21, rue d’Artois, F-75008 PARIS EPEE Panel CIGRE 2010

http : //www.cigre.org

The NGN
CIGRE UK’s Next Generation Network

BEATRICE CHONG
National Grid & CIGRE UK NGN Chairperson
UK

SUMMARY

The Next Generation Network or NGN is the “young members” section of CIGRE UK. This paper
concentrates on what the NGN committee believe to be its four main benefits; inform, engage,
network and develop by relating each to NGN core activities. It also describes NGN’s progress over
the last four years and builds upon NGN’s first EPEE contribution in 2008 [1]. It also looks into the
future prospects of the group within the UK and abroad.

As chair of the NGN I’d like to take this opportunity to thank CIGRE UK and all hosts and sponsors
that have supported NGN activities to date. Because, if it were not for them the NGN would not be
able to continue with the activities and benefits described within this paper. Moreover, support from
CIGRE UK and their encouragement for the NGN to run as autonomously as possible are greatly
appreciated.

KEYWORDS

Young members, Next Generation Network, membership, benefits, inform, engage, network, develop,
technical events, communications, transferable skills, professional development.

Beatrice.Chong@uk.ngrid.com
1. Introduction
CIGRE UK’s Next Generation Network or NGN has been in operation for four years now. The target
membership includes all those who are new to CIGRE UK and are within the earlier stages of their
career working in or aspiring to work in a relevant electrical power systems related industry,
institution or university. The paper aims to give the reader a factual overview of NGN’s activities to
date together with my own personal thoughts as the current chair. The NGN logo is shown in Figure
1.1.

The main focus of this paper is on NGN’s current activities by looking at them from the view of its
four key benefits; inform, engage, network and develop. After, Section 2 has a short description of
NGN’s past history and briefly examines the membership growth. Section 3 starts with a description
of the group’s current organisation and steering committee members and Sub-Sections 3.1 to 3.4 are
titled inform, engage, network and develop respectively. Within “inform” the three main methods of
communication are discussed; emails, website and social networking. “Engage” concentrates on
opportunities to volunteer and attendance at NGN’s technical events and the AGM. The third sub-
section, “network” reviews the methods of communication and highlights NGN’s open door attitude
towards meetings. Subsequently, “develop” examines the working group involvement situation and
trial scheme; the latest initiative, “observers at working group meetings during the 2010 Session”,
Paris and the potential to improve professional development and transferable skills. Finally, the
conclusion looks towards the future and assesses further international links and how the group hopes
to gain greater local membership engagement and integration.

Figure 1.1: CIGRE UK NGN’s logo

2. Past
The CIGRE-UK “young members” network first met in 2006 at an initial meeting with CIGRE-UK
executive members, Chris Jones, Colin Ray and Adam Middleton. During the next few meetings the
Next Generation Network (NGN) was developed and how the group was different to the other key
international bodies and institutions, IET, IET Power Sector, IEEE and IEEE Power Engineering
Society [2]. It was officially launched on 2nd November 2007 at the Williams F1 conference centre,
Oxford, UK and was the catalyst for rapid membership growth.

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 CIGRE UK Membership 2006-2010
450
NGN
400
Company (collective)
350
University (collective)
No. of Members

300 Individual
250
200
150
100
50
0
Jun-06 Dec-06 Jun-07 Dec-07 Jun-08 Dec-08 Jun-09 Dec-09 Jun-10

Time
Figure 2.1 CIGRE-UK and NGN membership numbers 2006-2010

Figure 2.1 below, shows the membership growth of CIGRE UK from 2006 to 2010. In June 2006
CIGRE UK had 10 subsidised young members and by June 2010 NGN members total 164 individuals
(unlike CIGRE UK there are no collective NGN members).

NGN Membership – Membership can by split into three types; fully subsidised, associate and fee
paying individual. Between 2006 and June 2009 all members were fully subsidised. Associate
members are full-time MSc/MPhil students only. The category was created in reaction to the sudden
decrease in members between December 2008 and June 2009 (see Table 2.1). The reason for the step
decrease was found to be international students who returned to their home country after the academic
year. 2010 brought the first group of fee paying individual members. The decline in total members
between December 2009 and June 2010 is entirely due to individuals deciding not to pay for renewal.
This situation prompted the NGN to establish a more focused communication plan with the aim to
engage more members, in this way it is hoped members will see the benefits of membership and will
be prepared to pay for subsequent years.

