Seminar | Introduction to Electric Power Research of University of Canterbury (New Zealand)

Description

Welcome to Monash Energy Seminar Series. We look forward to seeing you  participating in informative seminars that are held monthly for the presentation and discussion of various energy and climate change topics with light refreshments and networking to follow.

We aim to bring together Monash and external energy and climate experts to promote a cross-disciplinary understanding of challenges and opportunities rising during the global energy crisis. Building and growing the Monash Energy community is the priority of the Monash Energy Institute. By offering the Monash Energy Seminar Series, we are enabling the opportunity for all passionate and interested in energy, including academics, students, practitioners, professionals and volunteers to congregate in one space.

We aim to create a collaborative environment that helps to share research, expertise, practice and innovative ideas for developing a clean and sustainable energy future. Monash Energy Seminars are open and free events, but do require registration.

Abstract

Designing a future architecture of the network, electrifying large scale transport and managing solar tsunamis

The University of Canterbury (UC) has a long history of world-class power and energy research. The Electrical and Computer Engineering department hosts excellent research facilities and academic staff, including a recently refurbished high voltage laboratory.

This seminar aims to highlight UC facilities and several research programmes currently being undertaken in the department and open up opportunities for collaboration between UC and Monash. Some of the research highlights include:

• Future Architecture of the Network (FAN) – we are investigating what the future electrical power system might look like. Our central hypothesis is that high penetration of DC transmission and distribution (conveyance) into the AC grid will provide many benefits to transition to a low-carbon power system. The primary research challenge is determining the future architecture, topology and transition pathway. ​
• Electrifying Large Scale Transport – aims to contribute to the emerging international effort to develop high power to weight electric machines for future transport applications, ranging from electric ships over trucks to large-scale hybrid electric aircraft. Our work includes cryogenically cooled power electronic, high-power variable-speed drives for driving superconducting motors.
• Solar Tsunamis – In this project, we investigate the impacts of extreme geomagnetic storms on infrastructure, such as power systems. UC’s contribution focuses on power transformers and the effects of saturation.

Speaker

Dr Andrew Lapthorn, Senior Lecturer, Electric Machines, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Canterbury

Andrew C Lapthorn (Senior Member, IEEE) was born in Gore, New Zealand, in 1979. He received the NZCE in electrotechnology from Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology, Christchurch, NZ, in 2005, the B.E. (Hons) in electrical and electronic engineering in 2008, and the PhD degree in electrical engineering in 2012 from the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, NZ. He is currently a Senior Lecturer in Electric Machines with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, the University of Canterbury, where he manages the high voltage laboratory.

Andrew is an electric power engineer specialising in electric machine modelling and design. He is interested in various electric power research, including high-temperature superconductivity, transformer and electric machine modelling, and high voltage engineering. This research has enabled him to collaborate with several national and international field experts. He is a UC principal investigator on two major research grants and an AI on an additional grant. He has supervised over 50 honours, five PhD, and four ME students to completion as the senior supervisor. He is currently the senior supervisor of four PhD and eight honours students. Since 2017 he has published over 20 articles in leading journals. He is a reviewer for over 15 journals, including IEEE Transactions on Applied Superconductivity, IEEE Transactions on Energy Conversion, IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery, Electric Power Systems Research, IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution, and MDPI Energies.

Dr Lapthorn is a Member of Engineering New Zealand (MENZ) and a Member of the Electricity Engineers' Association (EEA) New Zealand.

Host

Shreejan Pandey – Monash Energy Institute