The September/October Issue of the Electrical Insulation Magazine has been released. Use the accordion headings below to explore this issue’s content, and visit the IEEE Xplore for full magazine access.
For a list of upcoming conferences, please visit the conference page or check out the events calendar.
Featured Articles
Featured Articles
Insulating Materials for HVDC Cable Accessories: Effects on the Electric Field in Nonstationary Situations
Feasibility of Space Charge Measurements on HVDC Cable Joints: Study Group—IEEE DEIS Technical Committee “HVDC Cable and Systems:”
Dielectric Measurements in the Frequency Domain—Dos and Don’ts
Editorial
Antonios Tzimas
Editor in Chief
Peter Morshuis
The strength of the Dielectric and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS), as of any other society and organization, lies with its members, the people who shape in one way, but frequently many ways, what today we perceive as DEIS. DEIS offers a number of different platforms for its members to share their work and ideas on electrical insulation, such as this magazine, the TDEI journal, and conferences and workshops focused on the continuous technical advancement of dielectrics. DEIS offers a way to archive and record the technical evolution of our field for future generations through the IEEE Xplore archives, which offer ease of access around the globe where internet is available. DEIS often recognizes and acknowledges members for their technical contributions through awards inspired by late members who excelled in our field, such as the ones below:
- Thomas W. Dakin Distinguished Technical Contributions Award, which recognizes outstanding, original contributions in advancing the technology of dielectrics and electrical insulation;
- Steven A. Boggs Young Professional Achievement Award, which recognizes individuals who have achieved their first significant results in the field of dielectrics and electrical insulation within 10 years of obtaining their bachelor’s degree; and
- Eric O. Forster Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes sustained leadership, support, and contributions to the advancement of the field of electrical insulation and dielectrics and, in particular, to the IEEE DEIS.
In this issue, there is an announcement about DEIS members who have recently been recognized with these awards, and you can find out more details about them and their career journey. The nature of interactions between our members is often professional but frequently also personal. With this in mind, and starting with this issue, the editorial board of the magazine is starting a new project with a series of articles quite different from the usual technically focused featured articles on electrical insulation. The magazine will publish a series of articles on brilliant, young professionals and golden oldies, from the heart of the DEIS community. These DEIS members, experienced and early career, will be interviewed by a professional (financed as a special project by DEIS). They will be asked about the role DEIS played in their professional life (the “oldies”) or what they expect from DEIS and how they would like to contribute (the “young ones”) or have already contributed. These interviews will be published in subsequent issues of the magazine. We think this is a good way of highlighting the horizon of DEIS opportunities to members and an attempt to capture the essence of their characters and thus DEIS’s too.
The first article in the series starts with Professor Leonard Alexander Dissado, who has certainly inspired many DEIS members, ranging from his PhD students whom he introduced to DEIS by encouraging conference participation and frequent publication output to members with ongoing technical discussions seek- ing fundamental answers in our field. Above all, he is a fellow DEIS member who is often seen at conferences surrounded by our thirsty-for-knowledge young minds trying to make sense of his work and the future direction of dielectrics. Len Dissado is also celebrating his quatre-vingtième birthday as our French friends would put it, and we wish him a Happy Birthday!
To conclude with the words of Elizabeth Aragao, who has embraced the task of arranging the interviews:
Why dielectrics? In a series of feature articles, members of DEIS share the unique paths they took to this field, what keeps them fascinated, and what they’ve learned along the way. Participants graciously reflected on their careers with honesty and humor, giving us a glimpse into the lives of the people behind the research. As Len Dissado, the subject of our first profile, explains: “It’s not a job; it’s a way of life.”
Erratum
In the previous magazine issue (no. 4, July/August 2022), there was a mistake in the editorial where Prof. Chat Cooke of MIT was referred to as “late.” We apologize to Prof. Chat Cooke, who is continuing his career of research at MIT. The online version of the editorial has been corrected, and the word “late” has been deleted.
