I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to go for an overseas IA with Scottish Power plc, Glasgow. On 5 January, I arrived at Glasgow with excitement and anticipation.

Glasgow is one of the most important cities and industrial areas of Scotland. this city is very rich in Scottish history. During this attachment, my IA mates and I stayed at Strathclyde University. It is one of the best universities in UK. I shared a flat with another two Scottish students and a French exchange student. This definitely provided me with the opportunity to interact with students from different countries and of different cultures.
 

How Lung with another placement student, Chris, in Scottish Power

Led by the Corporation Board situated at Atlantic Quay, Glasgow, Scottish Power’s activities span electricity power generation, transmission and distribution to most parts of Scotland. I was attached to the Light Current Group of the Power System Department. My department is responsible for maintaining and repairing the whole transmission network which links power stations to the local distribution network. During the attachment, my supervisors, Mr Tom Cumming and Mr Jim Toal, were extremely helpful in guiding me.

The nature of my project was R & D. I was asked to test, verify and validate a software package, developed by another software company, which would be used to detect small transient perturbation of power flow. These small perturbations are always presemt in the power flow signal. It contains information describing the stability of the power system. An evaluation version of this software had been set up at one of Scottish Power’s Interconnectors to monitor the export of electricity power from Scotland to England. To evaluate the performance of this detector, an off-line testing using computer simulation was proposed. In this project, I was required to devise and implement a testing procedure to analyze the performance of this detector.

The Industrial Attachment has been very fruitful to me as valuable knowledge and experiences were gained throughout the implementation of the project. I had the opportunity to visit the substation at Torness and the hydro-power station at Cruachan, gaining insight into a power system. Furthermore, I attended various meetings and presentations which gave me the chance to learn from experienced personnel. Most importantly, it provided me an opportunity to apply theoretical knowledge to practical purposes.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my tutor, Dr W.H. Siew of Strathclyde University, my fellow colleagues, Mrs Loh Ai Hwa of OPA and the School of EEE for their help and advice during my attachment.
 

In Cruchan, Scotland