Er. Professor Lock Kai Sang

Electric motor driven systems (MDS) account for over 50% electricity consumption globally. Achieving optimal energy efficiency in MDS is an important engineering contribution to SDGs (sustainable development goals). However, MDS can be inefficient and costly to operate if they are not properly designed and integrated to match the operational requirements. Cost-effective design, operation, and maintenance of a MDS requires attention not just to individual piece of equipment but to the total system performance which necessitates an analysis of the interaction of both the supply and demand sides, including the associated power electronics and control technologies.

The speaker shall share his insight on energy-efficient applications of MDS and the pitfalls to avoid, citing authentic examples from his consulting experience.

Biography:

Professor Lock has a unique blend of practicing and academic experience acquired through a career which is equally split between the industry and the academia. He received his B.Sc. (1st Class Honours) in Electrical and Electronics Engineering in 1975 from the University of Strathclyde, UK. He completed his Ph.D. degree at the same university in 1979 researching on the design optimization of electrical machines. He joined the National University of Singapore as a lecturer in 1980 and was the Head of its Power and Machines Division, Department of Electrical Engineering, when he left in 1997 to set up his consulting practice. He has authored over 250 consultancy reports, mainly in power quality and reliability, lightning and surge protection, EMC, failure analysis, and design for mission-critical facility. He has conducted many trouble-shooting and failure investigation of motors and VFDs, including MW thruster drives for oil rigs and ice-breaker. He has been active in dispute resolution as an expert witness, mediator, adjudicator and arbitrator.

He returned to the academia in 2016 as a Professor (Engineering) at Singapore Institute of Technology. He is an Emeritus President and Honorary Fellow of the Institution of Engineers, Singapore. He served as a Board Member of the Professional Engineers Board, Singapore for 14 years. He is well-versed with standards and codes of practice and was the Chairman of Singapore Standards Council for 6 years, actively contributing to the promotion and establishment of Standards and Codes of Practice in Singapore. He plays an active role in energy efficiency, being the Chairman of Accreditation Committee for Energy Service Companies (ESCOs) and the Co-Chair of Steering Committee of Singapore Certified Energy Managers (SCEM) Scheme. He received the Public Service Medal (2015) and the Public Service Star (2020). He was conferred the Outstanding Power Engineer Award by the IEEE Power Engineering Chapter in 1998. He is a Fellow of Academy of Engineering, Singapore, Senior Fellow of ASEAN Academy of Engineering and Technology and Honorary Fellow of ASEAN Federation of Engineering Organizations.

He is the co-author of a book “Grounds for Grounding: a Circuit-to-System Handbook” published by IEEE/John Wiley in 2010.