{"id":220591,"date":"2024-10-30T12:41:58","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T16:41:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=220591"},"modified":"2024-10-30T20:17:05","modified_gmt":"2024-10-31T00:17:05","slug":"zongjie-wang-wins-women-of-innovation-award-for-research-innovation-and-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2024\/10\/zongjie-wang-wins-women-of-innovation-award-for-research-innovation-and-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Zongjie Wang Wins \u2018Women of Innovation\u2019 Award for Research Innovation and Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Zong<\/span><span data-contrast=\"auto\">jie Wang, assistant professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering and associate director of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eversource.uconn.edu\/\">Eversource Energy Center<\/a>, has been awarded the state-level Women of Innovation Award for Research Innovation and Leadership by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ct.org\/\">Connecticut Technology Council<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">This highly competitive, state-level award, selected out of a total of 45 finalists, recognizes women across all STEM fields who have made outstanding contributions to innovation, research, and leadership. Wang\u2019s recognition highlights her exceptional work in advancing grid resilience, renewable energy integration, and electric grid modernization.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_220671\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-220671\" style=\"width: 226px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-220671 img-responsive lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-226x300.jpg\" alt=\"Zongjie Wang holding an award trophy, with a yellow rose pinned to her lapel\" width=\"226\" height=\"300\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-226x300.jpg 226w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-771x1024.jpg 771w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-768x1020.jpg 768w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-1157x1536.jpg 1157w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-316x420.jpg 316w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2-501x665.jpg 501w, https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/2.jpg 1204w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 226px) 100vw, 226px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 226px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 226\/300;\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-220671\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zongjie Wang holds her Women of Innovation Award at the 19th annual awards ceremony in Branford. (Courtesy of Zongjie Wang)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">Wang\u2019s contributions were also acknowledged by Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Gov. Ned Lamont, who provided official certificates with their specific comments that emphasize the importance of her work for the state of Connecticut.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Wang was also featured in a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtnh.com\/video\/women-of-innovation-summit-celebrates-women-in-stem\/10148210\/\"><span data-contrast=\"none\">live TV interview on WTNH-TV Channel 8<\/span><\/a><span data-contrast=\"none\">, where she introduced her research background and discussed the impact of her work on increasing grid resilience by reducing power outages and enabling faster recovery during major events.\u00a0<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Reflecting on the significance of the award, Wang expressed her thoughts on how this recognition helps to elevate the visibility of women\u2019s contributions in STEM: \u201cThis award shines a light on women who are making great contributions in STEM, particularly in engineering. This recognition will continue to encourage more women to pursue their careers and leadership roles, knowing their work can truly make a difference.\u201d<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Wang was nominated for this prestigious award by vice provost Leslie Shor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"auto\">&#8220;Zongjie is one of our most productive and inspiring junior faculty,&#8221; says Shor. &#8220;We are so proud of the transformational impact her work is bringing to Connecticut communities.&#8221;<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">In addition to her leadership in research, Wang has played a pivotal role at the Eversource Energy Center in driving innovative solutions for grid modernization.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">\u201cZongjie is one of the most driven individuals I have ever had the pleasure of working with,\u201d says Emmanouil \u201cManos\u201d Anagnostou, the Center\u2019s director. \u201cShe is a bright and talented addition to the Eversource Energy Center, bringing critical expertise in power system analysis and optimization. Through Zongjie, we are more connected to our university and state communities than ever. She brings leadership on industry outreach and education initiatives, and it shows in the increased strength and impact of our Center.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">In addition to honoring Wang\u2019s accomplishments, this award underscores UConn\u2019s commitment to supporting pioneering research that advances a more sustainable and resilient energy future. Wang\u2019s work in renewable energy integration and power systems has a lasting impact on the state of Connecticut, the Northeast region, and beyond.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Wang was one of ten winners selected from 45 finalists statewide<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":58,"featured_media":220669,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1866,2460,2076],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[117],"class_list":["post-220591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-engr","category-faculty","category-research"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 20:52:34","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/58"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220591"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220591\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":220676,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220591\/revisions\/220676"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/220669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220591"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=220591"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=220591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}