Greg Stone, Antonios Tzimas, and Peter Morshuis
From The Editor
Antonios Tzimas
Editor in Chief
With this issue we are leaving the summer months and most active period of the year with conferences and DEIS events taking place around the globe with both in-person and virtual participation. It was a pleasure attending the ICD in Palermo, Italy, in July and meeting friends and colleagues again. I hope this has also been possible for many of you. There is still CEIDP coming up at the end of October and beginning of November for those of us who enjoy the cooler weather conditions and always warm and friendly environment of the conference.
This issue is launched with an editorial that aims to introduce a new series of featured articles based on interviews from the “golden oldies” and “young professionals” of our society that seek to capture their career paths including the role of DEIS and their life experiences. The News from Japan from Professor Ohki shares insight on “Development of a Synchronous Reluctance Motor System for Electric Trains.” There is also a Story from China from Dr. Zepeng Lv and several contributors titled “First Flexible Low-Frequency Offshore Wind Transmission Project Starts Operation in China.” Within the bulletin board section, meet the DEIS technical award winners from 2021 and 2022 and find out highlights from our first report on conferences, starting with ICDL hosted in Seville, Spain.
This issue of the magazine starts with an invited article that was among the best papers of ICPADM 2021 on the electric field distribution of HVDC cable joints. The second article was prepared by a study group aiming to investigate the feasibility of space charge measurements on HVDC cable joints. The third article is on dielectric response measurements. The fourth article is not a technical article but provides a profile of Professor Leonard Dissado.
The first article in this issue, titled “Insulating Materials for HVDC Cable Accessories: Effects on the Electric Field in Nonstationary Situations,” is authored by Gilbert Teyssedre and Séverine Le Roy, from the University of Toulouse in France, and Thi Thu Nga Vu, from Electric Power University in Hanoi, Vietnam. In this article, the computation of the field distribution of insulation materials used in HVDC accessories and joints is explored during transient and nonstationary situations. The authors consider the radial distribution of the field at the interface between cable insulation and temperature depending on the electrical conductivity of the materials. The authors also demonstrate that multiple stress conditions can be tested with simulations.
The second article, authored by a Study Group under the IEEE DEIS Technical Committee “HVDC Cable and Systems” is titled “Feasibility of Space Charge Measurements on HVDC Cable Joints.” In this article the authors review the current status of space charge measurements in full-sizes HVDC cable focusing on the pulsed electro-acoustic technique (PEA) and thermal step method (TSM). The authors discuss the challenges and opportunities presented to apply space charge
measurements on full-sizes HVDC cable joints, by referring to the latest research developments. The authors highlight opportunities of applying novel PEA cell construction that minimizes the voltage amplitude of the electrical pulse required to obtain space charge profile signal in thick insulation systems equivalent to the ones found in full-sized HVDC cable joints. Innovative proposals are also discussed for the TSM where by changing the application of the TSM measurement configuration improved resolution at critical interfaces.
The third article is titled “Dielectric Measurements in the Frequency Domain—Dos and Don’ts,” authored by Nikola Chalashkanov and Leonard A. Dissado from the University of Lincoln and the University of Leicester, respectively. This tutorial type of article provides an overview of frequency domain dielectric spectroscopy measurements and the techniques that can be applied for data analysis. The authors go through examples to illustrate key points in formulating the experiments and analyzing the data. The authors focus their analysis from the microhertz up to the megahertz range. The authors discuss the importance of graphical presentation as well as the significance of temperature and frequency on the interpretation of dielectric measurements.
The fourth article is authored by Elizabeth Aragao, who is not our usual technical author but one that focuses on the profiles of our DEIS members. The first article of the interview series is titled “Len Dissado: It’s not a job, it’s a way of life.” The author goes through Len Dissado’s career journey and life experiences that led him to his involvement with our society. The author highlights Len Dissado’s perspective on life through reference to art and wisdom.
News from Japan
Stories from China
Book Reviews
John J. Shea
Handbook of Electrical Steel
G. Engdahi
World Scientific Publishing Co.
