimpse into the next generation of energy leaders. Through storytelling and science, our students are shaping a more adaptive, reliable, and equitable energy future.
New highlights are shared on the 10th and 20th of each month—be sure to check back regularly to meet the brilliant minds behind WIRED!
Meet our December 2025 Students
Maryam Beghkarvasef
Maryam Beghkarvasef is a PhD candidate at University of Utah, her research focused on using artificial intelligence to improve power grid resilience against extreme weather events. Her work enhances forecasting, fault detection, and real-time decision-making to help utilities prevent outages and restore service faster. She is passionate about developing AI-driven frameworks that protect communities and strengthen energy systems. Outside of research, Maryam enjoys cooking, hiking, and camping.
Alex Farley
Alex Farley is a PhD candidate at University of Utah. where he focuses on advancing power systems to address climate change and empower communities. His work explores distributed energy resource (DER) aggregation and virtual power plant models that balance grid reliability with community benefits. His recent publication, “The Altruistic Aggregator,” introduces a framework that prioritizes community outcomes over profit, demonstrating how altruism can guide grid transformation. Outside of research, Alex enjoys skiing, trail running, and rock climbing.
Meet our September 2025 Students
Sarah Sami Khan
Sarah Sami Khan is a PhD student at University of Utah, working to make the grid more proactive and resilient. Her research spans wildfire risk modeling, data-driven decision frameworks, and international energy systems. Through WIRED and GRSG, she blends science and storytelling to make resilience research impactful and accessible. Away from her research, you may find her enjoying thrill rides at amusement parks or reading novels by the ocean, she finds inspiration in dynamic systems—both natural and engineered.
Hollis Belnap
Hollis Belnap is a PhD student at University of Utah, where she focuses on distribution system and distributed energy resource (DER) modeling, operation, and planning. Her work emphasizes renewable energy integration to enhance grid and community resilience, particularly in response to extreme events such as wildfires and heatwaves. Outside of the lab, she spends her time in the nature doing anything outdoor whether exploring the great nature of Utah or taking her sweet puppy on a walk.
MORE WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
NOMINATE STUDENT
MEMBER UNIVERSITIES