Table 2.1 NGN membership breakdown December 2008 to June 2010

Dec 2008 June 2009 Dec 2009 June 2010
Fully subsidised 171 149 157 119
Associate N/A N/A 30 31
Fee paid N/A N/A N/A 14
Total 171 149 187 164

3. Present
The current steering committee has 15 members who regularly contribute to the running of the NGN
and are currently looking for new recruits for event organising and web site development and update.
The team is organised into the structure in Figure 3.1. Three positions are elected; biannually for the
Chairperson and annually for the Vice-Chair & Information Coordinator and Secretary & Treasurer
(darker shaded boxes). They are voted for on the run up to and during the annual general meeting, and
the remaining positions are filled with voluntary positions (lighter shaded boxes). The NGN has a
continuingly changing constitution which describes the responsibilities of most of these roles.

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Figure 3.1 NGN Steering Committee structure

Benefits – The NGN has four major benefits to offer its members; inform, engage, network and
develop. Sections 3.1 to 3.4 will discuss each in turn with respect to NGN activities such as; formal
and informal methods of communications, technical events, volunteering opportunities, CIGRE UK
strategy and Working Group involvement.

3.1 Inform
ƒ Keep up to date with NGN activities by reading our emails, website and logging in and joining
the CIGRE UK NGN Facebook group
ƒ Come along to any of our technical events; fully sponsored by leading companies and
universities
ƒ Access CIGRE publications through E-CIGRE
ƒ Keep up to date with the latest reports by reading Electra

The communications team was formed April 2010 to increase the visibility of NGN. The methods
used are emails, a dedicated website and the social networking website, Facebook. Emails provide the
main channel for announcements, including; steering committee meeting dates, adverts for technical
events, how the monthly Newsletters are sent out and calls for contribution, input and feedback.

The NGN website uses the same server and template as the main CIGRE website. http://www.cigre-
ngn-uk.org/ The main sections are;
ƒ introduction and general information;
ƒ resources including meeting minutes, actions and newsletters;
ƒ event information, future and past including presentations from speakers and photos;
ƒ working groups; how to get involved and a member case study;
ƒ membership, how to become a member and directory of steering committee members.

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The latest addition has been the implementation and use of e-forms for requesting membership,
registering for events and attendance at steering committee meetings.

Social networking sites are a popular method of online communication; for this reason the NGN set up
their own Facebook group. It is used as an unofficial method of communication where members can
informally post messages and contact one another directly. A dedicated member of the communication
team has the responsibility of keeping the group up to date and advertising new events and dates of
meetings. It is envisioned that members can use the group page like a forum; ask questions and
express their views.

3.2 Engage
ƒ Volunteer to make NGN the network you want it to be
ƒ Come along to any steering committee meeting, they are open to all member to allow you to
find out more
ƒ Take the opportunity to speak and ask questions to specialists who present at technical events
ƒ Email us or leave messages and feedback on the NGN Facebook group page

Our criterion for fully subsidised annual membership (for the first three years) is to be an “active
member”. The definition is wide and primarily aims to get engagement from member with the NGN
and its activities. Members have provided feedback to us that technical events are one of the most
attractive parts of NGN membership.

Technical events - the NGN aims to hold a minimum of three technical events per year, in addition
short events are held on more specialist subjects a few times a year. To maximise members travel and
time, each event aims to have a mixture of speakers and a site tour. Core events have an attendance of
approximately 30 people and short events five to fifteen. At the moment an event coordinator oversees
all events over a two year period and one local event coordinator is assigned per event to lead the
proceedings. Together they ensure the event is fully sponsored by the hosting company or university
and organise all logistics and administration pre, during and post event.

In November 2010 NGN will hold its annual general meeting in conjunction with a technical event.
This combined the event worked well in 2009, where an event, AGM and UK Liaison meeting
between study committees B4, C1, C4 and C6 was held on the same day. This year the AGM will be
held at The University of Manchester under the theme of HV testing and include a tour of the HV test
facility. Two of the three elected positions “Vice-Chair and Information Coordinator” and “Secretariat
and Treasurer” will be voted for by its members via email and paper voting on the day. A list of some
past and future events with host companies and universities can be found below

Figure 3.2.1: Event photo: Siemens and McNulty Construction tour of offshore substation, includes
members, speaker and tour guide

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.Past core events;
ƒ Off-shore wind farm development - including a tour around an offshore substation, Siemens
and McNulty Construction, Newcastle, UK
ƒ New materials for electric energy technologies - including a choice of tours; transformer
factory and turbo generator, Areva T&D and Alstom, Stafford, UK
ƒ Power Cables - including visit to UK cable manufacturing facility, Prysmian Cables &
Systems, Wrexham, UK
ƒ Electricity National Control Centre, National Grid, Wokingham, UK

Past short events;

