Intelligent & Sustainable Electrical Systems

Researchers

Associate Professor Mahmood Nagrial (Group Leader)

Associate Professor Nagrial has received substantial funding from Integral Energy over the last 10 years. Associate Professor Nagrial has extensive experience in power electronics and drive systems. He has conducted many short courses and contributed refereed papers to many international conferences. Associate Professor Nagrial has been a leading researcher in the area of permanent magnet and variable reluctance machines and drive systems. He has supervised PhD and MEng (Hons) research theses and postdoctoral fellows in this area. Associate Professor Nagrial has also worked as Principal Research Scientist at CSIRO, where he was responsible for developing new devices using rare-earth magnets. He has held industry grants of $500,000 and various other internal and external grants including an ARC linkage grant. Associate Professor Nagrial is Fellow of IEE (UK) and IE (Aust), a recognition of his professional standing in the field.

Associate Professor Nagrial has acted as reviewer for grant applications, refereed papers for journals and international conferences, and examined many PhD theses in his area of expertise. Apart from electromagnetic analysis and design, the research work will involve power electronics and intelligent control and measurement of parameters.

Associate Professor Nagrial has supervised many research students, research fellows and visiting research fellows in the area of electrical drives, motion control, intelligent control, electromagnetic compatibility and power quality. Associate Professor Nagrial has substantial experience in the supervision of research staff and research administration.

Associate Professor Nagrial has been on the organising committee of international conferences, and reviewed various papers for the IEEE conference and transaction, IE (Aust) journal.

Research Interests

• Application of Nd-Fe-B magnets in motors, actuators and magnetic couplings.
• Design and development of high speed, high efficiency, DC brushless motor with slotless windings and controller.
• Power Electronics and drive systems
• Variable reluctance motors including switched reluctance and stepper motors
• Induction and reluctance generators
• Renewable sources of energy and conversion to electrical energy
• Converter topologies for drive systems
• Power system protection
• Micro Electromechanical Devices
• Fuzzy Logic Control Systems
• Interior or Buried Permanent Magnet Drive Systems
• Condition monitoring of power system equipment
• Application of Finite Element Methods in Electromagnetic Design
• Neuro-Fuzzy Applications
• EM I/EMC and Power Quality issues
• Sensorless Control of Brushless Drive Systems

Selected Publications

1. MH Nagrial - Design optimisation of magnetic couplings using high-energy magnets.  Intl. Jl. of Electric Machines and Power Systems vol. 21, No. 1 pp. 115-126, 1993
2. Rizk, J. and M.H. Nagrial " Permanent magnet generators for wind turbines" International Journal of Renewable Energy Engineering,  Vol 2, No. 1, pp 153-158, April 2000
3. J.Rizk; M.Nagrial and A. Hellany "Design optimisation of switched reluctance motors" Australian Journal of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Australia, Vol 1, No. 1, pp.33-39, 2004
4. K. Mitchell ; M. Nagrial and J. Rizk "  Simulation and Optimisation of Renewable Energy Systems" International Journal of Power & Energy Systems,Vol 27, pp 177-188,2005.
5. K. Mitchell ; J. Rizk and M. Nagrial "Development of Planning Procedures With Embedded Solar Systems" Australian Journal of Electrical & Electronic Engg., vol 3,No 1, pp 57-66, 2006
6. M. Nassereddine,   J. Rizk and M. Nagrial,  Switched Reluctance Generators for wind power applications,  "International Conference on Computer, Electrical, and Systems Science, and Engineering CESSE 2008 , Prague, Czech Republic, July 25-27, 2008,
7. Nagrial M, Rizk J, Hellany A, 2009, Design and Performance of Interior Permanent Magnet Motors with Saturating Magnetic Bridge, IEEE International Electric Machines and Drives CONFERENCE, IEMDC2009, Miami, USA, pp 1122-1127
8. Mitchell K, Nagrial M, Rizk J, 2009, Network benefits of embedded solar systems: A case study from Western Sydney, Renewable Energy: An International Journal, vol 34, no. 12, pp 2592-2596
9. Karimagako R, Nagrial M, Rizk J, 2010, Analysis And Design Of Permanent Magnet Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machines, IET International Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD 2010), [ORS ID: 217397]
10. M.Tawadros; M.Nagrial and J. Rizk "Estimation of Commutation Instances Using Back emf Mapping for Sensorless Control of Brushless Permanent Mangent Motors" IET Proc. on Electric Power Applications- EPA-2011-0382

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Dr Jamal Rizk

Dr Rizk is a member of the Research Group: Intelligent and Sustainable Electrical Systems (ISES). Since 1997 Dr Rizk has been a lecturer in the School of Engineering and Industrial Design, Western Sydney University and a senior lecturer from 2004 at the same university. He obtained his Master of Electrical Engineering (Hons) from Kharkov Polytechnic Institute, Ukraine in 1985 and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Western Sydney in 2001.
Dr Rizk has extensive experience in electromagnetic devices, drive systems and renewable energy. He has been involved in the design and development of permanent magnet and variable reluctance drive systems over a period of more than 15 years. Dr Rizk has developed special expertise in the analysis of magnetic analysis of different types of permanent magnet machines. He has been involved in the design, fabrication and testing of electrical drives. He has also developed research interests in integrated renewable energy systems.

