My background is in electrical engineering, with a focus on power-electronic drives, electric machinery and electromagnetics. My current research interest is applying systems methodologies to model, control and optimize complex energy systems. My belief that a systems approach is the best framework for designing large-scale integrated energy systems led me to join the Systems Engineering Department at Colorado State University, where I’ve served on the faculty since 2017; I also hold a joint appointment in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. I’ve served in various technical management positions in industry and a DOE national laboratory, at both the executive and research group level, and enjoy building teams of experts to solve the most challenging problems. You can find out more about some of my past activities using the links below.

View my publications, a list of current and former graduate students, and selected research projects.

View a list of current and former university courses, technical (industry) short-courses and seminars I’ve held.

View selected articles I’ve written, mostly for my graduate students (e.g., advice on research and writing papers).

Dr. Cale has led a multitude of projects including Power, Power Electronics, and Feedback Controls and Design Optimization & Trade-off Analysis. James also has several current students working on a variety of research projects including dynamic programming and stochastic optimization methods for microgrid systems.

Each semester, Dr. Cale teaches several courses at Colorado State University. His courses include Coupled Electromechanical Systems and Dynamic Optimization for System Operation Under Uncertainty.

James hosted the Fort Collins 2019 Symposium on Microgrids at Colorado State University. He also has been featured in several digital and print media including the Denver Post and the SNL Financial.