CQUniversity Power Engineering graduate Nathaniel Dunnett feels honoured that his final-year thesis is still sparking interest, even now that he is firmly entrenched in an industry role.

The project involved designing and modelling a controller that accepts real-time feedback of voltage measurements from distribution power lines, to better regulate customer voltage levels. Its quality attracted the Queensland section Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) ICPADM-Mat Darveniza student prize.

Nathaniel Dunnett

"I am genuinely honoured to have received such a prestigious award," Nathaniel said. "This would not have been possible without the tremendous support of Trevor Gear from Ergon Energy, Dr Aman Maung Than Oo from CQUniversity, my partner Kirsty and family."

Nathaniel currently works as a Development Engineer for Brisbane-based Powerlink Queensland, a government-owned corporation that owns, develops, operates and maintains Queensland's high-voltage electricity transmission network.

"As a Development Engineer on the graduate rotation scheme, I have the opportunity to gain a broad range of skills from experience with professionals in various departments of the organisation," he said.

Nathaniel's recent projects within the company's Grid Controls Planning department have included generator connections to the electricity grid and network power quality.

His thesis, entitled 'Development of Closed Loop Voltage Control Simulator for Medium Voltage Distribution' was undertaken in close conjunction with Ergon Energy under the supervision of Ergon's state Principal Engineer (Power Quality) Trevor Gear and CQUniversity Engineering lecturer Dr Aman Maung Than Oo.

The IEEE Qld Student Activities Coordinator Dr Mark Griffin from UQ said that the IEEE student committee was impressed with Nathaniel's thesis and congratulated Trevor Gear from Ergon and Dr Aman Maung Than Oo from CQUniversity on supervising such a fine student, demonstrating the successful partnership between the organisations.  This is a highly prized award as nominations are invited and received from other Queensland universities including UQ, QUT, USQ and Griffith University, with only one allowed per university.

Nathaniel in his work setting at Powerlink 
Nathaniel in his work setting at Powerlink