UTSA Endowed and Named Chairs and Professorships   Profiles   Greenstar Endowed Professorship in Energy
UTSA Endowed and Named Chairs and Professorships
Nikolaos Gatsis, Ph.D.
Greenstar Endowed Professorship in Energy
The GreenStar Endowed Professorship in Energy was established in 2015 by Paul and Alice Duran through their company, GreenStar LED Products, Inc. The Durans' company is founded on providing eco-friendly and cost-saving lighting products. The Professorship was funded by money collected through an agreement between San Antonio and the university in which the city agreed to contribute $10 to UTSA’s College of Engineering for every light fixture that GreenStar sold to the city.

Nikolaos Gatsis, Ph.D.

Greenstar Endowed Professorship in Energy

Associate Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Nikolaos Gatsis’ research interests lie in the areas of smart power grids and other critical infrastructures, such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) and water distribution systems, with an emphasis on developing novel methods for their optimal and secure operation. His current research topics include modeling and analysis of electric power distribution networks; stochastic optimization for power systems with distributed energy resources; optimal and secure operation of water distribution systems; protection of inverter-based power systems; and detection and mitigation of spoofing attacks against GPS.

Gatsis has made significant contributions to his field, with an h-index of 30, nearly 4,000 citations, and multiple patents. His research has been presented at refereed conferences and published in notable academic journals such as the IEEE Transactions on Sustainable Energy, the IEEE Transactions on Smart Grids, the IEEE Sensors Journal and Electric Power Systems Research. He also serves as a reviewer for the IEEE Transactions Power Systems, among other journals, and has served as co-guest editor of a special issue of the IEEE Journal on Selected Topics in Signal Processing.

Gatsis has received over $2 million in grant funding to support his research from organizations like the National Science Foundation (NSF), CPS Energy, and the U.S. Department of Defense. He is an NSF CAREER Award recipient, a prestigious recognition that supports outstanding early-career faculty. He has also received the UTSA Annual Innovation Award, the UTSA President’s Award for Research Achievement, and is a past recipient of the UTSA Lutcher Brown Endowed Fellowship.

Beyond his research, Gatsis has chaired or been a member of dissertation and thesis committees for countless students. He currently sits on the ABET & Continuous Improvement committee within his department and has been a member of several committees for various academic programs, faculty searches, and scholarship and award selections.

Gatsis earned his Ph.D. in electrical engineering with a minor in mathematics from the University of Minnesota. He earned his undergraduate degree in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Patras in Greece.