Power meetings

Power players: Delegates at the ICPSOP conference, hosted in January by the Department of Electrical Engineering.

With power cuts early this year, it seemed appropriate to find the Department of Electrical Engineering hosting two conferences in January, both in the field of power engineering.

The first, the International Conference on Power System Operation and Planning, was hosted with Howard University in Washington DC and the US National Science Foundation. It was opened by Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Cheryl de la Rey and offered engineering professionals a platform to share knowledge and experience.

The second, the Southern African Universities Power Engineering Conference, was aimed at the region's students, providing an opportunity to share their research with peers, discuss feedback and soak up new knowledge.

All in all, the conferences highlighted the importance of well-qualified power engineers in a developing economy like South Africa's, and showcased the UCT electrical engineering department's role in this education.

And with power on our minds, who's taking a flier at the location of the new nuclear plant, announced by Trade and Industry Minister Alec Irwin this week?