572

IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 16, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2001

Application of the Optimal Power Flow Model in

Power System Education
Viktor A. Levi, Member IEEE and Dusko P. Nedic

AbstractApplication of the optimal power flow based software

package to aid instruction in classroom is given in this paper. The
package is used in courses Computer Methods in Power Engineering and Planning, Operation and Control of Power Systems.
The essential idea is to utilize all calculation modules from the
previously developed optimal power flow model. The software is
applied in four projects, that is, Constrained Optimization, Transmission Expansion Planning, Active and Reactive Dispatching for
Operations Planning, and Corrective Rescheduling within Real
Time Control.
Index TermsEducation, optimal power flow, optimization,
power systems, software package, student projects.

I. INTRODUCTION

N THE Electrical and Computer Department of the

School of Engineering Sciences a new power engineering
program, based on recommendations from [1], was introduced
in 1997/1998. The goal is to make the old program more attractive, and emphasis is put on laboratory experience, application
of software packages and individual elaboration of projects.
In recent years software packages have become irreplaceable
classroom teaching tools, especially in the field of power
systems where complexity and dimensionality of problems are
the main obstacles [2][15]. These packages can be divided into
two global categories: 1) Integrated packages encompassing
different calculation (simulation) modules [2][5], [7][10];
and 2) Specialized packages dedicated to a specific field [6],
[11][15]. We have chosen the latter approach and apply the
specialized packages in different power engineering courses.
In this paper, application of the general purpose optimal
power flow (OPF) model for education of power engineers
is presented. The OPF model was originally developed for
the voltage/reactive studies [16], [17]. Since it contains many
different modules, it became clear that this model could be a
very efficient teaching tool. This idea is intensified by the fact
that the OPF model is rarely used in educational packages,
and even in cases of its application, it is an external black
box [7], [13]. On the other hand, deeper understanding of the
OPF model gives much insight into the solution techniques
and various power system problems. Thus, the developed
OPF model is applied in the courses Computer Methods in
Power Engineering and Planning, Operation and Control of
Power Systems, by devising four projects: 1) Constrained
Manuscript received October 8, 1999; revised February 12, 2001.
V. A. Levi is with the School of Engineering Sciences, University of Novi
Sad, Novi Sad, Yugoslavia.
D. P. Nedic is with the Power Distribution Company, Elektrovojvodina,
Novi Sad, Yugoslavia.
Publisher Item Identifier S 0885-8950(01)08875-7.

Optimization; 2) Transmission Expansion Planning; 3) Active and Reactive Dispatching for Operations Planning; and
4) Corrective Rescheduling for Security Enhancement. They
are obligatory tasks for all senior students.
II. POWER CURRICULUM
The Electrical and Computer Department of the School
of Engineering Sciences offers a five year (ten semester)
undergraduate program for the Bachelor of Science in
Electrical Engineering (B.Sc.E.E.) diploma. During the first
two years, all students take basic subjects, such as, Discrete
Mathematics, Mathematical Analysis, Physics, Fundamentals
of Electrical Engineering, Fundamentals of Computer Engineering (first year), Electrical Circuits, Control Systems,
Electronics, Telecommunications, Fundamentals of Software
Engineering, Electrical Measurements, and Fundamentals of
Power Engineering (second year). The power curriculum starts
in the third year and it covers four subfields: 1) Electrical
machines; 2) Power electronics; 3) Design of power plants; and
4) Modeling and analysis of power systems. The first subfield
covers the courses Electrical Machines, Analytical Theory of
Electrical Machines, and Control of Electrical Drives, while
Power Electronics, Microprocessors, and Control of Power
Converters are offered in the second subfield. The courses from
the third subfield are Design of High Voltage Power Plants,
Design of Low Voltage Installations and Drives, and Advanced
Design Techniques, while the forth subfield covers Computer
Methods in Power Engineering, Power System Analysis, Distribution Systems, Planning Operation and Control of Power
Systems, and Power System Modeling. In the first and the
second subfields the main attention is focused on laboratory
experiments, the courses from the third subfield need to give
experience in designing and completing project documentation,
while the last group of courses is directed toward applying
the ready-made software packages and writing own (small)
programs. All lectures are finished in the ninth semester, and
elaboration of the diploma thesis should be done in the tenth
semester.
A brief description of the two courses, for which the projects
are developed, is given in the Appendix.
III. OPTIMAL POWER FLOW MODEL
Simplified structure of the developed OPF model is given in
Fig. 1. When data input is finished, a user chooses one of the
following problems to be solved: 1) Production cost minimization; 2) Transmission losses minimization; 3) Maximization of
voltage/reactive security; 4) Solution of the secondary voltage

08858950/01$10.00 2001 IEEE

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573

System Planning, Operation and Control. All projects are realized in the eighth and the ninth semesters when students are
familiar with power systems. A brief description of the projects
follows.