5 Toh Tuck Link
Singapore 596224
US Office:
27 Warren Street
Suite 401-402
Hackensack, NJ 07601 http://www.worldscientificpress.com ISBN 978-981-122-691-5
791 pp., $198 (Hardcover), 2022
This book is a magnetic design handbook intended for electrical engineers. It provides insight into the field of magnetism and magnetic materials that allow the reader to be able to develop designs in a relatively short time. This includes transformers as well as coils, inductors, permeant magnets, and many other magnetic devices.
The book consists of seven chapters, each independent of each other, meaning that the reader can directly jump into any chapter without reading the preceding chapters. The first chapter begins by refreshing the reader’s background knowledge on electric and magnetic fields including magnetizing, demagnetizing, and magnetic moments. This provides the essential theory for understanding electro-motive and magnetomotive forces.
The next chapter describes the origins of magnetism through the quantum mechanical nature of magnetic materials. Electron spin and orbitals are described in a free electron model along with atomic magnetization, Zeeman interaction, paramagnetism, molecules, solid materials, and magnetism of electrons in solids.
Chapter three covers ferromagnetism. This encompasses crystal field interactions, magnetic anisotropy, magnetostriction, ferromagnetic domains, and magnetization and reverse magnetization.
Chapter four describes soft and hard magnetic materials. A thorough review of characterization quantities is presented. Some soft materials include pure iron, grain-oriented steel, high permeability-oriented steel, nonoriented steel, nano-crystalline materials, and soft ferrites. Some of the hard materials discussed include Alnico magnets, ferrites, SmCo magnets, and NbFeB magnets.
Chapter five covers characterization methods of magnetic materials, which is essentially methods used to measure the B-H curve of materials and the various methods used to obtain this measurement.
The next chapter is on modeling of magnetic materials. Major modeling approaches are detailed including the Jiles Atherton model, Preisach mod- els, Bergqvist model, Bertolli model for losses, complex permittivity model, and magnetostrictive model.
The final chapter explains general de-sign approaches, lumped element methods, finite element method, reluctance network models, equivalent circuits, electric circuit modeling approaches, and a time-stepping approach. This is a great way to learn how to set up problems and solve them using simple design tools. There is also an electrical steel selection guide with a list of common electrical steel and magnetic material suppliers.
This is a book dedicated for the understanding and design of magnetic devices. It is an excellent handbook for engineers who want to learn more about magnetics and who want to design their own devices or discover how to characterize various types of magnetic materials. It would be a very handy go-to reference for those who design any type of device involving magnetic materials.
Residential Microgrids and Rural Electrifications
S. Padmanaban, C. Sharmeela, P. Sivaraman, and J. B. Holm-Nielsen, Editors
Academic Press
An Imprint of Elsevier
50 Hampshire Street
5th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02139 http://www.elsevier.com/books-and-journals
ISBN 978-0-323-90177-2
347 pp., $185 (Softcover), 2022
Off-grid residential and rural area microgrids are seeing increased deployment in recent years. The lack of access to centralized grid power can make islanded microgrids an attractive form of energy access from a cost perspective because it can be very costly to develop and maintain centralized power generation and long transmission lines, which can reduce reliability in isolated or rural areas. This book provides an overview of microgrid architectures and designs for rural microgrid applications. Various types of energy storage methods are detailed along with energy management methods, and many practical case studies and examples are provided to give the reader a good understanding of what is involved with designing an off-grid microgrid.
Planning for residential-size off-grid microgrids is described including microgrid design choice considerations, design constraints, and the use of HOMER software to assist in optimization and planning. Energy sources discussed cover photovoltaics (PVs) with battery storage, biomass, fuel cells, wind, and diesel generators. Basic function and advantages of each type of source are briefly described. Specifics for design cover two different approaches; source-side management and demand-side management for both an AC microgrid and a hybrid AC/DC microgrid design with a case study. Other case studies cover Nordic holiday resorts, electric vehicle (EV) charging, and a DC islanded system with an efficient energy management control.
The remainder of the book describes modeling methods and analysis, power management strategies and control algorithms, and electrical safety considerations.
