FIU energy researcher Arif Sarwat wins economic impact award

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance has named FIU professor and energy grid researcher Arif Sarwat the recipient of its 2026 World Class Faculty Award, which recognizes outstanding educators whose research and academic leadership enhance the region’s overall economic competitiveness.

"It is a tremendous honor to be recognized by the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance for my team's work," says Sarwat, a distinguished university professor and chair of the Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering at FIU's College of Engineering & Computing.

"The two things that play so importantly in decision-making for major companies are a continuous, reliable supply of electricity and a highly trained young generation. I'm proud to say that FIU is making major contributions to both."

Sarwat and his Energy, Power & Sustainability-Intelligence (EPSi) lab have spent years turning FIU's Engineering Center into a living laboratory for the grid technologies powering South Florida's future. Leveraging a large solar array and smart microgrid on campus, his team develops AI-based control systems under real operational conditions, advancing grid reliability, resilience and efficiency. The lab's core research areas includes federated learning, agentic AI, wireless power transfer (WPT) and advanced applications for microgrids and distributed energy resources.

More than 80 documented EPSi graduates have gone on to careers at Florida Power & Light Company (FPL) alone, trained on the same industrial-grade systems they would operate in the field.

"Reliability is measured in nines. Is it 99.99%, or is it 99.999%? The kind of reliability that FPL is able to provide to South Florida today is among the highest in the world, and our work has been part of making that possible," Sarwat says.

Looking ahead, his lab is developing quantum-hardened cybersecurity protocols designed to protect the grid against next-generation threats: work the broader industry has yet to fully confront, he says. The team is exploring the role of quantum technologies, federated learning and agentic AI in strengthening the critical infrastructure defined by Department of Defense.

"We started working with AI in 2008. Industry began using it much later," Sarwat says. "Thinking about what's coming five to ten years down the line will help South Florida remain a growing hub for industry."

The Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance is the primary economic development organization for Broward County, focused on job creation, capital investment and quality of life across the region.