Dr Rizk has acted as reviewer for papers for many national and international conferences and journals.

Selected Publications

1. Hellany A, Nagrial M, Rizk J, Nassereddine M, 2011, Safety Compliance of Substation Earthing Design, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 60 2011, vol 2011, no. 60, pp 525-529.
2. Rizk J, Hellany A, Nagrial M, 2011, Digital and Sensorless Control of DC Brushless Motors, Journal of Institution of Electrical & Electronic Engineers-New Horizon, vol 72-73, [ORS ID: 222034]
3. Nagrial M, Rizk J, Hellany A, 2011, Design and Development of Permanent Magnet Machines with Saturating Magnetic Bridges, JOurnal of Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers-New Horizon, vol 72-73.
4. Hellany A, Nagrial M, Rizk J, 2011, Design Of High Efficiency Dc Brushless Motors With Slotless Windings, World Academy Of Science, Engineering And Technology, no. 79, pp 1154-1159.
5. Nagrial M, Rizk J, Hellany A, 2011, Design of Synchronous Torque Couplers, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, no. 79, pp 575-580, [ORS ID: 220892]
6. Nagrial M, Aljaism W, Rizk J, 2010, Torque optimization of switched reluctance motor using finite element method, Journal of The Institution of Electrical & Electronics Engineers Pakistan - New Horizons, vol 68-69, [ORS ID: 219692]
7. Nagrial M, Rizk J, 2009, Finite Element Analysis And Design Of Electromagnetic Devices Using Permanent Magnets, Journal of The Institution of Electrical & Electronics Engineers Pakistan - New Horizons, vol 61-62, pp 24-28.
8. Mitchell K, Nagrial M, Rizk J, 2009, Network benefits of embedded solar systems: A case study from Western Sydney, Renewable Energy, vol 34, no. 12, pp 2592-2596, [ORS ID: 210528]
9. Rizk, J., Zhou, L, and Nagrial, M., 'Core Loss Computation in PM machines', Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference, University of Tasmania, (AUPEC '98) 27-30 September 1998, pp556-560.
10. Rizk, J and M.H. Nagrial " Design aspects of switched reluctance machines"  Proc. International Conference on Communications, Computer and Power (ICCCP'2001), Muscat, Oman, pp 279-284, Feb 12-14, 2001

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Dr Ali Hellany

Dr Ali Hellany holds a BE in Telecommunication, ME (Hons) in Electrical Engineering and a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the Western Sydney University (Australia). Ali is a member of the IEEE (International Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), executive member of the IEEE NSW section, and Chair of the student activity. He is a member of the Electromagnetic Society. He has been a senior lecturer at the School of Engineering, Western Sydney University, since 2002.

Dr Hellany has published numerous papers in the electromagnetic compatibility, power quality, AC interference, teaching styles and digital forensics area in journals, and presented his research in many international conferences. Apart from electromagnetic analysis and design, his research work will involve power electronics and intelligent control and measurement of parameters. Dr Hellany  has extensive experience in power electronic and Ac interference and electromagnetic interference/compatibility. He has supervised research students in the area of power electronics, electromagnetic compatibility and power quality.

Selected Publications

1. Hellany A, Nagrial M, Jamal R, 2011, Teaching Electromagnetic Compatibility Unit in Engineering Course, 8th International Conference on High-capacity OpticalNetworks and Emerging Technologies, pp 1-5.
2. Hellany A, Nagrial M, Rizk J, Nassereddine M, 2011, Safety Compliance of Substation Earthing Design, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology 60 2011, vol 2011, no. 60, pp 525-529
3. Hellany A, Nagrial M, Rizk J, 2010, Emc Compliance With Reference To Australia, 7th International Symposium on High Capacity Optical Networks & Enabling Technologies, pp 11-16
4. Nassereddine M, Hellany A, Rizk J, 2009, How to design an effective earthing system to ensure the safety of the people, 2009 International Conference on Advances in Computational Tools for Engineering Applications, pp 416-421.
5. J.Rizk; M.Nagrial and A. Hellany "Design Optimisation of Switched Reluctance Motors" Australian Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Vol 1, No 1, pp. 33-40, IEAust, 2004.
6. A. Hellany, M. H. Nagrial, J. Rizk, "Electromagnetic Compatibility and Power Quality in Modern Power Systems". The International Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, May 2003, Istanbul, Turkey.
7. A.Hellany and M.H.Nagrial "Radiated & Conducted EMI Emissions in Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS): Sources, Causes and Predictions" IEEE Conference- INMIC- Lahore Pakistan, Dec 28-30, 2001.
8. A.Hellany M.H.Nagrial "Switch Mode Power Supplies (SMPS) &EMI Emissions: causes and predictions". POW-326. The 10th Iranian conference on electrical engineering May 14-16 2002 department of electrical engineering faculty of engineering university of tabriz, tabriz, Iran.
9. A. Hellany & M. Nagrial "Power Quality and Electromagnetic Compatibility Environment in Modern Power Systems". Iinternational Conference on Research Trends in Science and Technology MARCH 4-6, 2002 * Beirut & Byblos, Lebanon
10. A. Hellany and M. Nagrial Power Quality in Modern Power Systems: Overview and Trends" IASTED International Conference on Power and Energy Systems Euro PES 2002 Crete, Greece June 25-28, 2002

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Dr Ragbir Bhathal

Dr Bhathal carries out research in nanosecond laser pulsed communications, astrophysics, astronomical image analysis and processing and engineering physics education.  He is also currently carrying out two national projects, viz: Australian Astronomers and Physicists Project sponsored by the National Library of Australia and National Aboriginal Astronomy Project.