This book is for electrical power engineers who design off-grid microgrids or for students in electrical engineering wanting to learn about some of the basics of microgrids. It gives a broad overview of islanded microgrids and the advantages and limitations of various approaches but does not get into very fine details of equipment selection, wiring, sizing aspects, or code/regulatory requirements. Anyone interested in getting an overall view of islanded microgrids in remote areas that do not have access to centralized grid power or reliable power would benefit from reading this book.
A Handbook of Mathematical Methods and Problem-Solving Tools for Introductory Physics, 2nd Edition
J.F. Whitney and H. Whitney IOP Publishing Ltd.
Temple Circus, Temple Way Bristol, BS1 6HG, UK
Phone: +44 (0)117 929 7481 USA Office:
190 North Independence Mall West, Suite 601
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA Phone: +01 215 627 0880 http://store.ioppublishing.org ISBN 978-0-7503-3399-3
40 pp., $95 (eBook), 2021
This handbook is intended mainly for students learning introductory physics or electromagnetics. It is essentially a guidebook for helping students understand and reinforce the basic concepts in physics and engineering. The authors provide examples and explanations for many fundamentals concepts. What makes this book so valuable is that the authors have clearly and carefully written many useful tips and explanations for understanding basic concepts in physics that give students an advantage in not only test taking but in real understanding. In addition to explaining concepts, many of the tips are for ensuring the calculations are performed correctly.
Concepts cover the following: Kinematics, Newton’s laws, Energy and momentum, Circular and rotational motion (centripetal force and torque), Basic optics (Diffraction, Interference, and Thin-lenses), The Right-hand rule, Electric fields and Electric potentials (point charges), Magnetic fields (Biot- Savart Law, Faraday, and Lenz’s law), Circuits (Ohms law), Modern physics (Relativity and Quantum mechanics), and general problem-solving tips.
Students learning physics would benefit the most from this book, or anyone wanting to brush up on their basic physics understanding and general equation-solving techniques would also benefit.
Blockchain in the Industrial Internet of Things
L.K. Ramasamy and S. Kadry IOP Publishing Ltd.
Temple Circus, Temple Way Bristol, BS1 6HG, UK
Phone: +44 (0)117 929 7481
USA Office:
190 North Independence Mall West, Suite 601
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA Phone: +01 215 627 0880 http://store.ioppublishing.org ISBN 978-0-7503-3663-5
62 pp., $159 (eBook), 2021
Blockchain is a growing list of records used for decentralized transaction purposes. It provides a method to securely store and manage data, whereas the internet of things (IoT) relates to linked smart devices through the internet. The industrial internet of things (IIoT) has advanced swiftly, but privacy issues and safety vulnerabilities remain concerns. Incorporating blockchain technology with its decentralization and embedded cryptographic principles with the IIoT creates Blockchain for Industrial Internet of Things (BIIoT), which may overcome these security requirements. This book provides a detailed survey of BIIoT and discusses various aspects of this concept, including structural design and open research directions.
The book begins by describing the IoT with the discussion of various applications, an overview, working process, advantages, challenges, and futures of IIoT. The remainder of the book provides an overview, structure, and execution of blockchain. Six essential blockchain key characteristics are detailed along with smart contract’s overview, its structure, and how contracts are executed. The application of blockchain with artificial intelligence (AI) and IIoT are described including the structure of BIIoT and the deployment of BIIoT within industrial applications.
This book would be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about the fundamentals of blockchain and examples of applications for blockchain in the IIoT.
Pulse Width Modulation in Power Electronics
I. Mayergoyz and S. Tyagi
World Scientific Publishing Co.