A. Constrained Optimization
The aim is to renew students knowledge in linear and nonlinear optimization methods. Teaching objectives are:

Fig. 1.

Overall structure of the OPF model.

Dual simplex algorithm is a natural solution method for

power system problems.
Direct solution of the KuhnTucker optimality conditions
can be a cumbersome task even for simple problems.
Primal methods are robust, but the convergence can be
slow.
Lagrange methods (Newton approach) are fast and reliable
when a good starting point is available.
Penalty and barrier function methods give only an approximate solution.
A nonlinear programming method gives usually a local
optimum, which is obvious in case of multiple optima.
The project consists of following stages:

control problem; 5) Minimization of control variable deviations;

6) Planning of new reactive sources; 7) Calculation of system
reliability; and 8) Determination of the maximum loadability
point. Although all these problems are very similar, actual solution processes can be very different. Therefore, much attention
is paid to each problem initialization, resulting in various auxiliary modules that are used to obtain a good starting point
(Fig. 1). Initial setting of generator active productions is done
by using either the uniform relative production principle, or
the economic dispatching (ED) of the one-point system. These
values can be further improved by running the transmission constrained economic dispatching (TCED) model [20]. In case of
reliability analysis, initialization of curtailed loads is performed
by using the minimum load curtailment (MLC) model [21]. The
initialization stage is finished by running the fast decoupled load
flow (FDLF) model and a linear programming model that improves the voltage-reactive variables.
The OPF model is solved with the aid of the exterior/interior
point based Newton approach. Since the solution processes of
different problems can be completely diverse, several options
are incorporated into the solution modules. The main contribution is introduction of the barrier functions, special logic for
inclusion/extraction of barrier terms, and the adaptive stepsize
length. Testing of the OPF model has shown that it is more advantageous to use Lagrange multipliers in case of branch flow
constraints, while the rest of inequality constraints can be modeled via the penalty and/or inverse and logarithmic barrier functions. Sensitivity analysis of the optimal solution is the last stage
of the OPF model.
IV. PROJECTS
Four projects are introduced to help instructors in teaching the
courses Computer Methods in Power Engineering and Power

1) The MLC model (TCED model) is solved with the aid

of the dual simplex method. Initial setting of load curtailments (MLC model) and incremental active power generations (TCED model) to zero values gives the optimality
criteria. Since branch flow constraints are not satisfied,
the primal feasibility does not hold. Students are invited
to follow the dual feasibility criteria ( ), primal feasibility (slack variables for the branch flow constraints)
and increase of the objective function.
2) The ED of the one-point system is solved with the
aid of two methods. The first is direct solution of the
KuhnTucker optimality conditions by using the developed algorithm. Students are invited to change the cost
coefficients and to follow identification of the binding
set of inequality constraints. Next, the same problem is
solved via the reduced gradient approach [20]. Incremental costs and changes of generations are observed
through the iterative process.
3) Minimization of the production cost is done with the aid
of the OPF model. All inequality constraints are relaxed,
and the Newton approach is applied to the Lagrangian. Incremental changes of the problem variables and Lagrange
multipliers are followed until the convergence criteria are
satisfied.
4) The complete OPF model is used to minimize the production cost, and inequality constraints are modeled through
the penalty and barrier functions. The main points are
changes of the current set of active inequality constraints,
and the solution increments. Students are invited to
change the penalty and barrier function coefficients in
order to find out the convergence range of the analyzed
OPF problem, as well as influence of these coefficients
on the optimum of the objective function.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 16, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2001

B. Transmission Expansion Planning

The project encompasses following stages:

The aim is to determine the network reinforcements and

new VAR sources that satisfy the (n-1) security principle. This
project complies with the real-life practice in Yugoslav power
industry. Thus, the network reinforcements are calculated from
the sensitivity analysis of the optimal solution of the MLC
model [21], while the voltage/reactive subproblem is studied
by using the OPF model. Teaching objectives of the project are:

