Berkshire Committee Profiles
Dr. Syed Ahmed CEng MIEEE MIET
Syed did his PhD in Power Systems Planning and economics from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST). Shortly after his degree he joined UMIST as a post doctoral Research Associate in the Electrical Energy and Power Systems Group at UMIST. There he worked on European funded research projects on the pricing of embedded generation on distribution systems. He also worked as consultant for National Power and Power Gen on determining the value of Reactive Power services. Since 2001 he is working at National Grid on different areas ranging from short term operational planning to long term power system design.
From academia to industry his experience includes as a power system strategy developer, preparation of project proposals (scheme/strategy papers), developer of functional specifications for transmission packages, lead designer of high voltage (HV) generation & demand connections, HV asset replacement and reinforcement and expert support to operational planners.
Syed has several publications on the peer reviewed IET and IEEE, USA journal. He is a Chartered Electrical Engineer and the member of the IET. Syed became a member of the IET Berkshire Local Network since late 2006. He is serving the local network as Publicity officer since then.
Steve Angell MIET
Steve left UMIST with an Electronics Degree and worked at Ferranti and then Modcom on computers for control systems, he then joined Telematics, then Stratacom and finally Cisco Systems in the telecommunications industry. He has worked in various parts of this market from support, system design, training, marketing, program development and finally business development.
He has a Certified Diploma in Accounting and finance from the Certified Accountants, is a member of the Royal Archaeological Institute, Volunteer with RNIB, Local Village Hall Chairman, member of an Archery club and many more activities. In the IET he has an interest in mentoring and helping others.
Tony Brown CEng MIET
Now an independent IT consultant, Tony has specialised in data and Internet communications for the last ten years. Since graduating from the University of Reading with a degree in electronic engineering, he has worked on projects for a number of companies including the Prudential, Cable & Wireless, Digital Island, Logicalis and O2. Recently he worked as the network designer for the BBC iPlayer service.
Tony has been a member of the IET for fourteen years and a chartered engineer for five. He is keen to promote business and entrepreneurial skills within the engineering community.
Preetam Heeramun MIET
Preetam is originally from the tropical island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean. He currently works as an applications software engineer within the European R&D offices of the Japanese company NEC in Reading.
He is the current Chairman of the IET Berkshire Network committee. He joined the committee in October 2003 when he moved to Berkshire and volunteered as a committee member and then treasurer until his was appointed in his current role in January 2007. He has also been part of the IET Surrey Younger Members committee before 2003 during his studies at the University of Surrey for a BEng in Electronic and Electrical Engineering.
However, it is not all WORK and no PLAY. Preetam enjoys cycling, badminton and football on a regular basis. He is currently learning Japanese and is very enthusiastic to share knowledge, experiences and discuss ideas with others to shape an even better future together!
Liz Ince MIET
After leaving the University of Birmingham with a degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, Liz Ince joined IBM, where she is still employed today. Liz has held a variety of roles within IBM, including several years in Sales and she is currently a Software Architect working for IBM's Software Group. As the lead architect for Retail Systems, Liz has helped many of the UKs leading high-street names implement new IT systems,
Liz is also involved in promoting computing and engineering as a career and is especially keen to raise the profile of women in the industry.
David Lenaghan MIET
David graduated from Manchester University with a degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering. Shortly after his degree he joined the National Grid company as a Graduate trainee. He worked in many of the locations and performed roles involving demand forecasting, power system planning, software development and financial analysis.
David has been a keen member of the IET Berkshire Local Network since 2001. He started with the younger members and worked his way up to the position of Chairman there. He was then given the opportunity to move to the Senior committee and performed the role of Chairman for 3 years. David is now the Regional Representative for Thames and Chiltern. This new role involves sharing best practice between local networks and co-ordinating efforts towards setting up regional events.
Kevin Lewis CEng MIET MIMechE
Kevin is a Procurement Manager for BT specialising in electronic products and services. Since Graduating from the University of the West of England with a B.Sc. degree in Technology Management, Kevin has worked in the UK and Australia for a number of companies including: ICI, BHP(Australia), GEC Marconi, AWA(Australia), Amstrad and BT. His current role involves supplier management and procurement of BT Trading Systems products mainly used in stock-market dealing rooms/ banks ie bespoke, secure, resilient telephony/ IT systems.
Kevin has been an IET member for 20 years and Chartered for 4 years.
Jocelyn Lomer CEng MIET
Jocelyn is currently the majority owner and M.D. of datacom a specialised audio, video and web systems integrator and consultancy.The company was founded in 2000 and has steadily built its position to be one of the leading players in the national market. datacom’s customer include many household names. datacom’s current interest is the broadening of its audio video and web services to its corporate client base through a deeper understanding of human communication and organisational change as well as ongoing service support.