5 Toh Tuck Link
Singapore 596224
US Office:
27 Warren Street
Suite 401-402
Hackensack, NJ 07601 http://www.worldscientificpress.com ISBN 978-981-123-457-6
418 pp., $158 (Hardcover), 2021
Pulse width modulation (PWM) is a technique used to produce a sinusoidal waveform, created from a pulse train of rectangular pulses, modulated to approximate the sinusoidal wave. PWM methods are used in inverters to convert DC to AC. Inverters are often used to power variable speed AC motors, uninterruptable power supplies (UPS), and for converting DC to AC in renewable energy systems containing batteries and/or photovoltaic (PV) arrays. This book provides theory of PWM for power electronic inverters with the main focus on reviewing the basics of PWM techniques. The book contains four chapters. The first chapter reviews some basic circuit analysis methods, including loop equations, phasors, and three-phase circuits. Frequency domain and time domain analysis techniques are also reviewed. Subsequent chapters use these methods to analyze circuits. The next chapter covers PWM for single-phase inverters and the methods used to produce a sinusoidal output from a DC source. Chapter three covers the methods used to make a three-phase PWM inverter. Switching patterns for a three-phase system are described along with time and frequency domain analysis results with an emphasis on controlling harmonics. The final chapter deals with magnetics and the design issues that are commonly encountered when designing inductors for inverters. Hysteresis of magnetic materials and eddy current losses and their influence on inverter design are studied. There is also mention of using the latest spintronics devices to design power converters. This book would be of interest to the power electronic engineer first learning about inverters and PWM. It provides a solid background on PWM fundamentals and an interesting section on magnetic losses. There is an extensive bibliography for further study.
Turbulent Flows: An Introduction
I.P. Castro and C. Vanderwel IOP Publishing Ltd.
Temple Circus, Temple Way Bristol, BS1 6HG, UK
Phone: +44 (0)117 929 7481 USA Office:
190 North Independence Mall West, Suite 601
Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA Phone: +01 215 627 0880 http://store.ioppublishing.org ISBN 978-0-7503-3619-2 146 pp., $95 (eBook), 2021
Turbulent flow is a type of fluid flow in which the fluid travels in an irregular/chaotic path. In this type of flow, the speed of the fluid continuously undergoes changes in both magnitude and direction. Most kinds of fluid flow are turbulent. Many real-world applications that involve turbulent flow including weather, water and air flow, plasma physics, fire, and many other phenomena. This book introduces the fundamentals of turbulent flow.
After introducing turbulence with some real-life examples and showing the differences between turbulent and laminar flow, the authors delve into the theory of turbulent flow in the remainder of the book. This involves introducing the fundamental equations and assumptions for both turbulent and laminar flow along with scales of motion. Statistical functions and tools used to analyze turbulent flow data are then introduced along with worked out examples and references. Canonical turbulent flows, free turbulent shear flows, internal and external wall-bounded flows are all described in detail. Again, with many examples and references provided. The book finishes with descriptions of turbulent mixing and an appendix on tensors.
Modeling turbulence has become a topic of interest, especially with the advancements of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software packages. This book can provide the reader with a good understanding of the fundamental theory governing CFD software, allowing for better modeling and understating of the results. The data sets for the examples and exercises and some solutions presented in MATLAB and Python are provided and maintained on a website with the link provided in the book.
Power System Protection— Fundamentals and Applications
J. Ciufo and A. Cooperberg IEEE Press
445 Hoes Lane Piscataway, NJ 08854 Distributor:
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
111 River Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030 http://www.wiley.com
ISBN 978-1-119-84736-6
553 pp., 139 € (Hardback), 2022
Power system protection systems are referred to as secondary equipment, whereas transformers, circuit breakers, transmission lines, bus and power conductors, generators, capacitors, and disconnectors are considered primary equipment in a power distribution system.
Protection systems exist to protect primary equipment from damage and to maintain the integrity of the power system, such as when frequency, voltage, and/ or operating contingencies are required to maintain the desired operating point of the power system. Protection systems generally consist of protection relays that monitor the power system for abnormal conditions, communication systems, and voltage and current sensing equipment to provide input to protection relays.
This book provides the latest methods used in protective relaying fundamentals including fundamentals and application. Like the classic book on protective relaying, Applied Protective Relaying by Westinghouse Electric Corp., this book is also filled with practical information including the most up-to-date descriptions of digital relays and associated communications equipment and methods in use today.
