Haomin (Leo) Luo

Haomin (Leo) Luo

Graduate Student, Reinforcement Learning in Building Energy Systems

Haomin LUO (Leo)

Research interests

  1. Multi-scale energy system modelling, simulation, and optimization for design and control (e.g. Demand Response)
  2. Al-empowered microgrids with hybrid thermal/electrical and renewable energy system (e.g. BIPV) integration
  3. Advanced energy sharing and trading in zero net energy communities/microgrids/vehicle-to-building (V2B) / Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings (GEBs)
  4. Leverage advanced control techniques (e.g. MPC, DRL) and other data-driven techniques

Background

In October 2024, I commenced my PhD study at St. John’s College, University of Cambridge, within the Department of Engineering. My supervisor is Professor Ruchi Choudhary from Energy Efficient Cities initiative (EECi), with Bryn Pickering as my co-supervisor.

In September 2022, I began my master’s study at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE), pursuing the Intelligent Building Technology and Management program, which was awarded in July 2024 with HKUST MSc Excellent Student Scholarship. During my studies, I joined Professor Walter Zhe WANG’s Smart Building and Construction Lab, conducting independent research on “Deep Reinforcement Learning-Based Approaches for Energy Optimization in Zero Net Energy Communities.” This research was inspired by the NeurIPS 2022 CityLearn Challenge, it utilizes 1 year of operational electricity demand and PV generation data from 17 single-family buildings in the Sierra Crest home development in Fontana, California, that were studied for grid integration of zero net energy communities. The goal of this research project is to develop multiple Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) controllers（PPO, SAC, DDPG, TD3）to coordinate the load consumption of different households and to operate the thermal energy storage system to minimize the utility costs given the time-of-use utility structure and to minimize the CO2 emissions given varying carbon intensity of the grid.

Before this, I joined AECOM and worked as an Assistant Engineer in the Infrastructure & Environment department of the Global Delivery Centre, where I was responsible for the simulation and modelling of large-scale infrastructure and building information models (BIM) in Hong Kong, Australia, New Zealand, and beyond. I participated in projects including the City Rail Link in New Zealand, the MTR Tuen Mun Extension in Hong Kong, and the Mandai Safari Park in Singapore, where I was recognized as the Most Valued Player (MVP) for my contributions to the Sydney Gateway project in NSW Australia.

In September 2016, I was specially recruited as a violin scholar to join the School of Civil Engineering at Southwest Jiaotong University (SWJTU), where I majored in civil engineering. During my undergraduate studies, I received the Mingcheng Scholarship and was honoured as the Outstanding Individual for the academic year 2017-2018. My supervisor was Professor ZHENG Shixiong from the XNJD-3 wind tunnel Laboratory within the National Engineering Research Center of Geological Disaster Prevention Technology in Land Transportation (NCDL). Additionally, I became a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and served as the president of the Xinzhu Symphony Orchestra at Southwest Jiaotong University. I completed my undergraduate studies in July 2020 and was awarded a bachelor’s degree.

Additionally, I have enrolled in several internships during my master’s and undergraduate studies at Soochow Securities Co., Ltd., Huatai Securities Co., Ltd., and Meritco Services Consulting Co., Ltd., focusing on investment research in the TMT sector of the secondary financial market.

Publications