1) The active power dispatching of the one-point system

is performed. Next, three OPF runs are executed. In
the first case all inequality constraints are relaxed, then
lower/upper limits on the active and reactive power
generations are taken into account, while the rest of inequality constraints are added in the third case. Students
are invited to change the voltage magnitude and branch
flow limits and to compare the results.
2) The reactive power dispatching is done with the active
power generations set to the economic values. Transmission losses are minimized first, and it is followed
by maximization of the voltage/reactive security, in
which squared relative reactive power generations are
minimized. Combination of these two objectives is then
made and computation is repeated. Students need to
compare the production costs, reactive generations and
voltage profiles in the considered regimes.
3) A trade-off between the active and reactive power
dispatching is sought for. The objective function is a
weighted sum of the production cost and the squared
relative reactive generations. Students are invited to use
a range of weighting coefficients.

Rather complex transmission expansion planning should

be broken into smaller subproblems.
The essential principle of the transmission expansion planning is the (n-1) security criterion.
Methods based on the DC load flow are simpler but not
sufficiently accurate, so the AC load flow based models
should be applied.
Expansion planning should be interactive, that is, a
planning engineer must take place in the decision making
process.
The project consists of following stages:
1) The MLC model is run for the base case regime and all
single outages. If the optimal solution is not zero, a sensitivity based planning criterion that shows reduction of the
overall curtailed load with respect to the unit increase of a
branch susceptance is applied for network reinforcements
[21]. One branch is added to the network, and the whole
procedure is repeated until the (n-1) security criterion is
met.
2) The previously obtained transmission expansion plan is
selected. The OPF model is used to minimize the cost
of reactive sources in the base case peak regime. Single
outage states are analyzed next, and the optimal values
of new reactive injections are cumulatively added. If the
QV contingency ranking procedure is used, the new capacitive sources are necessary only within the first most
severe outage states.
3) One complete expansion plan satisfying the (n-1) security
criterion is chosen. Multiple contingency cases are analyzed with the aid of the OPF model (the objective function is a sum of curtailed loads). Students should realize
that cascade outages can bring the system to a blackout.
C. Active and Reactive Dispatching for Operations Planning
The goal is to show variability of the production cost and
the voltage profile when using different objective functions and
associated constraints. Teaching objectives are:
Active power dispatching of the one-point system is a
basic, approximate method, while the OPF solution is
exact.
The transmission network increases the overall production
cost.
Reactive power dispatching is necessary to improve the
voltage/reactive power security.
Combined activereactive power dispatching gives a
trade-off between the production cost and the voltage/
reactive security.

D. Corrective Rescheduling for Security Enhancement

Security assessment of a power system consists of three
steps: 1) Contingency selection; 2) Contingency evaluation; and
3) Preventive/corrective control actions. In the first step, contingencies are ranked in an approximate order of severity by using
(branch overloads)
the branch flow performance index
(voltage/reactive
and the voltage performance index
problems) [8]. A full load flow solution is then found for the
worst contingencies from the top of the ranking list. Finally, a
preventive control strategy is developed for contingencies with
the most severe consequences, while the corrective control is
defined in cases when fast remedial actions are sufficient. In
this project, the main attention is paid to the corrective controls.
Teaching objectives are:
Severity of a contingency can be well predicted by using
the performance indices, which should be separately
defined for the branch overload and the voltage/reactive
problems.
The violated operation constraints can be efficiently eliminated by the corrective controls.
Since various controls are involved in different contingency cases, it is difficult to adjust them and cover several contingencies.
A large number of involved corrective controls should be
reduced in order to enable the operator to realize the task.
The project consists of following stages:
1) A base case regime is selected and minimization of the
production cost is done with the aid of the OPF model.
A single outage is defined and the FDLF is run, giving
and
after the first iteration. The
the indices
contingency evaluation is repeated until a sufficient

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575

Fig. 2. Environment structure of the developed software package.