The first part of the book describes the basics of protective relays, reasons for having protection, the basic components that make up a protective relay system, an in-depth review of current transformers and their characteristics, and basic types of protective relays and their operation. The second part of this book focuses on information needed to apply re-lays, including relay nomenclature, relay classification, per-unit, fault calculations, and protection zones. The third and final part of this book covers the application of protective relays. Protection methods for transformers, busbars, breakers, station, capacitor banks, synchronous generators, transmission lines, and distribution feeders are described in depth.
This book is loaded with in-depth fundamentals and provides a working knowledge of the latest information on protective relaying for power system protection. It has a very good blend of theory and practical applications and is a great source of information for power system engineers working with protective relays and relay systems. Although it does not describe specific equipment, it does contain up-to-date information on the latest digital relays, communication systems, and the methods used to implement them, making it a worthwhile investment to accompany older protective relay books.
Len Dissado: It’s Not a Job, It’s a Way of Life
Len Dissado: It’s Not a Job, It’s a Way of Life
Elizabeth Aragao
We begin our feature series with a profile of Len Dissado. We spoke over Zoom, with Dissado joining in from his “house made of books,” where he estimates there are at least a thousand volumes. In a thoughtful, and at times hilarious, conversation, we discussed his prolific work and everything from badminton to Greek coffee. Dissado shared more stories and endless insights into science and society than we could include in an article. Speaking with him was a delight, and what follows is a mere glimpse into the life of this incomparable man.
Introduction
Len Dissado always knew he was going to be a scientist, even before he knew what it meant to be a scientist.
Born in Lancashire, UK, in August 1942, in the middle of the second World War, Dissado grew up in England during a period of austerity. He remembers holding his mother’s place in the long queue at the butcher shop and being 10 when rationing finally ended. Soon after, he was accepted into the inaugural class of a “school of the future.” Every day he traveled 90 minutes to reach the Thomas Linacre Technical School, but it was worth every step and train ride.
“Things were changing in the world, and we wanted to change the world,” said Dissado, who believes that in many senses, he would not be here without that school, which built technology into the curriculum and encouraged its students to think for themselves.
Dissado and his classmates were voracious readers who consumed science fiction and were gripped by a television program called “Eye on Research,” which featured scientists discussing their work, without the “glitz and glamour” seen on the scientific television programs of today. Dissado was particularly taken by a Professor Porter and his explanation of his work on flash photolysis. (Porter later became Sir George Porter and was awarded a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1967.) Seeing this “real science” made an impression on Dissado, who says he has been thinking about that program since 1957.
A love of opera, ballet, and music took him to London, where he studied chemistry at University College, staying through his PhD in theoretical chemistry. Dissado and his fellow students considered themselves to be Renaissance men of the 20th century, driven by an excitement that pervaded that moment in time, combined with feelings of untapped possibilities and unlimited potential.
“We felt we could do anything. To be something like that in the 1960s was exciting. We believed it. In some sense I still think of myself as a Renaissance man. I still think if I put my mind to it, I can do it.”
During that time, Dissado became what a future colleague described as “a traveler indefatigable,” exploring the world to meet others, see how they lived, and understand their way of life. His farranging adventures included Christmas Eve of 1968 in a Buddhist temple 70 miles north of Phnom Penh on a backpacking journey taken during the first of two life-altering trips to Australia.
“I went with one trunk and came back with a wife and three trunks…Then I went back to Australia. I went with three trunks. My wife preceded me. I came back with five trunks, a wife, and a young baby.”
With trunks in tow and family by his side, Dissado settled into life in London, working at Chelsea College and researching dielectrics. There he met physicist Robert Hill, with whom he would collaborate for over two decades. The research partners determined that if you could persuade an engineer, a chemist, and a physicist to agree, you were probably right.
Dissado reflects on this as the most exciting time of his professional career, comparing it to opening Tutankhamen’s tomb: “With a little hole in the door, what can you see? Wonderful things. And that’s what it was like with us. It seemed every few months we were applying our thoughts to something different and coming up with new ideas. It was a fantastic period.”
