
Abigail Field – APEX People's Choice Award
Abigail is an engineer at ElectroNet and former EEA University Scholarship winner. She won the 2024 APEX People’s Choice Award for her presentation ‘Hybrid solar and BESS plants – to DC or not DC’.
You can view Abigail’s presentation here along with all other APEX presentations
Abigail’s work primarily focuses on New Zealand and Australian Grid Connection and Model Validation studies. She has modelling experience with a range of generation types, such as inverter-based energy systems, and geothermal and hydro-power plants. Abigail has been involved in the power industry since graduating from the University of Canterbury in 2022. Abigail completed a minor in Power Systems Engineering alongside her degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.
In 2022 whilst at Canterbury University, Abigail won an EEA Scholarship. She told us the following about herself
How would you introduce yourself in one sentence?
I’m a Canterbury local studying at the University of Canterbury who enjoys dancing, reading books, and doing escape rooms.
Why did you choose to study electrical engineering?
I have always wanted to contribute to those in my community as well as be challenged with the work I do. I feel that engineering allows me to be a part of the development of my community, whether that be local or New Zealand wide. Of course, as the needs of those around us changes, how and what we need to deliver changes. Therefore, with a career in engineering, I know I will be continually learning and challenged.
I am specifically interested in power engineering because I feel this is the pinnacle of both the aforementioned reasons. As New Zealand aims for carbon neutrality and those around us move to electrical alternatives, the New Zealand power industry has a huge amount of development required in the coming future.
In which projects have you been involved in and outside of university?
Something I have been involved with throughout university is the ENG ME! mentoring programme. This programme offers peer mentoring to all first-year students (over 1000!) in engineering at Canterbury. I have been a mentor myself, and for the last two years, I have been involved with organising and running the entire programme.
I have also been involved with the UC IEEE student branch, of which I have been sponsorship coordinator and am the vice-chairperson of in 2022. We bring industry connection, academic improvement opportunities, and social events to the students in electrical engineering.
In terms of academic projects, my final year project looks at using a computer vision system to take the role of a supervising physiotherapist when performing rehabilitative exercises at home. The device will prevent injuries and lessen recovery time during pre- and post-operative care.
How would you like to contribute to the electricity supply industry in the future?
In 2023 I will be working as a graduate engineer in the New Zealand power industry. As an EPECentre scholar for the past 4 years, this has been a goal of mine since I began studying. I have been able to see how New Zealand’s energy usage is changing, as we move towards more renewable alternatives and thus increase our electricity demand. EV’s are a prime example of this, but bring their own challenges and interesting use cases. I also have seen how the outlook of young people on electricity has changed, as the percentage of young people who identify as being concerned about climate change and fossil fuel usage has increased.
I want to be a part of the New Zealand electricity supply industry to help solve the challenges that come with increased energy usage and the shift in attitude towards renewable energy.
What is the most important piece of advice you would give to high school students wanting to start a degree in engineering? And to university students wanting to specialise in power engineering?
If I could impart any advice to those looking to study engineering, specifically electrical engineering, it would be not to let anything intimidate you. If engineering seems too daunting, or you think you can’t do it, I promise you can. Before I began electrical engineering, I had never soldered or built a PCB or performed power-flow calculations or programmed in C, but this never hindered my progress. Electrical engineering may seem foreign, but there is so much support available, so if you’re interested you will absolutely be able to do it.