A hybrid planning method for transmission networks in a deregulated environment

The reconstruction of power industries has brought fundamental changes to both power system operation and planning. This paper presents a new planning method using multi-objective optimization (MOOP) technique, as well as human knowledge, to expand the transmission network in open access schemes. The method starts with a candidate pool of feasible expansion plans. Consequent selection of the best candidates is carried out through a MOOP approach, of which multiple objectives are tackled simultaneously, aiming at integrating the market operation and planning as one unified process in context of deregulated system. Human knowledge has been applied in both stages to ensure the selection with practical engineering and management concerns. The expansion plan from MOOP is assessed by reliability criteria before it is finalized. The proposed method has been tested with the IEEE 14-bus system and relevant analyses and discussions have been presented.

Making the link between engineering management and undergraduate research

This paper describes and analyses an innovative engineering management course that applies a project management framework in the context of a feasibility study for a prospective research project. The aim is to have students learn aspects of management that will be relevant from the outset of their professional career while simultaneously having immediate value in helping them to manage a research project and capstone design project in their senior year. An integral part of this innovation was the development of a web-based project management tool. While the main objectives of the new course design were achieved, a number of important lessons were learned that would guide the further development and continuous improvement of this course. The most critical of these is the need to achieve the optimum balance in the mind of the students between doing the project and critically analyzing the processes used to accomplish the work.

Future Engineers Australia Management Project: Turning high school students into engineering entrepreneurs

There has been a strong move towards entrepreneurial education in high schools and at universities over the past few years. This has been echoed by a call from state governments around Australia to promote enterprise thinking and education in high schools. It also parallels the push within engineering to learn across the traditional boundaries , particularly between engineering and business. To meet this call, The Engineering Link Group (TELG) developed the Future Engineers Australia Management Project (FEAMP) in 2003. The project is based around Enterprise Education, and was inspired by the Smallpeice Year 12 Engineering Management course in the UK. The idea was to take high school students in years 11 and 12 and turn them into ‘engineering entrepreneurs’. This paper presents the design, development and evaluation of FEAMP as a five day residential course for year 11 and 12 students who want to learn more about being entrepreneurs and managers. It is a hands-on activity where the students invent, develop and sell an engineering concept to venture capitalists and ultimately to customers at a trade fair. It has been run successfully for two years, going from strength to strength. © 2005, Australasian Association for Engineering Education