It’s not a job, it’s a way of life
During research fellowships and consultancy work, Dissado worked on dielectric response theory, universal response behavior, water trees, chaos in electrical tree formation, and much more. He could work on a problem for days with a calculator, notepad, and sheets of data. He says it’s not a job, it’s a way of life.
“The mind never switches off. There are times when I’ve woken up at four o’clock in the morning, lying in bed and worrying a problem to death. One time when I was working on dielectric response, I remember ringing my colleague, Robert Hill, up at midnight. I had no hesitation ringing him up. I knew he’d be in his study, and we talked until about one in the morning about this idea I had.”
For years, Dissado and Hill would discuss and disagree and collaborate. He views their work on Dielectric Response Theory as a highlight of his professional life. Dissado also re-calls Hill giving him a piece of advice that helped anchor him during his work: always make time for your family. His mind might always want to worry about a problem, but evenings and weekends were for family.
Those Dirty Dielectrics
To this day, Dissado is intrigued by dielectrics. What is the draw? Their complexity.
“It’s all materials which a friend once called ‘dirty dielectrics.’ They’re not nice and easy standard chemical structures. They are mixed up everythings with additives you put in deliberately, things that are left over from when you formed them, and stuff you don’t want in there that got in there anyway.”
However messy and complex, these materials, and the problems he has devoted himself to solving, remind Dissado of a work of art. Specifically, an unfinished masterpiece.
“When you look at these problems, all you can do is get a varying, maybe fuzzy, picture of the whole thing. I liken it to Leonardo da Vinci’s painting of the Adoration of the Magi. Of the major features, some are finished, some are drawn in. But, you don’t need it finished. It’s got everything. And that’s the way we need to approach these materials. I am fascinated.”
A “Proper Job”
This fascination eventually landed Dissado his first “proper job” at the age of 53, when he became a reader at Leicester University, later a professor and professor emeritus.
“Believe me, the phrase ‘proper job’ isn’t mine. It was my friend John Fothergill. By then, everyone in the dielectric area knew that this is how I lived.”
Fothergill and Dissado had collaborated for over a decade on research, technical papers, and the eventual publication of their book, Electrical Degradation and Breakdown in Polymers, before Dissado moved to Leicester.
Now with a “proper job,” Dissado decided it was time to join a professional society. Having attended many conferences and presented many papers, he said there was never a question of which organization to join. He joined IEEE DEIS as a senior member and is now a life fellow.
“I think it’s one of the best societies for bringing young people together with the ‘golden oldies,’ if you want to call us that. It worked that way with me. I worked my way into the field in my 30s and met all the grand old people in that field. There is a real desire to understand things. These people are very welcoming. They were my colleagues and my friends.”
Boots and Badminton
A much-sought-after educator, Dissado lectured in universities in the United States, France, Italy, Japan, and China. For almost a decade, he taught a masters course on The Physics of Insulating Polymers at Xi’an Jiaotong University, China, where he challenged his students at badminton, one of his lifelong hobbies, and, of course, in the classroom.
“This was the only time I was able to teach a course where getting people to understand was the aim. It was very hard for the students. You come from an undergraduate background, and then all of a sudden, here’s this guy coming along and saying reproducing any derivation I give you is not going to get you any marks. What I want you to do is show me where it comes from and what it means.”
Whenever he was teaching courses or mentoring his PhD students, Dissado encouraged these young and future scientists to develop their own ideas and be critical of their own work. He reminded them that recitation was not enough. To change the world, you would need to “step out of the boots of your supervisor.”
Of Human Beings, for Human Beings, for Human Society
Stepping back to take a look at his life’s work, Dissado views science and engineering as a cooperative action of the human race.
“Science is an activity of human beings, for human beings, for human society. And, engineering is the application of the things that come out of that for human society…It doesn’t matter what your background is, it doesn’t matter what your gender is, it doesn’t matter what your personal beliefs are. We’re all doing the same thing and we’re all part of it and we have to see ourselves in that sense.”
