Associate Professor
Geoff Walker
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Electrical Engineering & Robotics
Biography
Dr Geoff Walker joined the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Electrical Power Engineering group as an Associate Professor in 2013. His current research interests lie in applying power electronics to applications in renewable energy (especially PV), power systems, and electric vehicles.From 2008 to 2013, he worked as a senior electrical engineering consultant in Aurecon’s Transmission and Distribution group, Brisbane, across various areas including rail traction, earthing studies, electricity transmission planning, and renewable energy project design and review.
Geoff received his PhD in multilevel converter modulation from the University of Queensland in 1999, and was the power electronics lecturer at the University of Queensland from 1998 to 2007. Geoff has also worked and maintains an active interest in the pro-audio and industrial electronics sectors.
Employment History Summary
- 2013 – now: Associate Professor, School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
- 2008 – 2013: Senior Electrical Engineer, Energy Section Transmission & Distribution group, Aurecon (formerly Connell Wagner)
- 1998 – 2007: Lecturer, School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, University of Queensland
- 1997: Lecturer (part time), Department of Electrical Engineering, Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
- 1997: Electrical Engineer, Baltec Systems
- 1994 – 1997: Postgraduate Scholar, including tutoring duties, University of Queensland
- 1992 – 1993: Electronic designer / Electronics Technician, Musiclab
- 1991: Electrical Engineer / Electronics Technician, Applied Electro Systems
Personal details
Positions
- Associate Professor in Power Engineering
Faculty of Engineering,
School of Electrical Engineering & Robotics
Keywords
Multilevel converters, Photovoltaic Grid Connect Inverters, Distribution networks, dSTATCOMs, Electric Vehicles, Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
Discipline
Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Automotive Engineering
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2008
Qualifications
- PhD in Power Electronics (University of Queensland)
Professional memberships and associations
- 1999 – present: Member, Institution of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE)
- 2007 – present: Member, Engineers Australia
- 2007 – present: Australian Solar Council (formerly Australian Solar Energy Society), Qld branch president 2007, Qld branch secretary 2008 – present.
- 2009 – present: CIGRE panel AP-C6 Distribution Systems & Dispersed Generation
- 2001 – 2009: Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE)
Teaching
Current teaching responsibilities:
Courses previously taught:
During the period 2000 to 2007, I directly supervised 140 undergraduate final year Engineering thesis students in various topic areas ranging centred around power electronics, renewable energy (especially Photovoltaics) and electric vehicles. In all but two years, the median grade achieved by these students was a distinction (6).
- EGB120 Foundations of Electrical Engineering
- ENB455 Power Electronics
Courses previously taught:
- Power electronics
- Electronic circuits (3rd year BE)
- Electromechanics and Electronics (2nd year BE)
- Fundamentals of electrical engineering (2nd year BE)
- Electrical Energy Conversion and Utilisation
- Sensors and Actuators
- Energy
- Team projects I and II
- Final year thesis course co-ordination
During the period 2000 to 2007, I directly supervised 140 undergraduate final year Engineering thesis students in various topic areas ranging centred around power electronics, renewable energy (especially Photovoltaics) and electric vehicles. In all but two years, the median grade achieved by these students was a distinction (6).
Selected publications
- Walker G, Ghasemi N, Broadmeadow M, Ledwich G, (2014) A high cell count cascade full bridge converter for wide bandwidth ultrasonic transducer excitation, Proceedings of the 2014 Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition (ECCE), pp. 2140-2146.
- Walker G, Broadmeadow M, Ledwich G, (2014) A high frequency, low voltage stackable full bridge module for modular multilevel cascade converter (MMCC) research, Proceedings of the IET 7th International Conference on Power Electronics, Machines and Drives, pp. 1-5.
- Broadmeadow M, Ledwich G, Walker G, (2014) An improved gate driver for power MOSFETs using a cascode configuration, Proceedings of the IET 7th International Conference on Power Electronics, Machines and Drives, pp. 1-6.
- Broadmeadow M, Walker G, Ledwich G, (2014) Comparison of the gate drive parameter space for driving power MOSFETs using conventional and cascode configurations, Proceedings of the 2014 IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Exposition, pp. 3002-3009.
- Greaves M, Walker G, Simpson A, (2006) Vehicle energy throughput analysis as a drivetrain motor design aid, Proceedings of the 2006 Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference, pp. 1-7.
- Sernia P, Walker G, (2005) Harmonic quality of multilevel cascade inverters with random carrier phase pulse width modulation, Australian Journal of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, 2 (3), pp. 233-238.
- Walker G, Sernia P, (2004) Cascaded DC-DC converter connection of photovoltaic modules, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 19 (4), pp. 1130-1139.
- Singer B, Walker G, (2004) A Class E resonant inverter for use as electronic fluorescent lamp ballast, Proceedings of the 2004 Australasian Universities Power Engineering Conference, pp. 1-6.
- Walker G, (2003) A Class B switch-mode assisted linear amplifier, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 18 (6), pp. 1278-1285.
- Walker G, (2003) Digitally-implemented naturally sampled PWM suitable for multilevel converter control, IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics, 18 (6), pp. 1322-1329.
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Geoff, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Funding Award
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Recipient of the Google Little Box Challenge Academic Award, one of 10 awarded worldwide
Research projects
- Title
- New topologies optimised for co-located grid connected photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage systems
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- LP140100833
- Start year
- 2014
- Keywords
- Grid Connected Inverter; Battery Storage