number of outages is analyzed. Values of the indices

and
are compared with the true indices obtained
after the complete load flow solutions.
2) A severe contingency is selected and the OPF model is
used to minimize the production cost. The control variable settings and the total production cost are compared
with the base case values. This procedure is repeated with
the modified objective function representing a sum of the
production cost and the cost of control variable deviations. Students are invited to change the weighting coefficients in the objective function and to follow variation
of the production cost and the control variables.
3) Analysis of the previously selected contingency is done
with the reduced number of control variables. The variables closest to the base case values are fixed and the OPF
model is rerun. Students need to choose different types
and number of the fixed variables. Dependence between
the production cost and the types and number of the control variables can be made.
V. DESCRIPTION OF THE SOFTWARE PACKAGE
The previously developed OPF software has modular structure and it is coded in the FORTRAN POWER STATION

programming language. The following models can be solved

within the initialization stage: ED, DC load flow, TCED, MLC,
FDLF and four linear programming models in incremental form
used to improve the voltage-reactive variables. Two specialized algorithms (modules) based on either the direct solution
of the KuhnTucker optimality conditions, or the reduced gradient method are applied for the ED model. The sparse linear
equation solvers from the IMSL library (routines LFTXG
and LFSXG) are used in case of the DC load flow and the
FDLF models. The MLC model is solved with the aid of the
specialized reduced-basis sparse dual simplex linear programming routine [21], while the dense primal simplex linear programming IMSL routine (DLPRS) is applied for the TCED
(node angles eliminated) and the voltage/reactive power incremental models. Solution of the OPF model is obtained by developing the modules in which the Lagrange method (Newton approach) is combined with the penalty/barrier function methods.
Construction of the problem gradient and Hessian, identification of the lower/upper limit binding constraints and the active
branch current constraints, and the solution of the system of
sparse linear equations with the same IMSL routines are the
major steps here.
A simple software package, intended to be used as a teaching
tool in the classroom, is then developed. This package is based

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 16, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2001

TABLE I
PENALTY AND BARRIER FUNCTION BASED OPF SOLUTIONS

TABLE II
MULTIPLE OPTIMA IN CASE OF RELIABILITY ANALYSIS

Fig. 3. Five-node test system.

on the described OPF software, and the essential idea is to use

its individual modules either separately, or together for OPF
calculations. The complete graphical interface is programmed
in the VISUAL BASIC and the package is run under the
WINDOWS 95 operating system. Input data are organized
as ASCII files, and results of calculations can be displayed on
the single-line diagrams of the analyzed systems. Environment
structure of the software package is in the form of a tree, and
it is given in Fig. 2.
The main menu contains five options: 1) Input data; 2) System
analysis; 3) Graphical display; 4) Tabular display; and 5) Exit.
All input data are divided into several groups, and they are given
in [p.u.]. It is possible to analyze the 5-node test system and the
39-node IEEE power system. Within the system analysis, the
one-point ED can be performed, and the MLC, TCED, FDLF
and OPF models can be run. Only basic options of the OPF
model objectives are given in Fig. 2. The results of calculations
are graphically displayed either on the one-point system (onepoint ED), or on the entire network (the rest of models). Finally,
relatively detailed reports on the iterative solution processes are
given in tabular form.
VI. EXAMPLES
Constrained optimization is studied on the 5-node test system
shown in Fig. 3. We present here some interesting results regarding the comparison of the penalty and barrier function based
OPF solutions (Table I), as well as the multiple optima of the
OPF model (Table II). In the first case, the greatest difference
was obtained within expansion planning of new reactive sources
, when generations
were modeled either as implicit
variables (I), or with the aid of the barrier functions (II). The
former approach requires less additional capacitive injections,

since all reactive generations

are limited by the higher
voltage dependent boundaries (Table I). Minimization of equal
proportions of the constant ( ) and voltage dependent load
) with active ( ) and reactive load exponents
curtailments (
( ) equal to 2.00 was performed for the case when branch curwas limited to 2.2 [p.u.] (Table II). In situation I,
rent
the current flow constraints were activated in the first OPF iteration, while these constraints became active in the fourth iteration in case II). The multiple optima are obtained, and the
and acmajor difference is between the active generations
tive power flows (or, node angles ), since the voltage-reactive
and the tap povariables (voltages , reactive productions
) do not differ significantly. Next, variation of the acsition
tive and reactive load exponents was performed and the results
are summarized in Table III. Case I) corresponds to
and
, while case II) is for
and
.
The impact of the load exponents variation on the power flows
and voltage profile is obvious, but the convergence patterns are
also completely different.
Transmission expansion planning of the 39-node IEEE
test system, in which the branch flow limits are significantly
tightened, is presented. In the first stage, after satisfactory
base-case run, single contingencies are studied with the aid of
the MLC model. The most difficult contingencies, necessary
load curtailments and the expansion planning criterion are

