Dr. Tek Tjing Lie
General Chair
Professor
Interim Head of School - Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences
Design & Creative Technologies
Auckland University of Technology

Professor Tek Tjing Lie is the Interim Head of School at the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences. He received his BS degree from the Oklahoma State University, MS and PhD degrees from Michigan State University. He has previously held academic positions in the School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University. His research interests are in the fields of Power System Operation and Control, Deregulated Electrical Power Markets, AI Application to Power Systems, Renewable Energy and Smart Grids.

He is actively involved with IEEE Power and energy Society in Singapore and New Zealand (current). He is currently the Chair of the IEEE New Zealand North Section. He is actively involved in taking part of organising several conferences over the year.

Dr. Ramon Zamora
General Co-Chair
Senior Lecturer
Electrical and Electrical Engineering
School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences
Auckland University of Technology

Ramon Zamora received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA, in 2015. He is a senior lecturer with the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and the director of the Centre for Future Power and Energy Research (CFPER) at AUT. His research interests include power system modelling, simulation and control, power system management and controls, power electronic application for power systems, grid integration of renewable energy and energy storage, microgrid and smart grid, and distributed controls.

He served as the Technical Co-Chair for IEEE PES ISGT Asia 2017 and the Technical Co-chair of the 2021 IEEE Region 10 Conference (TENCON), is serving as the Technical Co-chair of the 5th International Conference on DC Microgrids (ICDCM) 2023. He is a senior member of IEEE and the current counsellor of the AUT IEEE Student Branch.

Dr. Ramesh K. Rayudu
Technical Chair
Associate Professor
Victoria University of Wellington

Ramesh Rayudu holds a B.E. (First Class–Distinction) from Osmania University (India), a M.E. from University of Canterbury (NZ) and a PhD in AI and Power systems engineering from Lincoln University (NZ). He has over 15 years of industrial work experience both in India and New Zealand. He is also involved in consultation work for several international firms in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, India and the USA. He is currently an Associate Professor at Victoria University of Wellington. His current research interests include Power Systems Engineering, Renewable Energy Systems, Artificial Intelligence (AI) Applications, Health Monitoring, and Energy Harvesting.

Ramesh has written over 100 publications for journals, invited articles and papers for magazines and conferences and has won three Best Paper and four Best Presentation Awards. He holds three patents. He was co-awarded the prestigious IPENZ 1999 Fulton Downer Silver Medal. He is a Senior Member of IEEE and active in IEEE activities and is currently the Chair of local PES Chapter. He was also the general co-chair for the 2017 IEEE PES Innovative Smart Grid Technologies Asia (ISGT Asia) conference, New Zealand.

Ramesh has been involved in several PES and CIGRE working groups and task forces and has been involved in organization of several conferences including TENCON, AUPEC, POWERCON 2012, IVCNZ 2013 and ISGT-ASIA 2017.

Dr. Farhad Shahnia
Technical Co-Chair
Associate Professor
Discipline of Engineering and Energy
Murdoch University

A/Professor Farhad Shahnia received his PhD in Electrical Engineering from Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, in 2012. He is currently an A/Professor at Murdoch University. Before that, he was a Lecturer at Curtin University (2012-15), a research scholar at QUT (2008-11), and an R&D engineer at the Eastern Azarbayjan Electric Power Distribution Company, Iran (2005-08). He is currently a Fellow member of Engineers Australia, Senior Member of IEEE, and member of the Australasian Association for Engineering Education. Farhad’s research falls under Distribution networks, Microgrid and Smart grid concepts. He has authored one book and 11 book chapters and 100+ peer-reviewed scholarly articles in international conferences and journals, as well as being an editor of 6 books. Farhad has won 5 Best Paper Awards in various conferences and has also received the IET Premium Award for the Best Paper published in the IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution journal in 2015. One of his articles was listed under the top-25 most cited articles in the Electric Power System Research Journal in 2015 while one of his

2015 journal articles has been listed under the top-5 most read articles of the Australian Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. He was the recipient of the Postgraduate Research Supervisor Award from Curtin University in 2015 and the Australia-China Young Scientist Exchange Award from the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering in 2016.