An alchemy of cooperation and curiosity has motivated Dissado throughout his life, and although he sees the world as being in a tenuous moment, he knows we have the potential to do incredible things.
“This is the most crucial century for human beings. We have to get through it. If we do, I think we will do fantastic things.”
Let’s not disappoint him.
Elizabeth Aragao is a writer and marketing consultant based in Boston, Massachusetts. She started her career writing, producing, and reporting the news. Her favorite pieces were always profiles of interesting people and unique places. She later spent nearly a decade working in the power industry, which uniquely prepared her for this assignment: interviewing members of IEEE DEIS for a series of feature articles. When she’s not writing, Aragao works with a variety of businesses, from retail stores to independent movie theaters, on their marketing.
Report on the 15th UHVnet 2022 Colloquium
Report on the 15th UHVnet 2022 Colloquium, May 23–24, 2022
The first colloquium of the UHVnet took place in Cardiff in 2005, attended by some 70 delegates with equal representation from six universities and mostly electricity network companies. The colloquium was then organized annually by one of the member universities. The Steering Committee has representatives from the member universities and key industry innovation managers.
After a long COVID-19 lockdown disruption, the UK high voltage community has returned to Cardiff University for the third time for a much-awaited in-person Universities High Voltage Network (UHVnet) colloquium. This year, the traditional January event was moved to the end of May to coincide with the lifting of COIVD-19 restrictions and a welcome return to normality.
The extensive contributions and participation from PhD research students, postdoctoral researchers, academics, and industrialists encouraged the organizers to extend this year’s colloquium duration to a day and half to accommodate all the speakers and poster sessions. The chosen theme for the colloquium was “Advances in insulation technologies and high voltage phenomena.”
Key speakers were invited to present recent progress and future directions in their particular areas.
- Professor Brian Stewart and Dr. Thomas Andritsch gave an overview of IEEE DEIS and opportunities for researchers to join the society’s activities and training.
- Industrial leaders Nicola Todd, Head of Strategy and Innovation for NGET, and Matt Barnett, Electrical Plant Subject Matter Expert for SSE Networks Transmission, presented the priorities of research and innovation challenges that need addressing over the next five years and beyond, working toward Net Zero targets.
- Mark Waldron, Technical Lead—Net Zero, presented the National Grid roadmap to Net Zero, emphasizing the plans for replacing SF6 with alternative gases that have a much lower global warming potential compared with SF6.
- Adam Lewis, a Higher Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory, gave a keynote lecture on PD measurements in low voltage circuits.
- Academics from the five core participating universities summarized research activities and achievements, spanning most high-voltage research areas.
- Selected researchers and PhD students were invited to make presentations on their work including effects of altitude on partial discharge inception, earthing, solid insulation, transformers, insulating materials advances, characterization: gas liquids and solid materials, insulation structures and systems, partial discharge detection and classification, sensors and condition monitoring, overhead lines, cables and transformers, HVDC partial discharge phenomena and equipment, high voltage in other sectors, and emerging new topics.
The poster session run over the two days allowed excellent discussions and networking opportunities between universities and industry delegates. Various subject areas were covered in the posters including alternative gases, partial discharges and arcing modeling, characterization of liquid, solid, and outdoor insulation, earthing and lightning protection of aircraft radomes. Five prizes were awarded during the conference: best paper, best student presentation, best poster and runner up best poster, and best postdoc poster. The winners are as follows:
- Best paper prize, Michail Michelarakis, Cardiff University, sponsored by SSE networks.
- Best student poster prize, Jing Nan, University of Southampton, sponsored by National Grid.
- Best student presentation prize, Timothy Wong, University of Strathclyde, sponsored by IEEE DEIS.
- Best postdoc poster prize, Xintong Ren, University of Southampton, sponsored by Kingsmill Industries (UK) Ltd.
- Runner up student poster, Sofia Mavidou, Cardiff University, sponsored by CIGRE.
The event was financially supported by IEEE DEIS, National Grid Electricity Transmission, SSE networks, and Kingsmills Industries (UK) Ltd. It was also technically supported by CIGRE.