LEVI AND NEDIC: APPLICATION OF THE OPTIMAL POWER FLOW MODEL IN POWER SYSTEM EDUCATION

TABLE III
VARIATION OF ACTIVE AND REACTIVE LOAD EXPONENTS

shown in Table IV. It is obvious that the planning criterion

gives much freedom in choosing the branches that should be
reinforced [21]. One possible solution to this problem is the
reinforcement of branches 1639, 1213, 723, 825, 2526
and 130. In the next stage, it was supposed that the new
reactive sources can be located in all consumption nodes,
and the OPF model was applied to provide 0.95
1.05. The base-case of the reinforced network was successful,
while the lined up contingencies, which required new reactive
sources, are quoted in Table V. The new reactive injections
are not cumulatively added in order to show that the voltage/
reactive problem is of local nature, and that the OPF solutions
require too many locations for new reactive sources. Hence,
a cumulative addition of the capacitive injections should be
performed when values exceed a certain threshold. Next, a
new planning scenario can be defined by relaxing the flow
limits of branches that connect the generators to the grid
(Table VI). In this case only the outage of generator 9 brings to
the same load curtailments in nodes no. 26 and 28 (the outages
of branches 219, 1819, 1213 and generators 2 and 4 are
compensated by additional generator delivery capabilities), so
that the reinforcement of only one branch (2526) gives the
solution which satisfies the (n-1) security criterion. Planning of
new reactive sources is very similar to the results presented in
Table V, which indicates clearly that the branch overload and
the voltage/reactive problems can be treated separately.
Dispatching of active generations is performed on the
39-node IEEE test system, and it starts with the one-point ED.
All linear and quadratic cost coefficients are set to, respectively,
1.00 and 0.10 [p.u.], and the same generator outputs are obtained. The active generation limits and the cost coefficients are
then changed, in order to establish relations between the active
generations and these quantities. Next, the production cost
minimization is done four times by using the following OPF
models: I) Without inequality constraints; II) Only constraints
on reactive generations are used; III) Active and reactive
generations are limited; and IV) All inequality constraints are
applied (Table VII). In case I), difference between the active
generations is the consequence of transmission losses, reactive
generations are large, and the voltage profile is very low. The
reactive generation limits reduce significantly reactive outputs,
node voltages are increased, while the active productions

577

change negligibly. The most important consequence of including the active generation limits is rescheduling of the
active productions (generators no. 4 and 10 are limited) and
active power flows, while the voltage profile is very similar
to the case II). Constraints on voltage magnitudes further
increase the node voltages and, consequently, decrease the
reactive generations. Summary of these four cases is given in
Table VIII. The increase of the overall production cost, active
generations and the node voltages, as well as the decrease of
the reactive outputs are the main conclusions.
Three cases are studied within the reactive power dispatching: I) Transmission loss minimization; II) Maximization
of voltage/reactive security; and III) Combination of these two
objectives. Reactive productions are given in Table IX, while
voltage profiles are shown in Fig. 4. In case I), the reactive
generations are relatively high and the node voltages are low.
Maximization of reactive reserves reduces the overall reactive
production for 1.2 [p.u.], increases the node voltages (the
lowest voltage is 0.967 [p.u.]) and gives rise to the transmission
losses equal to 0.037 [p.u.]. Combination of these equally
weighted objectives gives very similar reactive generations
and the voltage profile as in case II), while the transmission
losses are slightly reduced (0.001 [p.u.]). This is due to the
higher influence of the reactive productions in the objective
function. The combined active and reactive power (security
maximization) dispatching depends on the choice of the
weighting coefficients. The overall production cost varies in the
range of {104.1 105.7} [p.u./h], the total reactive generation
belongs to the interval {13.5 16.8} [p.u.], while the voltage
profiles differ significantly in the boundary optimization cases.
Finally, we include a sample description of one of the corrective rescheduling projects, because students are usually given
slightly different tasks. The steps are: 1) Find a base case minimum cost OPF solution of the 39-node IEEE system; 2) Set the
control variables to the base case OPF solution values, run the
FDLF model for the prespecified single branch outages and rank
; 3) Select a severe
these outages according to the index
contingency case, find the OPF solution, and if the load curtailments are necessary repeat the step no. 3) for another outage;
otherwise continue; 4) Find a trade-off between the production
cost and the deviation of the control variables from the base case
values; and 5) Select another contingency case and go back to
the step no. 3). The expected results are: ranking of branch outages, production cost and values of control variables in different
contingency regimes, as well as the variation of these quantities when modifying the objective function with the weighted
squared control variable deviations.
VII. CONCLUSION
In this paper, application of the OPF model for educational
purposes is presented. Four projects are designed: constrained
optimization, transmission expansion planning, active and
reactive dispatching for operations planning, and corrective
rescheduling for security enhancement. The individual modules
of the OPF model and the OPF model itself represent the core of
the software package developed to aid instruction in two power
system courses. The benefits for the students are multifold:

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 16, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2001

TABLE IV
EXPANSION PLANNING OF NETWORK REINFORCEMENTS

TABLE V
EXPANSION PLANNING OF REACTIVE SOURCES

TABLE VI
MODIFIED BRANCH FLOW LIMITS

TABLE VII
DISPATCHING OF ACTIVE GENERATIONS

TABLE VIII
SUMMARY OF ACTIVE DISPATCHING

a) Tabular display of the solution processes results enables a

clear insight into different optimization techniques; b) Solution
of different power system optimization models gives the opportunity to compare the individual results and to realize that the

LEVI AND NEDIC: APPLICATION OF THE OPTIMAL POWER FLOW MODEL IN POWER SYSTEM EDUCATION

TABLE IX
DISPATCHING OF REACTIVE GENERATIONS

579

B. Planning, Operation and Control of Power Systems

This course is taught in the eighth and the ninth semesters
and its objective is to give the most important functions of
the power systems real-life practice. Expansion planning is
taught from the textbook [19], while the book [20] is used for
operation and control of power systems. The main areas are:
1) Engineering economy; 2) Long- and medium-term load
forecasting; 3) Generation expansion planning and production costing; 4) Transmission and reactive power expansion
planning; 5) Economic dispatching; 6) Unit commitment;
7) Hydrothermal coordination; 8) Fuel scheduling; 9) State
estimation; 10) Steady-state security assessment; and 11) Preventive and corrective rescheduling. Worked examples of small
systems are given, and students apply specialized software
packages for more realistic power systems. Before taking the
exam, each student has to write a (small) program, which solves
one of the numerous problems in this field.
REFERENCES

Fig. 4. Voltage profiles within reactive dispatching.

system states depend dominantly on control variables settings

and operation constraints; c) Analysis of different scenarios and
parameter variation shows that a wide range of diverse regimes
is highly possible; and d) The interaction with this software
package enables students to understand relatively easily complex power system phenomena and the role of a dispatcher in the
power system planning and operation. All these conclusions became evident after the oral examinations during the past period.
APPENDIX
A. Computer Methods in Power Engineering
This course is taught in the third year and its objective is to
apply different computer methods in order to solve small
problems. Classroom instructions are covered by the textbook
[18], which contains the following main areas: 1) Systems of
linear algebraic equations; 2) Eigenvectors and eigenvalues;
3) Systems of nonlinear algebraic equations; 4) Systems
of linear differential equations; 5) Integration of ordinary
differential equations; 6) Stability of linear and nonlinear systems; 7) Linear and network programming; and 8) Non-linear
unconstrained/constrained optimization. Lectures are supported
by worked examples of two-by-two problems, and students
apply the software package MATLAB in laboratory. All
problems are discussed in general form, since students are not
familiar with power system problems.

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IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON POWER SYSTEMS, VOL. 16, NO. 4, NOVEMBER 2001

Viktor A. Levi (M89) was born in Zrenjanin, Yugoslavia, on June 21, 1958.
He graduated in 1982 from the School of Engineering Sciences, University of
Novi Sad, and received the M.Sc. degree in 1986 and the Ph.D. degree in 1991
from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade. In 1982, he
joined School of Engineering Sciences, Novi Sad, where he is employed as the
Associate Professor in Power Systems Department. He teaches power system
courses, and in past several years he was active in developing software for power
system optimization.

Dusko P. Nedic was born in Sabac, Yugoslavia, on October 27, 1968. He graduated in 1994 from the School of Engineering Sciences, University of Novi
Sad, and received the M.Sc. degree in 1999 from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering, University of Belgrade. In 1994, he joined the School of Engineering
Sciences, Novi Sad, as a research assistant, and in 1997, he moved to the Power
Distribution Company Elektrovojvodina, Novi Sad. Currently, he is with the
UMIST, Manchester, UK, and he is working toward his Ph.D. thesis.