Selected Publications

Paper citations : Over 1000.

1. Young, H., Freedman, R. A. and Bhathal, R. 2011.  University Physics with Modern Physics. 1st Australian Edition. Pearson Australia.
2. Bhathal, R. 2010.  Aboriginal astronomy. ARI, Sydney.
3. Kingsley, S. A. and Bhathal, R. 2001.  The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) in the optical spectrum III.  Proceedings of the International Society for Optical Engineering. Washington.
4. Bhathal, R. 2011.  Retrospective perceptions and views of engineering students about physics and engineering practicals.  European Journal of Engineering Education. 36. 403-411.
5. Bhathal, R., et al.  2010.  Educational analysis of a first year engineering physics experiment on standing waves: based on the ACELL approach.  European Journal of Physics. 31. 23-35.
6. Bhathal, R. 2012.  Profile: Brian Schmidt.  Astronomy & Geophysics. 53. 13 -
7. Bhathal, R. 2011.  The OZ OSETI Project.  In Vakoch, D. (ed.) 2011.  Communication with Extraterrestrial Intelligence.  Sunny Press.  New York.
8. Wong, O. I., Ryan-Weber, E. V., Garcia-Appadoo, D. A., Webster, R. L., Staveley-Smith, L., Zwaan, M. A., Meyer, M. J., Barnes, D. G., Kilborn, V. A., Bhathal, R., et al.  2011. The Northern HIPASS catalogue. Data presentation, completeness and reliability.  VizieR On-line Data Catalogue: VIII/89.
9. Bhathal, R. And Mason, T. 2011.  Aboriginal astronomical sites, landscapes and paintings. Astronomy and Geophysics.  52. 12 – 16.
10. Bhathal, R. 2011.  Improving the scientific literacy of Aboriginal students through astronomy.  In Valls-Gabaud & Bokensenberg, A. 2011.  Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union.  679 – 684

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Dr Upul Gunawardana

Upul obtained a BSc (Eng) (Hons 1) from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka in 1990, MSEE and PhD from Missouri University of Science and Technology (formerly the University of Missouri-Rolla), USA in 1993 and 1999 respectively. Before joining Western Sydney University, in 1998 he was with Philips Personal Communications as a member of their technical staff, and then with Motorola Personal Communication Systems Research Labs in New Jersey as a staff engineer from 1998 to January 2001. From 2001 to 2003, he was with Bell Laboratories of Lucent Technologies.

Upul's research expertise is in communication theory, signal processing, and modelling of communication systems. Currently, he is working on efficient simulation algorithms for wireless communication systems. He is also working on power line communication and energy metering related research projects.

Selected Publications

1. Wijesinghe, P., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2012), 'Combined flat histogram Monte Carlo method for efficient simulation of communication systems', IEEE Communications Letters, 3.
2. Wijesinghe, P., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2012), 'Combined flat histogram Monte Carlo method for efficient simulation of communication systems', IEEE Communication Letters, 3.
3. Wijetunge, S., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2012), 'Performance analysis of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol with ACK frame transmission', Wireless Personal Communications, 26.
4. Wijetunge, S., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2012), 'Performance analysis of IEEE 802.15.4 MAC protocol with ACK frame transmission', Wireless Personal Communications, 26.
5. Wijesinghe, P., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2012), 'Combined flat histogram Monte Carlo method for efficient simulation of communication systems', IEEE Communications Letters, 3.
6. Wijesinghe, P., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2011), 'Efficient simulation of orthogonal frequency division multiplexing systems using importance sampling', IET Communications, 10.
7. Wijesinghe, P., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2011), 'An efficient algorithm for capacity and outage probability estimation in MIMO channels', IEEE Communications Letters, 3.
8. Wijesinghe, P., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2010), 'Improved performance upper bounds for terminated convolutional codes in Rayleigh fading channels', ECTI Transactions on Electrical Engineering, Electronics and Communications, 7.
9. Nguyen, K., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2008), 'Fast simulation of space-time block codes concatenated with convolutional codes over quasi-static Rayleigh fading channels', Electronics Letters, 2.
10. Biyanwilage, S., Gunawardana, U. and Liyanapathirana, R. (2012), 'Proceedings of the 2012 International Symposium on Communications and Information Technologies (ISCIT)', International Symposium on Communications and Information Technologies (ISCIT), 2012, Gold Cast, Australia.

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