Trainers at Understanding Smart Grids

Vassilios G. Agelidis
Director
Australian Energy Research Institute and Professor – School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications, University of New South Wales

Vassilios G. Agelidis is currently Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering & Telecommunications and Director of the Australian Energy Research Institute (AERI) at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia. Professor Agelidis is one of Australia’s leading authorities on efficient electricity grid technologies. He leads Australia’s largest and fastest growing research team working on advanced energy conversion and system integration technologies. In 2004, Vassilios received the UK’s most prestigious research fellowship for a young researcher, the Advanced Research Fellowship from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. Formerly the EnergyAustralia Chair of Power Engineering at the University of Sydney, Professor Agelidis is a reviewer of research proposals submitted to the Australian Research Council and the Research Councils of Singapore, Hong-Kong, Greece, Italy, UK, Chile, Belgium and Canada.

Steve Hoy

Global Utilities Network Operations Systems Leader

IBM

Steve Hoy is the global leader of a group of engineering and Smart Grid subject matter experts in IBM’s Energy & Utilities Centre of Competency.  He has over 30 years experience in engineering, IT and strategy concentrating on the utilities sector, having started his career in the early 1980s as a power engineer with Sydney County Council (now AusGrid).  His career has evolved from power engineering through SCADA and control systems at Megadata and Honeywell, into mainstream enterprise IT solutions at Logica, PwC Consulting and IBM.

Steve has advised on technology strategy matters to over 50 utilities around the world, including all but two of the distribution utilities in Australia.

He has deep experience in technology solutions in the areas of Smart Grids, Distribution Management and SCADA, Grid Analytics, Customer Information Systems, Metering and Market data systems, Energy Trading, Asset and Works Management solutions.  His typical projects are IT strategy, planning and assessment services particularly for companies considering major systems implementation projects.  Steve combines a strong understanding of industry solutions with system integration methods.  He has a background in power engineering and real time controls. 

Steve is the author of IBM’s global point of view on Grid Operations Systems and one of IBM’s leading thinkers on smart grids.  He has published several papers on utilities IT and IBM recently registered a patent for one of Steve’s concepts in grid analytics. His job takes him around the world supporting smart grid programs at many leading edge utilities.

Steve lives in Sydney, when not in an aeroplane or a hotel, and tries to stay grounded raising two teenage sons with his wife Michelle.  He holds a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from University of NSW.

Stephen King

Professor of Economics and Co-Director of the Monash Business Policy Forum

Monash University

Stephen King is Professor of Economics and co-director of the Monash Business Policy Forum at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia. He was Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at Monash University from 2009-2011. Prior to joining Monash, Stephen was a Member of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), where he chaired the Mergers Review Committee. Stephen’s main areas of expertise are in competition economics, regulation and industrial organization. Stephen’s research has been published widely, including articles in major international economics journals. He has edited and co-authored books on Australian economic policy including Unlocking the Infrastructure (with Rod Maddock) and Finishing the Job (with Joshua Gans).
Stephen is a part-time Member of the Economic Regulation Authority of WA, a Member of Australia’s National Competition Council, and a Lay Member of the High Court of New Zealand. He is also an Editor of the Economic Record, the journal of the Economics Society of Australia.  Stephen has advised numerous government agencies and private businesses and has provided expert testimony to the Courts, including in AGL v ACCC (2003), and TXU v ORG (2001).  Stephen received the University Medal from ANU for his undergraduate studies in Economics. He has a PhD from Harvard University and is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.

Dr Ariel Liebman

Senior Research Fellow and Director Carbon Programs Monash Faculty of Information Technology

Monash University

Dr Ariel Liebman is senior research fellow and Director of Carbon Programs at the Monash Faculty of Information Technology. Ariel is an energy systems economics specialist with experience across all aspects of the electricity supply chain. This includes deregulated power markets, network regulation, smart-grids, and commercial retail operations. His specialty is modeling and simulation of electricity markets using high performance computing platforms. Dr. Liebman holds a PhD in Physics and has published on various aspects of the electricity industry including impacts of emission trading, real-options investment, and wholesale price forecasting. Dr. Liebman has advised large energy utilities across Australia including Australia’s largest energy retailers, distribution companies, and others. He has collaborated with the CSIRO’s Energy Transformed Flagship, AGL Energy, and Energy Exemplar. Dr. Liebman is a member of the Smart Grids Australia R&D leaders working group.

Dr Gill Owen

Research Program Leader

Monash Sustainability Institute, Monash University

Dr Gill Owen is Research Program Leader (consumers and energy markets) at Monash Sustainability Institute and a member of the Australian Energy Regulator’s Consumer Challenge Panel. Gill has published extensively on energy efficiency, electricity demand response and smart meters.  Until her departure from the UK, in August 2012, Gill was also 

 

  • a Non-Executive Director of the England and Wales water regulator Ofwat;
  • a member of Ofgem’s (Great Britain energy regulator) Consumer Challenge Group for the Distribution and Transmission Price Reviews;
  • a member of the UK Government’s Smart Meters Consumer Advisory Group;
  • Vice Chair of the UK Government’s Fuel Poverty Advisory Group.

She was a Commissioner of the UK’s Competition Commission for ten years until 2002 and was also previously a non-executive board member of Ofgem.