No abstract

No abstract

Integrating sustainability into an undergraduate engineering program at the University of Technology, Sydney has been a challenging project. The authors of this paper have been participant observers of the integration process. In this paper, they have attempted an analysis of that process, focussing on the dynamics of the network of people and interests, which have shaped the process. Actor network theory was used to provide an analytical framework for the analysis. The interests and experiences of the authors in the process necessarily influence the analysis. All three authors have been active in positioning sustainability as a central theme for the critique and practice of engineering. Paul Bryce and Stephen Johnston have had long-standing involvement in technology transfer projects in development. Both have published on engineering as a social activity, critiquing the undue emphasis in engineering education on engineering science, at the expense of attention to engineering practice. Their experience and scholarship have given credibility to their efforts in the faculty to press for a new paradigm of engineering practice. Keiko Yasukawa is an educational developer in the faculty who has been working with staff and students to help them reflect on their idea of what engineering is about in their teaching and learning. She has taken a leading role in shaping the new curriculum.

No abstract

No abstract

Extensive field experience in micro-hydroelectric systems in remote rural communities demonstrates that the use of a typical Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR), as supplied with a brushless self exciting synchronous alternator, can be the cause of unsatisfactory system performance. This paper presents results from experiments undertaken on a full scale micro-hydroelectric test rig as well as system modelling with PSCAD. The source of the instability is considered to stem from the similar time constants of the ballast load frequency controller and the AVR as two competing feedback control systems. System modelling is used to verify steady state operating points, and confirms that the under frequency roll-off (UFRO) characteristic of the AVR also contributes to unsatisfactory performance.

Degree course syllabus' have traditionally been decided by knowledge-based aims, to include underlying scientific concepts and current practice within specialities. General aims are not so easily accommodated. This paper describes an attempt to specifically fulfil more general aims through community-oriented individual projects, with particular reference to a small-scale hydroelectric scheme.