2018 News Archive
December 2018: End of Year Dinner
Our PES/PELS WA chapter members of 2018 accompanied IEEE WA Section for a delightful end of year dinner at Anghiti restuarant.
September 2018: IEEE Condition Monitoring and Diagnosis (CMD) 2018
Held at Curtin University from 23 to 26 September 2018, this was the 7th CMD conference, and the first in Australia. The conference drew together academia, industry, technology providers, consultants and experts in power engineering to discuss and share ideas, present results, reflect on past experiences and discuss future trends and technology in the electric power apparatus monitoring, fault diagnosis and asset management.
The major technical sponsor was the Dielectric and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS). Within WA the DEIS does not have a chapter but the industry and IEEE is well represented by PES. It was logical for WA PES/PELS chapter and the WA section to help put.
In summary:
- 2 tutorials, 4 keynote speakers
- 230 submissions from 27 countries
- All papers reviewed by at least 2 independent reviewers
- All presented papers would be uploaded onto IEEE Xplore
- Some selected papers will be selected for inclusion in the Electrical Insulation Magazine.
- Extended papers can be submitted to the special issue of Energies Journal at a discounted rate
- 6 Best paper awards worth $500 each– 4 donated by Omicron, 1 by Ampcontrol, 1 by IEEE WA Section/ IEEE WA PES-PELS chapter
Photos from the Conference
Prof Syed Islam - Conference Advisory Chair & Keynote Speaker #4
Assoc Prof Ahmed Abu-Siada - Conference General Chair
Prof Hulya Kirkici – Keynote Speaker #1
Dr Wojciech Koltunowicz Keynote Speaker #2
Dr Robert Fleming Keynote speaker #3
CMD 2018 Group Photo
IEEE WA section chair /joint PES/ PELS chair & Tobias Munster
Setpember 2018: Outstanding WA PES/PELS Engineer 2018 - Nominations Invited
Nominations are invited for the 2019 Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award. This award is organized by the IEEE joint Power and Energy Society & Power Electronics Society Western Australia Chapter. It recognizes the outstanding contributions of a local engineer to the power engineering profession. The winner will be selected according to the following criteria:
- Outstanding technical contributions to the power & energy and/or power electronics profession.
- Outstanding professional and leadership contributions to the power & energy and/or power electronics profession.
- Significant contributions to the local community representing the power & energy and/or power electronics profession.
- Outstanding contributions in the area of power & energy and/or power electronics education.
- Service to the Power & Energy Society and/or Power Electronics Society and/or IEEE.
The achievements can be from the 2019 year and/or for a longer sustained period of achievement. In addition to receiving an IEEE plaque, the recipient of the award will be nominated for other IEEE Awards at regional and society level by the Western Australian Chapter.
Nominations citing the candidate's contributions can be made in writing (*) and sent to the following committee member:
S M Muyeen: s.m.muyeen@ieee.org or sm.muyeen@curtin.edu.au
(*) Up to 2 pages and this may be expanded if the nomination progresses to regional and/or society level. Self or proposer nominations are permitted. Closing Date: 22 November 2018
August 2018: Chapter Award Presentations
The IEEE PES WA Chapter Prize In Power Systems Analysis was awarded to UWA student Mr Jake Sacino. IEEE PES WA Chapter chair Harry McDonald (left) present the chapter price in Power System Analysis to the 2018 award winner Mr Jake Sacino (right).
Prof. Tyrone Fernando (left) and Mr. Harry McDonald (right). Prof Tyrone is the teacher of ELEC 5505 Power System Analysis module at UWA.
July 2018: IEEE Tech talk on Reliability and resilience in low-carbon, low-inertia power systems: Challenges, opportunities and role of smart grid technologies
In an IEEE PES organised event, Prof. Pierluigi Mancarella, Chair of Electrical Power Systems and Veski Fellow from The University of Melbourne delivered a seminar on reliability and resilience in low-carbon, low-inertia power systems: challenges, opportunities and role of smart grid technologies.
About the Talk
AEMO's Mr Dean Sharafi welcomed the audience and outlined how IEEE PES fitted into WA and the international scene. Mancarella outlined the main themes of his presentation being: i) Context for a changing landscape, ii) Renewables and techno-economic implications, iii) A textbook example: the South Australia “Black System” event, iv) Emerging solutions and v) Concluding remarks.
His presentation slides were informative and easy to understand. Some of his thinking about the scientific past and application to the future were challenging and philosophical. There was a legacy of science and engineering overcoming significant challenges landing on the moon, splitting the atom to name a few.
He called on black start events, the South Australian blackouts case ,(a question of resilience or reliability) and the power system security assessment of the future NEM including the Finkel review. A great deal was discussed about changing the power system inertia, and the integration of battery systems and other new network services. He also posed the main question: Do we need a stronger, bigger or smarter grid?
He finished by desribing how Virtual Power Plants can be applied at a small scale and large scale (city). As in the past with the great men like Edison we need to have some 'back to the future' breakthroughs considering techno-economic and reliability constraints. (the energy trilemma)
Approximately 50 people attended this event and the senior PES/PELS committee in attendance judged this as the most well presented event for a long time. His presentation was clear, spoken with authority and relevant. It was a great privilge to have someone of Mancarellis calibre visit and present to us.
Special thanks go to SM Muyeen for initiating the event, AEMO for organising the venue and AEMO's Michelle Kenworthy-Groen for the registration and videography.
Event Recording
The full recorded stream of the event can be accessed from the following link:
May 2018: Chapter Award Presentations
IEEE PES/PELS WA chapter chair Harry McDonald presents the 2018 PES/PELS award to Mr. George Peacock at Curtin unversity prize giving ceremony. Congratulations to George for his achievement.
April 2018: IEEE Tech talk on Optimal Sizing of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in Microgrids
The first scheduled PES/PELS technical activity was a huge success. There was nearly 100 in attendance with 20 of those being IEEE members. It was a full house in the Central Park theatrette. The topic and speaker Dr. Thair Mahmoud an interesting attraction.
About the Talk
Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) can be key players in optimising the operation of microgrids due to their ability to perform multi-operational functions e.g. demand management, power quality control, backup power and energy trading. Due to their high installation cost, finding their right size is an essential part of the planning and design of a microgrids development. Integrating BESS within the unit-commitment problem in microgrids requires complicated decision making algorithms and can formulate another optimisation problem. The objective of this problem is to reduce the operation cost at minimum BESS size.
This lecture presented the art of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in operating microgrids and the use of BESS to reduce their operation costs. The lecture also covered the BESS sizing options through a practical application and highlighted the role of intelligence in reducing their size and maximising their utilisation.
Thair spoke at an easy pace for about 1 hr and 15 minutes followed by approx 15 minutes of interesting questions. Harry McDonald the PES/PELS chair and WA section provided the introduction and vote of thanks. AEMO’s assistance in coordinating the venue and registrations was appreciated.
Event Recording
The full recorded stream of the event can be accessed from the following link: