Net-worker with the drive to optimise

Gabriela Hug is a small woman with a bright, alert gaze. When she speaks, she slips back into English now and then – a reminder of the time she and her husband spent in Canada and the US after her thesis. And there are many who want to hear her speak these days: lectures, conferences, contacts with industry – Hug is inundated with requests. This is due to her specialisation: optimisation of energy grids. At the Power Systems and High Voltage Laboratories (EEH) at ETH Zurich, Hug develops computational methods to operate modern electricity networks safely and reliably. As a result of her research, the World Economic Forum recently appointed her to the Young Scientists, a community of young researchers who creatively push the limits in their fields of expertise.

She recently spoke at a WEF-organised meeting of the Young Scientists in Tianjin, China (see article on ETH Global News). Through her research, Hug explores the question of how to integrate renewable energy into the existing electricity infrastructure, making it possible to move away from nuclear energy and fossil fuels. A major topic that she has a lot to say about: “The interest is in my field of expertise, not in me personally,” says Hug, smiling.

Making grids smarter

Her office on Physikstrasse above the ETH main building is modest and tidy – there are no electronic components, cables or plans of complicated circuits lying around. Hug works with the computers, develops control software and program algorithms to solve optimisation problems in the grid resulting from the energy transition.

She explains: “The existing energy grids and their controls are designed for the traditional power supply and are therefore too inflexible – essentially, power flows from A to B, from central power plants to the consumer.” In future, energy will be supplied largely through solar and wind power, which means it will be produced locally and subject to fluctuations. Different types of energy storage will exist and single-family homes will even be able to produce their own electricity. “To coordinate all these elements in real time requires sophisticated control systems capable of balancing production and consumption in the grid,” says Hug. She mentions electric vehicles as an example: if all these moving batteries recharged at the same time, they would overburden the grid. In future, they will have to communicate with the energy grid and dynamically decide when to recharge or feed power back into the grid. In this way e-mobility could act as a distributed buffer and support the grid as needed.

A robotic dog set the course

The 37-year-old Hug grew up in Aargau and Solothurn, and from her early days in secondary school it was clear to her that she wanted to study mathematics. The fact that it turned out differently is something she owes to her physics teacher, who sent her for a trial study week in engineering before she left school. Hug built a walking robotic dog with blinking eyes – a key experience, as she emphasises with a laugh, “From then on I was interested in electrical engineering. I loved the practical application, the tinkering around.”

The interest grew into a passion, and Hug began studying electrical engineering at ETH Zurich. After her undergraduate studies, she attended lectures by Professor Göran Andersson at the Power Systems Lab at EEH and was thrilled by his classes and subject. “Electricity is absolutely central to our society. Nothing would work without it. I found this completely fascinating,” she says enthusiastically. It is hardly a surprise that she later earned her doctorate with Andersson as her supervisor.

Seven years in North America

In 2008, Hug moved to Toronto with her husband where she spent a year working as an engineer on energy grids for a Canadian energy company. She then took a position as an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She stayed there for six years, not only laying the foundation for her academic career but also having three children. “It was a very nice time, but also very intense – I gave a lot of lectures on very little sleep,” she recalls.

Back to her roots

Despite being on their own, the young family would have stayed in Pittsburgh even longer as they enjoyed their jobs and the lifestyle. But the desire to see their children grow up with their grandparents steadily grew. When Hug learned that Andersson would soon retire, she did not hesitate to apply for the job vacancy: "That was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

It worked: for the past year, Hug has been Associate Professor at the same institute that she left eight years ago, and in July she will succeed her doctoral supervisor. “Andersson is an expert in the field of energy systems. I’m honoured to continue his professorship. At the same time, it’s like coming home. ETH stands for superior research. I’m proud to be a part of it,” she says.

Networker for networks

Hug’s work on the design and operation of future electricity networks has gained much attention in professional circles. One example is her new approaches to distributed optimisation, which she applied to participants in energy grids. Just as it is crucial for elements in a grid to communicate with one another, so too is it for people. In the US, she became familiar with a well-established culture of scientific collaboration. Networking made easy, so to speak. “Interacting with people from different fields to come up with new ideas – I want to keep this culture going at ETH,” says Hug. For her, this also includes working with other professors to supervise doctoral students.

“Not without my husband”

A full-time professorship, frequent travel, three children... how do you do it? She laughs, “My husband is the stay-at-home dad. He cooks and takes care of our children.” Hug is obviously well organised and works in a disciplined manner, and weekends are reserved strictly for her family. “Nothing would work without my husband and for that I’m eternally grateful to him,” she says.