Beyond the Sole: Where Human Performance Meets Data Analytics

Presentation describing a Pillar project completed as part of the Camras Scholars Program at Illinois Tech. Camras scholars are expected to make meaningful contributions to the campus and the Illinois Tech community in three focus areas known as the Camras Pillars: leadership, research, and service. The Camras Scholars Program (CSP) is a student-led organization that oversees and runs the program for current Camras scholarship recipients and alumni

Camras Scholars Website

Presentation describing a Pillar project completed as part of the Camras Scholars Program at Illinois Tech. Camras scholars are expected to make meaningful contributions to the campus and the Illinois Tech community in three focus areas known as the Camras Pillars: leadership, research, and service. The Camras Scholars Program (CSP) is a student-led organization that oversees and runs the program for current Camras scholarship recipients and alumni

Fostering personal finance engagement with a habit building app

Master's Project focused on developing a concept for a personal finance literacy app

World Languages and Cultures Club

Presentation describing a Pillar project completed as part of the Camras Scholars Program at Illinois Tech. Camras scholars are expected to make meaningful contributions to the campus and the Illinois Tech community in three focus areas known as the Camras Pillars: leadership, research, and service. The Camras Scholars Program (CSP) is a student-led organization that oversees and runs the program for current Camras scholarship recipients and alumni

Analysis on the Persisting Effects of Redlining in Chicago Neighborhoods as it relates to Green Infrastructure

Presentation describing a Pillar project completed as part of the Camras Scholars Program at Illinois Tech. Camras scholars are expected to make meaningful contributions to the campus and the Illinois Tech community in three focus areas known as the Camras Pillars: leadership, research, and service. The Camras Scholars Program (CSP) is a student-led organization that oversees and runs the program for current Camras scholarship recipients and alumni

BLOCKCHAIN FOR TRANSACTIVE ENERGY MARKET WITH NETWORKED MICROGRIDS

Transactive energy, which allows and incentivizes microgrids (MGs) to trade energy with each other, is regarded as the next-generation energy management scheme to accommodate the penetration of distributed energy resources (DERs). Blockchain provides an effective and decentralized strategy, which can address the operational challenges introduced by the transactive energy market. This thesis is aimed at providing effective transactive energy markets for incentivizing MGs to trade energy and utilizing blockchain technologies to provide a secure and efficient energy trading environment for all participants.First, this thesis offers a centralized transactive market for networked MGs to transact energy through the centralized distribution system operator (DSO) while ensuring the power network limits. All MGs cooperate in this market and the cooperative behaviors are captured using the cooperative game with externalities. A two-level problem is studied to allocate the total payoff to all participating MGs. Numerical results for a 4-MG system and the IEEE 33-bus show the validity of the centralized transactive energy model. Second, this thesis proposes a two-level network-constrained peer-to-peer (P2P) transactive energy for multi-MGs, which guarantees the distribution power network security and allows MGs to trade energy with each other flexibly. At the lower level, a P2P transactive energy is employed for multi-MGs to trade energy with each other. A multi-leader multi-follower (MLMF) Stackelberg game approach is utilized to model the energy trading process among MGs. At the upper level, the DSO reconfigures the distribution network based on the P2P transactive energy trading results by applying the AC optimal power flow considering the distribution network reconfiguration. If there are any network violations, the DSO requests energy trading adjustments at the lower level for network security. Numerical results for a 4-MG system, the modified IEEE 33-bus, and the 123-bus distribution power systems show the effectiveness of the proposed transactive energy model and its solution technique. Third, this thesis adopts the blockchain for the peer-to-peer transactive energy market among MGs. A two-level integrated blockchain-power system is provided, in which all MGs and the DSO are equipped with blockchain. At the lower level, MGs trade energy with each other through the lower-level MG blockchain, while the DSO manages the network security through the upper level DSO blockchain. We illustrate how to utilize blockchain technologies, i.e., public and private keys and smart contracts, to provide an efficient and secure energy trading environment for all MGs. Last, this thesis applies the blockchain for transacting energy and carbon right for networked MGs. MGs transact energy and carbon right through the centralized DSO while ensuring the power network limits. The introduction of blockchain achieves secure and decentralized market settlements in this centralized market. Numerical results for a 4-MG system and modified IEEE 33-bus systems show the effectiveness of the proposed transactive energy and carbon market

TIMING STRATEGY OF COMMODITY MANAGERS

The purpose of this research is to study whether commodity managers have the ability to time factor exposures. I utilize the methodology developed by Treynor and Mazuy (1966), and Henriksson and Merton (1981), and apply the four-factor commodity model of Blocher et al (2018). Specifically, I measure market timing, momentum timing, the high term (realized term premia for the commodities with above‐median basis), and low term (realized term premia for the commodities with below‐median basis) skills. These factors are chosen because each one, separately, captures a risk premium embedded in commodity futures.My results indicate that commodity managers’ returns have some statistically significant market timing abilities. This means that many managers increase exposure to the nearest contract when the spot premium return is high and decrease exposure when the spot premium return is low. Momentum timing, high term timing, and low term timing are not observed. When looking at different strategies, technical managers demonstrate stronger market timing ability than fundamental managers

On the Study of Successful Derivatives: A Holistic Approach to the Standardization of Financial Innovation

This dissertation attempts a contribution toward a much-needed holistic understanding surrounding the trading dynamics of exchange-based derivative products. The latter proxying such products’ commercial performance. Hence, upon identifying the lack of a measurement standard as the underlying reason for the attested and motivating knowledge deficit, we adopt a two-step approach for the development thereof: At first an integrated conceptual framework is established and, subsequently, a normalization standard is derived. In result, across-product trading dynamics are rendered directly comparable; arguably, for the first time ever. Furthermore, we also explore the existing postulation of balanced liquidity commitments between the groups of hedgers and speculators and posit the construct of a corresponding temporarily stable equilibrium. The latter serves as the first dimension on which the developed measurement standard may be applied. Accordingly, we conduct empirical research predicated on an extensive dataset with daily trading activity and, just as theorized, reject the hypothesis that the aforementioned speculator-hedger ratio is non-stationary. We then proceed in studying the trading dynamics of individual derivatives, implementing the developed standard by means of longitudinal analyses for second time. To a large extent our results do not contradict the body of related literature, which however has been essentially based on heuristic approaches to this time. Nevertheless, in its course, this study also highlights the need to shift the entire paradigm of studying individual derivatives trading success – from a single-faceted – to two separate effects: one anchored to the short term ‘steam gathering’ capacity of newly launched products and another associated with the notion of established products’ longevity. Altogether then, this study aspires to serve as a solid first step in systematically answering Webb’s (2018) call to confront the still unknown causes of derivatives’ success, or lack thereof