ƒ HVDC transmission at the Moyal interconnector, Ballycronan More Converter Station / The
Hilton Hotel, Belfast Waterfront, Northern Ireland, UK
ƒ Powering the low carbon future: technology challenges and prospects, combined event with
Universities’ Power Engineering Conference (UPEC), Glasgow, UK

Other past events;

ƒ 4 fully sponsored places for NGN members on 2 and a half day course on “Fundamentals of
High Voltage Circuit Breakers”, Areva T&D Technical Institute, Stafford, UK
ƒ One day course on power system protection, Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff, UK

Future core and short events

ƒ Electricity transmission in France, Réseau de Transport d’Electricité (RTÉ), La Défence,
Paris, France (to be held during 2010 Session)
ƒ Pumped storage, Scottish Power, Cruachan, Scotland, UK
ƒ HV testing – including a tour around the laboratory, University of Manchester, Manchester,
UK
ƒ Smart grids, to be confirmed
ƒ Forensic testing of failure analysis, Cobham technical services, Leatherhead, UK
ƒ Wave power generation, to be confirmed

3.3 Network
ƒ Meet many new and diverse people working in the electrical power industry at NGN technical
events
ƒ Contact specialists at all levels of the electrical power industry using the extensive CIGRE
international network and take the opportunity to work with them
ƒ Make long-term friendships with peers at NGN meetings and work with them to build the
NGN network
ƒ Get together with international experts at CIGRE sessions and symposiums

The channels of networking mentioned so far are indirect methods through emails, website and
Facebook and direct methods through face-to-face meetings at events. To aid networking in an
informal environment members have arranged unofficial gatherings such as an evening meal;
especially for events that have been held in locations that needed long journey times for attendees. In
this manner the NGN hopes to include as many of its members as possible and promote the social side
of the group by uploading photos to Facebook.

In turn it is hoped that the more enthusiastic members become part of the steering committee and take
the opportunity to meet and work with the CIGRE UK executive group. The latest initiative for all
CIGRE UK members is to get involved with CIGRE UK’s Strategic Plan to further develop the role of
CIGRE within the UK Electrical Supply Industry (ENI) through to 2025. A communications email
was sent to all NGN members encouraging them to volunteer and participate in any the 5 working
groups;

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 ƒ Organisation strategy
ƒ Membership development
ƒ Communications
ƒ Technical strategy
ƒ Overall interaction of strategy elements

3.4 Develop
ƒ Volunteering within the NGN could help with engineering chartership application by giving
good examples for some of those important competences
ƒ Helping run the NGN gives great prospects to practice transferable skills which can be helpful
in the work environment too
ƒ Developing professional skills while contributing to the NGN gives you the ability to
influence the way the NGN is run for future members
ƒ In turn the NGN will grow into a network of strong up-and-coming future experts

Working Group (WG) involvement - Some members feel that participation and contribution in a
CIGRE working group to be the most important aspect of being a CIGRE member. However, the
NGN realises that it is not the easiest of aspirations to achieve while relatively new to the industry, and
moreover still developing into a specialist or realising own strengths and development areas.

Currently there are 14 out of approximately 150 NGN members officially registered as a working
group member. One barrier to entry for popular WGs is the unofficial quota of 2 WG members per
country. Therefore, to enable more CIGRE-UK and NGN members to find out more and correspond
with WGs the NGN is working with CIGRE-UK to further trail and develop a Mirror Working Group
initiative, which as initially trailed by B2/B5 WGs. In essence, it has been proposed that UK members
in the WG will hold a meeting with members of the Mirror Group before the international meetings;
any contributions or feedback from the WG is directly circulated amongst Mirror Group members and
all contributions from UK members and Mirror Group members are collected and fed back to through
the regular members. In this manner, the aim is to ensure the Mirror Group feels included and an equal
part of the WG community.

Observer at WG meetings during Session 2010 – The biennial Paris Session is probably the busiest
week in CIGRE’s WG meeting calendar with over 150 WG meetings taking place in and around the
Session within one week alone. To help engage NGN and CIGRE young members from all nations
contact has been made through UK regular members to request invites from the WG chairmen to
accept “observers” at their pre-arranged meetings. So far I have received confirmation for 2 Study
Committee meetings (2 observers each) and 4 WG meetings (1 observer each) {as of 12/07/10}. The
invitation will be sent out to NGN members, CIGRE National Secretaries to be forwarded to their
young members and the email list collected by NGN during Session 2008 in mid July 2010. This
initiative was the idea of John Finn, member of the CIGRE-UK executive team and has received only
positive responses to date.

