Energy, Power and Intelligent Control

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Biography

 

Stephen received a 1st class M.Eng Degree from The Queen’s University of Belfast in 2009 and is currently pursuing a PhD having been awarded a prestigious IET Power Network Research Scholarship. His postgraduate study investigating the issues relating to the control of reactive power from embedded generation.  He is working in conjunction with other IET scholars and with his project’s industrial sponsors, ET Technology and Scottish & Southern Energy Plc. 

PhD research title
 ‘Power dispatch using distributed generation’.

Research interests
Distributed generation, reactive power control, dynamic line ratings.

Placements
2006 – 2007, Full time IC Design Engineer, Xilinx Inc, European Headquarters, Dublin, Republic of Ireland.
Stephen worked on a number of team-oriented projects within the high volume business unit with a significant portion of his time was spent automating test programs to verify the functionality of newly developed silicon devices before going to full production. He also calibrated test procedures using known previous results for intractable problems. The testing and operation of various pieces of equipment was automated using Perl and LabVIEW scripts. Formal documentation procedures and regular presentation were key aspects of the work he completed.

2008-2009, 12 week research placement and final year project, The Queen’s University of Belfast, UK.
Overhead line ratings are normally rated using static seasonal ratings, but current-carrying capacity will depend on weather conditions. Stephen investigated the feasibility of dynamic line ratings for a section of Northern Ireland’s transmission network. The project was completed in collaboration with NIE and a number of wind developers. Stephen investigated the effect of wind cooling on overhead lines utilising CIGRE and IEEE modelling techniques to develop a dynamic line model. Through his research he has carried out extensive data analysis and published a number of papers.

2007, 8 week summer placement, Soleren, Yerevan, Armenia.
Stephen spent two months working in Armenia.  Armenia is a country with no raw fuel sources of its own and depends on the integration of renewable energy with existing technologies to efficiently use the fuel that it imports.  Whilst in Armenia Stephen participated in a project for a cancer medical centre in Armenia’s capital city Yerevan.  Used the grid, a gas generator and an array of photovoltaic cells (200m2) as an uninterruptible power supply, to supply the hospital with its electrical needs.  Using combined heat and power together with an absorption cooler and PV solar cells the hospitals air conditioning and hot water needs would be meet.