CV

Download PDF (updated Sep 2025)

Education

• Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University — 2026 (expected)
• B.Tech., Electrical Engineering, University of Mumbai — 2018

Work experience

• Graduate Research Assistant, Texas A&M University — Aug 2021 to present
  • Upgraded a 2016 synthetic grid to reflect 2030 load and renewable scenarios for ARPA-E GO.
  • Quantified Area Sparsity and incorporated areas in synthetic-grid transmission planning.
  • Performed transient studies on WECC, EI, and ERCOT synthetic cases to analyze inter-area modes.
• Power System Engineer, Intern, Electric Power Engineers, LLC — Summer 2023
  • Built a study-area selection tool using PSS/E and TARA Python APIs.
  • Consolidated ERCOT Generic Transmission Constraints for engineering use.
• Technical Professional, Siemens Ltd. India — Jul 2018 to May 2021
  • Coordinated cross-functional switchboard manufacturing timelines.
  • Specified and communicated technical requirements across teams and customers.

Publications (selected)

Conference papers

• C1 — K. Zhgun, S. Kunkolienkar, F. Safdarian, T.J. Overbye, J. Weber. Improving Power Flow Convergence By Leveraging Region of Attraction Visualization. 2025 North American Power Symposium (NAPS) (2025) [PDF]
• C2 — S. Kunkolienkar, T. J. Overbye, G. Cabrera, H. Li. Study Area Selection Tool to Enhance System Impact Analysis of Generator Interconnections. 2025 IEEE Texas Power and Energy Conference (TPEC) (2025) [PDF]
• C3 — S. Kunkolienkar, J. Cook, T. J. Overbye. Visualizing Volt-Var Distributions in Large-Scale Electric Grid Models. 2024 North American Power Symposium (NAPS) (2024) [PDF]
• C4 — T.J. Overbye, S. Kunkolienkar, F. Safdarian, A. Birchfield. On the Existence of Dominant Inter-Area Oscillation Modes in the North American Eastern Interconnect Stability Simulations. 57th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) (2024) [PDF]
• C5 — S. Kunkolienkar, N. Slavchev, F. Safdarian, T.J. Overbye. Developing a Dashboard to Enhance Visualization of Similar Historical Weather Patterns and Renewable Energy Generation. 2024 IEEE Workshop on Energy Data Visualization (EnergyVis) (2024) [PDF]
• C6 — S. Kunkolienkar, F. Safdarian, J. Snodgrass, A. Birchfield, T.J. Overbye. A Description of the Texas A&M University Electric Grid Test Case Repository for Power System Studies. 2024 IEEE Texas Power and Energy Conference (TPEC) (2024) [PDF]
• C7 — E. Ekeruche, S. Kunkolienkar, J. Snodgrass, T.J. Overbye. Undergraduate Research on Improving Power Grid Planning Models. 2023 North American Power Symposium (NAPS) (2023) [PDF]
• C8 — S. Kunkolienkar, F. Safdarian, J. Snodgrass, T.J. Overbye. Quantification of Area Sparsity for Large-Scale Electric Grids. 2023 Kansas Power and Energy Conference (KPEC) (2023) [PDF]
• C9 — F.A. Fru, S. Kunkolienkar, et al.. Pedagogical Application of Visualization and Eye Tracking for Electrical Grid Management. 2023 International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics (2023) [PDF]
• C10 — T.J. Overbye, S. Kunkolienkar. On the Existence of Distinct Inter-Area Electro-Mechanical Modes in North American Electric Grids. 2023 Kansas Power and Energy Conference (KPEC) (2023) [PDF]
• C11 — S. Kunkolienkar, F. Safdarian, J. Snodgrass, T.J. Overbye. Creating Active and Reactive Power Reserve Zones for Large-Scale Electric Grids. 2023 Kansas Power and Energy Conference (KPEC) (2023) [PDF]
• C12 — W. Trinh, S. Kunkolienkar, Y. Liu, T.J. Overbye. On the Sensitivity of Ring-Down Observed Inter-Area Modes in Large-Scale Electric Grids Using a Simulation Approach. 2022 IEEE Power and Energy Conference at Illinois (PECI) (2022) [PDF]
• C13 — J. Snodgrass, S. Kunkolienkar, U. Habiba, Y. Liu, M. Stevens, F. Safdarian, T.J. Overbye. Case Study of Enhancing the Matpower Polish Electric Grid. 2022 IEEE Texas Power and Energy Conference (TPEC) (2022) [PDF]

Journal papers

• J1 — S. Israel, S. Kunkolienkar, A. Goulart, K. Davis, T.J. Overbye. A Scalable Automatic Model Generation Tool for Cyber-Physical Network Topologies and Data Flows for Large-Scale Synthetic Power Grid Models. Just accepted to ACM Transactions on Cyber-Physical Systems (2025) [PDF]

Full list: Publications

Teaching Assitantships

• ECEN 615 – Elements of Power System Analysis — Texas A&M University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Fall 2025 — Course page
• ECEN 667 – Power System Dynamics and Stability — Texas A&M University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Fall 2023 — Course page
• ECEN 615 – Elements of Power System Analysis — Texas A&M University, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Fall 2022 — Course page

Honors and Awards

• Thomas W. Powell’62 and Powell Industries Inc. Fellowship, 2022–2025
• Best Intern Presentation on “Improving for Tomorrow” Scholarship, Electric Power Engineers, 2023
• Graduate Research Assistantship, ECE, Texas A&M University, 2021–present
• ECE Department Scholarship, Texas A&M University, 2021

Service and Leadership

• Chair, Women in IEEE, 2024–present
• Logistics Executive, Grad Camp, Graduate and Professional Student Government, 2024
• Committee Member, Texas Power and Energy Conference, 2025
• Co-director, Texas Power and Energy Conference, 2024
• Logistics Chair, Texas Power and Energy Conference, 2023
• Technical Chair, Texas Power and Energy Conference, 2022
• General Officer, IEEE PES-IAS-PELS TAMU Joint Student Chapter, 2022–present(#)
• Vice President, Editorial team, Indian Graduate Student Association, 2021–2023
• Presenter, “Nurturing Intelligence in Curious Engineers,” IET, 2017

Professional Membership and Activities

• IEEE — Graduate Student Member, 2021–present
• IEEE Power and Energy Society — Graduate Student Member, 2021–present
• IEEE Young Professionals — Graduate Student Member, 2021–present
• IEEE Women in Engineering — Graduate Student Member, 2021–present