Prior to starting datacom Jocelyn has had ten years experience in telecommunications in the offshore oil exploration industry and a further ten years in Mercury/Cable & Wireless and Esprit/GTS as a Senior Product Manager.
Jocelyn is a Chartered Engineer a member of the IET and also holds an Henley MBA.
Dr. Ben Potter MIET
Ben received his MEng degree in Engineering Science from the University of Oxford in 2001. After a short research post in Portugal, working on superconducting reluctance motors, he commenced a PhD at the University of Reading concerning the modelling of induction machines. Ben completed his PhD at the end of 2007.
Between 2005 and 2007, Ben worked as a KTP Associate on a joint research project between Moog Components Group and the University of Reading, studying methods of contactless power transfer. Since October 2007, Ben has taken on the role of Research and Development Manager at Moog Components Group. His technical interests include power electronics, magnetics design, and high-speed data transmission.
Ben first joined the IET as a student member in 2000, and has been a full member since 2002. He is currently working towards becoming a chartered engineer.
Simon Roberts
Chris Rogers MIET
Chris works as a Demand Forecaster for the National Grid. He joined the CEGB (Central Electricity Generating Board) as it was then, on 1st January 1980 at the research lab in Leatherhead, measuring pollution. Acid rain was the big issue at the time and some amazing and innovative technologies were being used. His interest in the weather really started at Leatherhead when he was tracking pollution over the North Sea.
He now works at the National Grid Control Centre in Berkshire. His team provides forecasts to operate and balance the transmission system as well as facilitate the market by providing information onto the Internet.
Chris is an active member of the Berkshire IET committee and has assisted with the organisation of several recent events, including a trip to the National Grid Control Centre and visit to the REME Museum of Technology.
Dr. Abhaya Sumanasena CEng MIEEE MIET
Dr. Abhaya Sumanasena is currently working as a Principal Engineer in Ericsson Services Limited, UK. Prior to Ericsson, he was working in the Radio Design team in Hutchison 3UK, the first mobile operator dedicated to 3G services in the UK. Before joining 3UK, Abhaya worked as a Researcher at Mitsubishi Electric research laboratory where he conducted research work for beyond 3G systems. During that period he also represented the company at IEEE standardisation meetings and European Union project consortiums.
After obtaining his MSc in Radio & Communications Engineering at King's College London, Abhaya completed his Ph.D. in "Adaptive Physical layer for 3rd Generation Mobile Satellite Systems" from University of Surrey, Guildford. He has published 12 papers in international journals/major international conferences and obtained two patent rights. While pursuing his PhD, he won a special award for Research Excellence from Inmarsat. After his PhD, Abhaya has served as a Post Doctoral Research Fellow in CCSR, at University of Surrey.
Abhaya is also the recipient of the Full Bright scholarship and Commonwealth scholarships. At a very early stage during his academic career he has been recognized for his design skills by winning "Junior Inventor of the year award" twice in Sri Lanka and the best award for Electronics design twice in India. Abhaya has evaluated number of IET and IEEE papers in the area of mobile communications. His industry knowledge and expertise crosses a broad range of technologies, including 3G, Satellite, HSDPA, WiMAX and DVB.
Abhaya has been involved in IET committee activities for about 8 years. After serving as the Chairman of the IET Surrey YMC, he joined Berkshire area local network where he currently serves as the vice chairman.
Dr. John Walker CPhys MIET
Following a PhD at Reading University and a postdoctoral Fellowship in solid-state physics at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris John joined Racal (now Thales) as a Technical Manager in 1980. He led the company into the Government-funded DIRECTS Road Pricing demonstration project, and was an Expert Advisor to Transport for London in their Congestion Charging technology trials.
John is on the Executive Committee of the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Automotive and Road Transport Technical and Professional Network, for whom he has organised five international seminars on Road Pricing. He is the editor of two books: “Mobile Information Systems” (1990) and “Advances in Mobile Information Systems” (1998), and of two book Series, “ITS” and “Mobile Communications”, published by Artech House. His current role within Thales is business development in the road-pricing field, working closely with other Thales companies in the UK and France.
Stephen Warland CEng FIET FCIBSE
Stephen is Technical Director, Jacobs Engineering, Reading. He is an electrical engineer with extensive international experience of power generation and distribution, uninterruptible power supplies, power system analysis, petrochemical, industrial engineering and building services design.
Stephen is the author of a number of technical papers, which have included "Combined Heat and Power Systems for Lloyds Bank" and "Reliable Power Supplies for Pharmaceutical Facilities". Stephen is a Member of the IET Power Conversion and Applications Professional Networks Executive and a former Chairman of IEE Professional Group P4 - Industrial Applications & Processes.