The demand for electricity is increasing exponentially due to the increase in population and advancements in technology, which in turn is making electricity a basic commodity.
As an electrical engineer, I am curious about how to meet the demand without damaging the environment and at the same time reduce stress on the grid. This is what led me to do master’s in advanced electrical power engineering at University of Strathclyde, which is one the few universities in the U.K. offering a full-time two-year course and is one the top 10 universities in the country for electrical engineering.
The programme is a perfect blend of taught and research courses, as we are given a chance to use the concepts learnt in the first year for our research project in the second year. As an international student, I was a bit nervous in the beginning as to how I would fare at the university, but the professors are resourceful and patiently guide us to correct our mistakes.
The lectures contain topics of current trends and technologies employed in the industries and practically-solved cases are given to us as examples. The tutorials and assignments, one more challenging than the other, provided opportunities for us to develop our research and problem-solving skills as expected by a master’s student.
Opportunities
We get a view of how industries function and overcome the challenges we face through guest lectures given by professionals from the field. They share about their experiences and provide us with insights into how they dealt with problems in a different manners rather than following the book.
We had chance to visit the Whitelee wind farm, which is the largest wind farm in the U.K. and second-largest in Europe. There we got to view the wind turbines up close and calculate the wind speed at the hub of the turbine. We also had the opportunity to visit the Power Networks Demonstration Centre (PNDC) which is Europe’s first research centre dedicated to the development and demonstration of ‘smart-grid’ technologies. It is a research centre which has its own demonstration network and provided us with a lot of opportunities to test and simulate various problems that we would face through smart grids and also test out new technologies like fast charging Electrical Vehicles through mutual induction.
It was this place which has motivated me to do my research project in ‘non-intrusive load monitoring using smart meter data’ — a powerful technique which can be used to determine a consumer’s behaviour, usage pattern and duration of each appliance used through data obtained from the smart meter.
Scotland is a wonderful place, lush and beautiful. I have had the chance to visit Ayr, Dundee, Edinburgh, and Stirling. Like the place, the Scottish are wonderful, kind, helpful, and made me feel at home. Overall, it is a life-changing experience, as it has helped me grow as an individual.
Darshan Narayana Swamy is pursuing M.Sc. Advanced Electrical Power at the University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, the U.K.