Professional development and transferable skills – The NGN is a fantastic environment to practice
and hone many transferable skills that will become invaluable to any aspiring professional while
tackling company hierarchy and industry standards. From personal experience, volunteering for the
NGN has given me many opportunities to develop and improve my transferable skills. For example,
ƒ while I was Treasurer & Secretary (2008-9) I was responsible for recording minutes of all
meetings, keeping up to date with the list of actions and ensuring all information was
distributed within the Steering Committee and wider NGN members.
ƒ As part of the CIGRE Session team in 2008 I had the opportunity to share some of my PhD
research and showcase NGN activities to an international audience.
ƒ Now, as NGN Chairperson I am further developing my confidence with public speaking and
using CIGRE networks more and more.
In addition I feel proud to be representing the current NGN team on behalf of CIGRE-UK.

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Development of NGN as a group – I feel the NGN is now in a new phase of its growth. I have been
involved in NGN since creation in 2006 and have seen it slowly form from a few individuals to a rapid
growth in membership to 170+ in only two years. During 2009 the group began to find a comfortable
rhythm and become much more structured. Most recently the focus of the group has shifted from
gaining new members to engaging existing members by providing more opportunities to contribute
and improving the quality of the benefits NGN can provide. During the past four years I believe the
NGN has made many positive contributions to all active members by providing a range of activities
from technical events to WG involvement. In turn members’ involvement has allowed NGN as a
whole to develop into a stronger network of up-and-coming and enthusiastic future experts.

4. Conclusion: Looking towards the future

The NGN is continuing to be received in an extremely positive light within the UK, the executive team
are encouraging and the host companies and universities have provided their commitment and support
through event sponsorship. There are numerous opportunities for the NGN to develop in different
ways; internationally and locally.

International links and communications - This is an exciting time for NGN as successes to date and
lessons learnt are going to be shared with other CIGRE National Committees. So far, responses have
been received from CIGRE representatives and individuals from Argentina, China, Denmark,
Germany, Japan, Spain and USA and we look forward to meeting with them all at the 2010 Session.

Local membership engagement – Current initiatives such as more frequent and concise newsletters
including adverts to volunteer, upcoming events, Mirror Working Groups, informal and formal
networking opportunities and an open door policy to all steering committee meetings aim to increase
member engagement. In turn the long-term target is to ease the integration and transition between
NGN membership and CIGRE UK membership between three to six years. As the original NGN
members reach their fifth year of activity they will be just as important as the next generation to
achieve this goal. For example the previous chairman, Jonathan Halliday has shared his experience
and knowledge at other international conferences [3], [4].

Inform – Engage – Network – Develop

The NGN – CIGRE UK’s Next Generation Network.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

[1] J. Halliday, CIGRE UK Next Generation Network: Expectations of Incoming Members”,

Presented at CIGRE 2008 Session 42, Palais des Congrès, Paris, France, 25-29 August 2008
[2] Guidebook for CIGRE-UK’s Next Generation Network (NGN), 2007, www.cigre-ngn-uk.org
[3] A. Middleton and J. Halliday, “Training T&D’s Next Generation for Next Generation
Networks: The CIGRE Experience”, Presented at the IEEE Annual Power Engineering Society
General Meeting, paper number 09GM0343, Calgary, Alberta, Canada, 26-30 July 2009
[4] A. Middleton and J. Halliday, “Power System Education & Training Realities for Next
Generation Networks: Sustainability Beyond the CIGRE Experience”, Presented at the
Protection, Automation and Control (PAC) World Conference, Dublin, Ireland, 21-24 July 2010

Contact details of Steering Committee members (July 2010)

Name Company Email address
Beatrice Chong National Grid Beatrice.Chong@uk.ngrid.com
Maria Brucoli Arup Maria.Brucoli@arup.com
Sarah Follmann Siemens Sarah.Follmann@siemens.com
Aruna Guntalike Areva T&D Aruna.Guntalike@areva-td.com
Rodrigo Moreno Imperial College London Rodrigo.Moreno07@imperial.ac.uk
Patrick Favre-Perrod Areva T&D Patrick.Favre-Perrod@areva-td.com
Elena Petrova ABB Elena.Petrova@gb.abb.com
Elise Ganendra SKM esganendra@gmail.com
Ross Wilson RWE NPower Ross.Wilson@rwenpower.com
Rose King University of Cardiff KingRL1@cardiff.ac.uk
Julija Matevosyan SKM JMatevosyan@globalskm.com
Ryan Tumilty KEMA Ryan.Tumilty@kema.com
Muhammad Ashraf Areva T&D Muhammad.Ashraf@areva-td.com
Soon Kiat Yee Siemens Soon.Yee@siemens.com
Eswar Chukaluri Areva T&D Eswar.Chukaluri@areva-td.com