Farhad is currently a Subject Editor, Deputy Subject Editor, and Associate Editor of several journals including IEEE Access, IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution, IET Renewable Power Generation, IET Smart Grid, IET Energy Conversion and Economics, and International Transaction on Electrical Energy Systems and has served 35+ conferences in various roles such as General, Technical, Program, Publication, Publicity, Award, Sponsorship, and Special Session Chairs. Farhad has led the IEEE Western Australia Section as the 2020-2021 Chair, and was the 2019 Founding Chair of the IEEE Western Australia Industrial Electronics Society (IES) Chapter. He is currently the 2021-2022 Secretary of the IES’s Technical Committees on Smart Grids.

Dr. Ramu Naidoo
Industry Co-Chair
Principal Market Advisor
Transpower

Ramu is currently a Principal Market Advisor in the Operations division of Transpower. Ramu’s interests are in power system operation, planning, economics and modelling. In his current role he is involved in the development, application and analysis of electricity markets and electricity security of supply.

Ramu has been in the electricity industry for two decades working in consulting, regulation and operations. He is active in CIGRE (International Council on Large Electric Systems) having presented at conferences both locally and internationally.

Ramu received his Ph.D. in industrial engineering from Purdue University, USA. This followed his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Purdue as a Fulbright scholar. Ramu did his undergraduate degree in electrical engineering at the University of KwaZulu Natal in South Africa.

Mr. Mark Todoroff
Industry Co-Chair
Business Development Director
TESLA Asia Pacific Ltd

Based in Auckland, Mark is currently the Business Development Director at global energy demand forecaster, TESLA Asia Pacific Ltd. Along with business development, Mark also leads a team of analysts who forecast electric loads in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, South Korea, India and the Philippines. Before transferring to New Zealand in 2015, he was an economist at the parent company, TESLA Inc., where he forecasted power demand across North America for the first five years of his career. Mark is part of the Future Energy Leaders platform (FEL-100) of the World Energy Council and was previously Co-Chair of New Zealand's Young Energy Professional Network, a professional development organization of over 700 energy professionals. Mark holds Bachelor of Business Administration degrees in both Economics and Finance from James Madison University as well as a master's degree in Economics from Virginia Commonwealth University.

Dr. Waqar Qureshi
Industry Co-Chair
General Manager Asset Management
Wellington Electricity

Waqar Qureshi has been the General Manager Asset Management at Wellington Electricity since December 2022. Before this appointment, he served as General Manager Electricity Network for Horizon Networks and General Manager of Information Technology for Horizon Energy Group in New Zealand with over 15 years of experience across the electricity and energy sector.

Waqar is an engineer by background with a Master of Engineering and PhD qualifications in Electrical Engineering from the University of Auckland. He completed his Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi, Pakistan.

Waqar has a strong industry leadership footprint and is deeply involved in the New Zealand and global industries groups. Waqar is member of IEEE PES Global Industry Stakeholder Advisory Board, current Chair of EEA Asset Management and CIGRE National Committee. He has also held other roles with IEEE PES New Zealand North and Region 10 in the past.

Waqar is passionate about climate change, decarbonization, technology and development of diversified future workforce in electricity industry. He strongly believes that challenges of sustainability cannot be resolved without solving workforce diversity challenges.

Mr. Peter Berry
Industry Co-Chair
Executive Director
Electricity Engineers’ Association (EEA)

Peter joined the electricity industry in 1986 as the Executive Officer for the Electricity Supply Association of NZ and has been actively involved in the reform of the NZ electricity supply industry from its beginnings in 1987. In 1993, he was appointed Executive Director of the Electricity Engineers’ Association (EEA) and has refocused the organisation to meet the needs of its members in a dynamic and changing environment. He is a Member of the Institute of Directors, Companion Member of Engineering New Zealand, and has held a number of directorships. Peter is Chair of the IEC National Committee of New Zealand (NCNZ) and also represents the power industry on a number of international standards committees. He is a founding member and previous Chair of the Electric Power Engineering Centre at the University of Canterbury, and was a founding member of the Electricity Supply Industry Training Organisation (ESITO). Educated at Waikato University and Victoria University, he has two Masters Degrees and a post-graduate diploma in business management.

