List of Scholars

The first scholarship was awarded in 1957, and since that time (to June 2015) there have been 28 scholarships awarded.

The following table lists the most recent of these scholarships, with the scholar’s chosen field of investigation noted (and linked to the relevant reports posted by the scholars during their period overseas).

Awarded in 2017

In June 2017, Applications were called for the next round of applicants.  Following the assessment process, three new scholars were appointed in September 2017, as follows:

Christopher Du Plessis from AEMO Christopher plans to spend 18 months working for system operators and the US National Renewables Laboratory investigating consultative power system planning practices in high renewables environments.You will be able to stay in touch with all of Christopher’s reports here on the ES Cornwall website (and more generally with Christopher on LinkedIn here).

Being an 18 month scholarship, there will be 6 x Quarterly Reports and a Final Report as well.  When posted, they’ll also be tweeted here.
Tara-Lee MacArthur from Ergon Energy Tara-Lee will spend 12 months working for transformer manufacturers and related suppliers in south east Asia and Europe investigating power transformer design, manufacture and testing processes.You will be able to stay in touch with all of Tara-Lee’s reports here on the ES Cornwall website (and more generally with Tara-Lee on LinkedIn here).

Being an 12 month scholarship, there will be 4 x Quarterly Reports and a Final Report as well.  When posted, they’ll also be tweeted here.
Alexandra Price from Energex Alexandra was to spend 6 months undertaking an intense investigation of European practices for live line and live substation work through meetings with key companies and participation in relevant conferences.

However this study program did not proceed.

Awarded in 2015

Beer Opatsuwan Mr Opatsuwan headed overseas in 2016 to study aspects of Asset Management Excellence.  He returned in 2017 in time to provide a briefing on 11th July at University of Queensland.

Linked here are the reports provided by Beer as part of his scholarship experience.
Stephen Sproul Mr Sproul headed overseas in 2016 to study aspects of Improving Network Utilisation, Renewables Hosting and Affordability through New Technologies.

He returned in 2017 in time to provide a briefing on 11th July at University of Queensland.

Linked here are the reports provided by Stephen as part of his scholarship

Awarded in 2013

There were two scholarships awarded in 2013:

Robyn O’Connor Robyn worked overseas for the period 1st October 2013 to September 2014, with the purpose of investigating the impact of managing asset age and condition on electricity pricing.

Linked here are the reports provided by Robyn as part of her scholarship experience.
Matthew Zillmann Matthew began overseas work placement in September 2014, with the purpose of investigating aspects of optimising expenditure on asset management.

Linked here are the reports provided by Matthew as part of his scholarship experience.  Particularly with respect to the scholarship opportunity itself, Matthew notes:

“My time on the E.S. Cornwall Memorial Scholarship has been life changing, both professionally and personally. As I look to the opportunities and challenges ahead in my career, I hold this experience and what it has taught me in the highest regard. It already is and will continue to be one of the highlights of my career.”

Awarded in 2011

The following four scholars were provided the opportunity to travel overseas on the scholarship on, or after, 2011:

Alexandra Price Alexandra worked overseas for the period July 2012 to February 2013, with the purpose of working on the Low Carbon London innovation project led by UK Power Networks.

We have no reports provided by Alexandra to link here as part of her scholarship experience.
Don McPhail Don worked overseas from September 2011 to May 2013, with the purpose of working with Distributed Generation and Electric Vehicle Infrastructure.

Linked here are the reports provided by Don as part of his scholarship experience.
Jared McKee Jared worked overseas for the period July 2011 to April 2012, with the purpose of Understanding & influencing customer behavior in the ESI.

Linked here are the reports provided by Jared as part of his scholarship experience.
Sarah Hiley Sarah worked overseas from October 2011 to May 2013, with the purpose of learning about Substation Automation Systems using the IEC 61850 standard.

Linked here are the reports provided by Sarah as part of her scholarship experience.

Sarah noted about the scholarship:

“For me, the value of the scholarship went far beyond my professional objectives. It was a life changing experience where I was able to experience different ways of life and travel extensively throughout Europe and Asia, meeting new people and experiencing many different cultures.

I strongly encourage any young engineer who is keen to travel and broaden their career to apply. Not only does the scholarship offer generous monetary support, but the professional support provided by the scholarship committee opens up so many unique opportunities that will shape both your personal and professional outlook”

Awarded in 2008

The following four scholars were provided the opportunity to travel overseas on the scholarship on, or after, 2008:

Aidan Roberts Aidan worked overseas for the period October 2007 to October 2009, with the purpose of Benefiting the ESI through the Smart Grid.

Linked here are the reports provided by Aidan as part of his scholarship experience.

Part-way through his scholarship, Aidan noted about his experiences:

“The ES Cornwall scholarship is not only a great opportunity to further your career but also to see the world. The niche experience gained will be an asset to you professionally but will also benefit prospective employers and the Australian ESI as a whole.

Through my employment I have been lucky enough to work in Scotland, Wales, UK, France and Sweden. Outside of work, I have travelled through Singapore, Germany, Iceland, Spain and Italy with a few more trips planned prior to my return.”
Jonathan Dennis Jonathan worked overseas from 2008 to 2010, with the purpose of Managing the difficulties of large Centralised Renewable Generation.

Linked here are the reports provided by Jonathan as part of his scholarship experience.
Reena Kwong Reena worked overseas for the period March 2009 to November 2010, with the purpose of learning more, through working on aspects of Integrating renewable energy into the grid.

Linked here are the reports provided by Reena as part of her scholarship experience.
Nicholas Craig Nicholas worked overseas from March 2009 to September 2010, with the purpose of studying Project management and delivery of Transmission Augmentation.

Linked here are the reports provided by Nick as part of his scholarship experience.

Nick noted about his experiences:

“… I enjoy being part of the diverse solutions adopted and developed to address the specific issues encountered by each organization and country. My experiences overseas have help highlight the benefits and drawbacks of
partnered delivery of transmission investments and integration of renewable generation.

Aside from the work based activities, I have been fortunate enough to experience a different way of life and benefited from involving myself the variety of cultures and people in Europe, Northern Africa & North America.”

Awarded in 2005

In 2005, Daniel Anderson was awarded the E.S. Cornwall Memorial Scholarships. His reports pre-date the development of this website, but are separately available from the University of Queensland.

Awarded in 1998

In 1998, Frank Montiel was awarded the E.S. Cornwall Memorial Scholarships. His reports pre-date the development of this website, but are separately available from the University of Queensland.

Frank notes about his scholarship experience:

“Around the late 90s, the Australian National Electricity Market was being developed and I was working on forecasting market outcomes under the developing market rules. Through this work I became interested in gaining a better understanding of how different market and regulatory structures affect decision making behaviour and market dynamics.

I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to spend time in Spain and the UK, which had completely different market frameworks. Spain was just introducing an electricity market and the UK had one of the world’s most mature markets with a 10 year history. I was then even luckier to be in the UK during the period where the market structure was being fundamentally debated and eventually replaced.

In a profound way, this period has become a reference point in my professional life. Since then I have a broader toolkit and some great contacts. But the value of the experience goes far beyond my work objective. I consider it as one of the defining periods of my life. It significantly broadened my perspective both professionally and personally: particularly experiencing all aspects of living in other countries.”

Earlier Awards of the Scholarship

Earlier history of scholarship awards can be seen in this ES Cornwall brochure (this copy from 2017).