Lucy Pao

Lucy Pao is the Palmer Endowed Chair Professor in the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder. She holds a courtesy professorship in Aerospace Engineering Sciences at the same institution and a joint appointment with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) through the Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI). Her research spans control systems engineering with applications in wind energy systems and control co-design methodologies.

• 2018–Present: Palmer Endowed Chair Professor, University of Colorado Boulder
• 2010–Present: Courtesy Professor, Aerospace Engineering Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder
• 2009–Present: Fellow, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Institute (RASEI)
• 2004–Present: Professor, Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder
• 2009–2014: Richard and Joy Dorf Professor, Electrical, Computer, and Energy Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Her research focuses on control systems engineering applied to wind energy systems, including turbine control algorithms, co-design optimization, and mechanical actuation technologies. Recent work emphasizes online learning approaches for wind farm efficiency and propagation timing insensitivity in control experiments.

Scientific awards include the Control Engineering Practice Award (2017), European Academy of Wind Energy’s Scientific Award (2017), Nyquist Lecturer Award (2019), and Pavel J. Nowacki Distinguished Lecturer (2023). She maintains active affiliations with organizations such as the Austrian Academy of Sciences, IEEE Control Systems Society, and the U.S. Defense Science Study Group.