Dr. Neville R Watson
Tutorial Chair
Professor
Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
University of Canterbury

Professor Neville Watson is a professor within the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. His research interests focus on electrical power systems, power quality, harmonics, electromagnetic transients, and use of power electronics in power systems. A Senior Member of the IEEE, member of IET and Engineering New Zealand, he has authored numerous books on his research, as well as an impressive number of papers in international journals.

Ms. Avy Sheina
Tutorial Co-Chair
School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences
Auckland University of Technology

Avy Sheina received her BSc degree from Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia majoring in Electrical Power Engineering and MSc degree from Newcastle University, UK majoring in Power Distribution Engineering. Professionally, she was working as an electrical engineer for national and multinational company in Indonesia, namely PT. Wijaya Karya Co., Ltd. and Siemens Indonesia. She has experience with EPC (Engineering, Procurement, and Construction) project in MV and LV electrical engineering design, power system study, commissioning, and costing.

Currently, she is doing PhD at Auckland University of Technology and has research interests in microgrid, protection system, and HVDC transmission. Her PhD project ‘Fault Protection and Control Mechanisms of LV DC Microgrid’ is a collaborative research project involving AUT, Macquarie, UTS and Optimal Group, Australia. The project is funded by Blue Economy CRC, Australia. She is an IEEE Graduate Student member.

Dr. Kosala Gunawardane
Student Award and Activity Chair
Associate Professor
School of Electrical and Data Engineering
University of Technology Sydney

Dr. Gunawardane is currently Associate Professor in Renewable Energy Engineering at UTS. She was Associate Professor in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand prior to joining UTS. She was also the founding Director of the Centre of Future Power and Energy Research (CFPER) at AUT. She served as the Deputy program leader of Offshore Renewable Energy Systems in the Blue Economy Corporate Research Centre in Australia. She completed her undergraduate degree in Electronic and Telecommunication engineering from the University of Moratuwa Sri Lanka in 2005. She received her Ph.D. degree in Power Electronic Engineering from the University of Waikato, New Zealand, in 2014. She is an IEEE senior member and was the vice chair of the IEEE Women in Engineering NZ North chapter. Her research interests include Renewable energy applications, Hydrogen and Fuel cells, DC-microgrids, supercapacitor applications, and Power Electronics. She secured several NZ government funding and Australian CRC funding as the primary investigator. She was a finalist in the 2018 NZ Women of Influence in Science and Innovation category.

Dr. Michael Bunn
Student Award and Activity C0-Chair
Lecturer Electrical and Electrical Engineering School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences Auckland University of Technology

Michael Bunn received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Auckland University of Technology, AKL, NZ, in 2022. He is a lecturer with the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and a core member of the Centre for Future Power and Energy Research (CFPER) at AUT. His research interests include power system load modelling and simulation, with a particular focus on smart grid controls, load management and grid integration of renewable energy sources, and their use in micro and nanogrids.

He is a member of the IEEE Power and Energy Society.

Ms. Uvini Perera
Student Award and Activity Co-Chair
School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences
Auckland University of Technology

Uvini Perera is currently pursuing her PhD at Auckland University of Technology. Her PhD research is on stability monitoring and control of the power grid with a high penetration of renewables. She is an IEEE Graduate Student member and the secretary of the IEEE Student Branch of Auckland University of Technology.
Uvini received her Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Hons) degree from RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. She has interned as an electrical engineer at Dara Switchboards, Australia and Ceylon Electricity Board, the state-owned utility of Sri Lanka while pursuing her bachelor’s degree. After completing her studies, she worked as an Electrical Engineer at Amithi Power Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, Sri Lanka. She is a self-driven and dynamic young professional and has experience in lightning protection system design, earthing system design, medium and low voltage system designs, electrical switchboard designs and medium voltage tower line design.

Dr. Zoey Zhou
Treasurer
Research Fellow
School of Engineering, Computer and Mathematical Sciences
Auckland University of Technology

Zoey Zhou completed her Bachelor's degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from Huazhong University of Technology, China, and Master's degree in Power System from South China University of Technology, China. She received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Auckland in 2019. She is currently working with Professor Tek Tjing Lie as a Research Fellow in Auckland University of Technology (AUT). Her research interests include power system modelling, power system stability and control, renewable energy, smart grids and reinforcement learning applications in power systems. She is currently an IEEE member.