Huan Zhao is a 6th year PhD student (soon to graduate) studying computational economics under Leigh Tesfatsion, with a research focus on electricity market rules design. This summer he's interning at ISO-New England in Holyoke, Massachusetts, working on simulation tools used for evaluating market performance with a demand response program.

What do you hope to learn or gain from this internship? I hope I can learn the latest market rules used in the power industry. I will also be exposed to the different challenges this evolving market is facing.

What is exciting or interesting to you about this opportunity? The exciting part will be the application of economics theory into real practice. During the process of real business design, I can see how a little bit of market rule change can deeply affect a society's efficiency.

Learn more about ISO New England at http://www.iso-ne.com. To highlight the summer activities of a particular grad student, contact ksenty@iastate.edu