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Meet the Team

 

Michail Michelarakis

Research Associate

T: +44 (0)29 2068 8788

Michail Michelarakis' research interests include eco-friendly insulating gases, surface and partial discharge properties and characterisation, and electromagnetic computations.

Dr. Mohammed El Amine

Researcher

Dr. Mohammed El Amine Slama is currently researcher at the Advanced High Voltage Engineering Research Centre of Cardiff University and working on FLEXIS Project related to Alternative Environmentally Gas for Electrical Networks Insulation team. He received his PhD degree from Ecole Centrale de Lyon -France in electrical engineering and high voltage. He was previously research engineer at General Electric and SuperGrid Institute Villeurbanne- France (2014-2017). He was Professor assistant at University of Lyon 1 (2010-2011) and Lecturer at University of Sciences and Technology of Oran (USTO) and member of High Voltage & Electrical Field Team of the Laboratory of Electrical Engineering of USTO, Algeria (2004-2008/2011-2013).

Dr David Clark

Senior Lecturer

T: 02920 875070

David Clark is Senior Lecturer in High Voltage and High Current Engineering at Cardiff University. He is a member of the Advanced High Voltage Engineering Research centre at Cardiff School of Engineering, and is deputy-director of the Cardiff Lightning Laboratory. He has research experience in high-voltage insulation systems for aircraft, lightning direct-effects, computational electromagnetics and earthing design in electrical power systems, and has worked on several WG, UKRI and industry funded projects. He received his B.Eng. in 2007 and Ph.D. in 2012, both in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He is a member of the IEEE, IET and a fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr. Nabila Zebouchi

Researcher, Cardiff University,

Dr. Nabila Zebouchi is currently working on FLEXIS Project WP 16: Environmentally Friendly Electrical Power Plant and Insulation, at the Advanced High Voltage Engineering Research Centre.

She has a PhD. degree in Electrical Engineering from the University Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France. Her core competence and expertise are in the field of HVDC Electrical Power Transmission from both practical and theoretical aspects.

She has worked at ABB AB Corporate Research in Sweden for several years where she has participated extensively to the development of the ABB HVDC Light Cable System Technology for voltage levels up to ±320 kV. She has also worked at the French company Nexans manufacturer of high voltage cables and accessories and the Belgian Ceramic Research Centre. She participated as a full member from 2013 to 2019 to the CIGRE working group D1-56 dealing with Field Grading in Electrical Insulation Systems (CIGRE Technical Brochure reference 794).

Professor Manu Haddad

Cardiff University, Principal Investigator

T: +44 (0)29 2087 5904

Manu Haddad leads the Cardiff University team researching environmentally-friendly electrical power plants and insulation.

Dr Stephen Robson

Cardiff University, Lecturer

Dr Stephen Robson is Co-Investigator for the Environmentally-Friendly Electrical Power Plant and Insulation area. His research interests are in the areas of condition monitoring, next generation narrowband power line communication and fault location on high voltage electrical networks.

Dr Maurizio Albano

Cardiff University, Lecturer

Dr Maurizio Albano received his 5-year degree (M.Eng.) in 1999 and then the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Padova, Italy in 2003. In 2005 he was awarded post-doctoral grant by University of Padova, Italy. In 2006 he joined the Advanced High Voltage Engineering Research Centre and he is now Lecturer at Cardiff University. His present fields of research are insulation co-ordination, electromagnetic transients and magnetic and electric fields calculations, air insulated compact substations and overhead line insulator design. He has published over 40 papers. He is a Member of IET and IEEE.

Dr. Phillip Widger

Cardiff University, Research Associate

Dr. Phillip Widger received the Ph.D. and B.Eng. degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from Cardiff University, UK in 2014 and 2010 respectively. Between 2010 and 2014, he worked towards his Ph.D. degree in the Advanced High Voltage Engineering Research Centre at Cardiff University, Institute of Energy, and School of Engineering. His research is focused on alternatives gases to SF6, specialising in gas mixtures of CF3I, for use in distribution and transmission networks. SF6 is a global warming gas with a global warming potential approximately 23,900 times that of CO2 and a very long atmospheric lifetime. Research is focused on environmentally friendly alternatives that can safely insulate high voltage electrical power equipment for a more sustainable future electricity network.

Meirion Hills

Cardiff University, Research Assistant

Meirion Hills works as a FLEXIS Research Assistant at Cardiff University working on the Environmentally-Friendly Electrical Power Plant and Insulation Work Package under the supervision of Prof. A. Haddad. Meirion is fluent in Welsh and has an Integrated Master’s Degree in Physics (MPhys) from Cardiff University, obtained in July 2016. His MPhys project involved studying nanostructured materials as potential photocatalysts for water. Meirion started working for Cardiff University in January 2017 and helps to maintain the laboratory and assists in any experiments conducted.

Dr Alistair Reid

Cardiff University, Lecturer

Dr Alistair Reid has over 10 years of research experience in the field of electrical insulation diagnostic testing and has published over 50 papers. In 2007, he was awarded a PhD for research on partial discharge. From 2007-2011 he worked within the Institute for Energy and Environment at the University of Strathclyde as co-investigator on two major EPSRC research projects on advanced radiometric techniques for partial discharge detection. In 2011 he gained a Research Fellowship at Glasgow Caledonian University and in 2013 was awarded a Visiting Research position at California Institute of Technology's Department of Computing and Mathematical Sciences. He was then appointed as a Lecturer within the School of Engineering and Built Environment at Glasgow Caledonian University where he worked as principal investigator at GCU on the project Online HVDC Cable Monitor, funded by the Department of Energy and Climate Change. He is presently a Lecturer at Cardiff University, conducting research within the Advanced High Voltage Engineering Research Centre. Alistair is a Senior Member of the IEEE.