Parsa Zakeri, University of Auckland

Parsa Zakeri is a final year Electrical and Electronic Engineering student at the University of Auckland, specialising in Power and Control Systems.

Since August 2017, Parsa has been working at HV Power Measurement and Protection Ltd. In his roles as a Technical Support Engineer, he is responsible for testing protection relays, voltage regulators and other secondary systems products. He also handles inbound technical queries and inquiries from HV Power customers.

Parsa is passionate about contributing to the New Zealand electricity industry by bringing it steps closer to 100% renewable energy. He is currently working on his final year project, which is the renewable energy intermittency management by complementary operation of solar and wind energy system.

From January 2020, he will be starting his new role at Beca Ltd as a Power Systems Engineer.

Analysis of an Intelligent Merging Unit Based on IEC 61850-9-2

This presentation analyses the Sampled Measured Values (SMV) Process Bus concept defined in IEC 61850-9-2. This protocol proposes that the current and voltage transformer outputs that are presently hard-wired, are instead digitised at the source and then communicated to various devices such as protection relays, IEDs and to SCADA using an Ethernet-Based Local Area Network (LAN). This technology is implemented through a device called a Merging unit (MU) which transforms the output signal of the non-conventional low-power current transformer (LPCT) and low-power voltage transformer (LPVT) synchronously, into digital data points, called Sampled Measured Values (SMV). The MU transmits these signals with the standard environment of IEC 61850 to measure-control and protective devices. MU plays an important role to exchange messages between LPCT/LPVT (the process level) and the secondary equipment (the bay level) of a substation automation system. This reduces the cost significantly by reducing hardwiring. It also allows for greater future flexibility such as rerouting by IP address and not physical cable connections. Furthermore, it makes possible standardise design of the switchgear panel regardless of the final protection devices or the protection scheme required by the power utilities.

Keywords : merging unit, IEC 61850, switchgear, sampled measured values

Rob Hockey and Andrew Berry, University of Canterbury

Rob says there are only three important things you need to know about him. He lives for innovation, he challenges the status quo and most of all, he loves to zap things with high voltage.

Rob is a master's candidate at the University of Canterbury with research interests in emerging technology, high voltage and novel applications for existing technology. Having completed his undergraduate studies in Electrical and Electronic Engineering with a minor in Power Engineering, Rob is currently working on a research project funded by Transpower NZ Ltd in the use of UAVs for live line inspection.

Andrew is a hands on engineer, and is always at home while holding a spanner. Having completed his bachelors in engineering with first class honours at the University of Canterbury, he stuck around and was drawn in to the High Voltage Laboratory, where he has since been undertaking postgraduate research. Based there he has built coil guns, explosive art installations, and partial core transformers. He has had involvement with numerous electricity industry investigations relating to generator, transmission and distribution assets. Andrew is always happy for a chat (or to receive compliments on his beard).

Extracting Value From Conflicting Opinions

Bryan Leyland. The most infamous engineer in our industry, a hydropower legend, and a man with an agenda to question man made climate change. Bryan and his opinions comprise some of the most distinctive moments for a young engineer attending the annual EEA conference for the first time.

Climate change is real. As young engineers in the electrical power industry, transitioning to a carbon neutral future will be a critical challenge during our careers, and the decisions we make will have far reaching impacts on society.

So why should we take the opinion of a climate change denier seriously? Is the industry focusing too much on Bryan's opinion on climate change, and in doing so overlooking his valid concerns or the solutions which he offers? If it is possible that the disdained response of the industry to Bryan highlights a lack of diverse thinking, then how can we instead extract value from his conflicting positions?

This presentation will discuss how as young engineers, it is our place to challenge the status quo and to consider conflicting opinions, rather than simply accepting the established order. If we can find some value in differing perspectives and use this value to push forward, surely we can impact a greater change than if we outright overlook them.