Student Highlights
Research experience sparks a career arc

Born in the UK, Finlay grew up in Newcastle with a passion for team sports, solving problems, and an interest in math.

“Growing up I always enjoyed solving problems and throughout high school I was very strong at math and physics. So, I figured those skills would be beneficial and a good fit for an engineer,” he said.

Now in his third year of a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Honours), Finlay has already achieved amazing things in the electrical engineering field.

He recently presented his research project at the Mine Electrical Safety Conference in Brisbane. Finlay started the project while on industrial experience with Hunter-based industrial research agency ResTech.

“Over the summer, I completed 10 weeks of my industrial experience at ResTech. During this time, I worked on a project, ‘Quantifying the Properties of Electric Arcs’, which was proposed by principal engineer at ResTech, Peter Stepien,” he said.

“During this project, under his supervision I designed and built a test apparatus to simulate an electric arc produced during an earth fault in a low voltage earth fault limited power system.

“After the 10-week placement, I continued working at ResTech two days a week where I have remained working on this project. Using the test apparatus I developed during this project, I gathered many interesting results, so I submitted an abstract to present at the Mine Electrical Safety Conference in Brisbane.”

Reflecting on this experience, Finlay describes the opportunity as a fantastic experience to get out of his comfort zone and network with leaders in the industry.

“Presenting at this conference has made me excited to continue my research and keen to present at future conferences throughout my professional career,” he said.

Finlay’s research through ResTech has given him a new perspective on his degree and highlighted how applicable his study can be to his career.

“My research has given me the practical background which has helped me understand theoretical topics. Additionally, working at ResTech has given me a practical application where I can apply my university knowledge into real projects and research,” he said.

Finlay’s work aims to understand the behaviour of low energy arcing. His research project involved measuring the arc voltage and current to mitigate risk of igniting methane in an undergound coal mine.

“To determine how easily these arcs could ignite methane, the properties of the arc must be measured. To achieve this, at ResTech, I developed a test apparatus to simulate an arcing earth fault in a 415 V earth fault limited power system. Using this apparatus, the arc voltage and current were measured to calculate the energy dissipated by the arc,” he said.

Ensuring he creates a health balance between work, study and life, Finlay regularly attends the gym and plays soccer and basketball with his mates.

“Balancing my work and study has been difficult. I am very competitive and self-driven to succeed in everything I do, but I have tried to make it a priority to ensure work and study do not affect my life outside of work,” he said.

Hoping to have significant impact on the industry and continue to learn. Finlay hopes to further develop his skills and one day work overseas and work on promoting electrical safety to others.

“I want to do real work that is important to the industry. I see myself continuing work in power systems but would like to expand my repertoire and gain experience in all aspects of electrical engineering,” he said.

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Finlay Barnett

In his third year of a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (Honours), Finlay’s research has achieved great things.

My research has given me the practical background which has helped me understand theoretical topics. Additionally, working at ResTech has given me a practical application where I can apply my university knowledge into real projects and research.