Speaker Name: Deepa Shaji Kumar

Title
Finding My Place in the Energy Transition: An Engineer’s Journey Through Mainframes, Power Systems, Digitalisation and Innovation – and Why the Next Generation of Women Entering Energy May Have More Opportunities Than Ever Before

Abstract
I would like to touch upon - What does a career in the energy sector actually look like and do you need to have it all planned when you graduate? I will aim to share my journey from starting out as a developer in IBM Mainframes and moving to electrical engineering career working on high-voltage substations in a different country/regulated industry to building a career spanning power-system operations, research, digital substations, innovation and technical specialism in the UK.

Rather than presenting a perfect career roadmap, I will talk about the opportunities, changes in direction, challenges and decisions that shaped my journey, including moving countries, moving between industry and research, developing expertise in emerging technologies, and progressing from delivering engineering projects to influencing how future digital substations are designed and standardised. I will also explore what it means to build a career as a woman in a traditionally male- dominated engineering sector, the importance of technical confidence, mentors, professional networks and lifelong learning, and some of the lessons I wish I had known when I graduated.

Finally, I will look ahead at how the energy transition is changing engineering itself. As electricity networks become increasingly digital, automated and software-enabled, future engineers will work at the intersection of power systems, data, communications, cybersecurity and emerging technologies. For graduate students entering the profession today, this creates an opportunity not simply to join the energy industry, but to help redefine it.

Biography:

Biography:

I am a power systems engineer, a technical specialist with extensive experience spanning electricity networks – transmission & distribution, digitalisation, innovation and applied research. My areas of expertise include IEC 61850 digital substations, protection and automation, operational technology, power system analysis, active network management and the integration of low-carbon technologies. I have contributed to pioneering digitalisation initiatives, including virtualised substation technology, flexible network management, and IEC 61850-based automation and remote operation of high-voltage substations.

A Chartered Engineer, holding a PhD in Power System Engineering, am a Senior Member of IEEE and Member of the IET, and am actively involved in CIGRE activities and professional working groups as well. I represent UK on CIGRE Working Group B5.88, contributing to international guidance for fully digital IEC 61850-based protection, automation and control systems. I am a recipient of the Transmission Leadership Award (2024) from SSEN Transmission, IEEE PES Chapter Outstanding Engineer Award (2020), POWERGRID Innovator Award (2020), as well as a Chairman/CEO Letter of Appreciation for commissioning a first IEC 61850 remote-operated substation in 2011. My work focuses on bridging engineering innovation with practical network implementation to help build resilient, flexible and future-ready electricity systems that enable the transition to Net Zero.

Speaker name: Dr Priya Bhagavathy

Title

Systems Over Silos: Leading Power in a Whole-Systems World

Abstract

Power systems have never been more interconnected, nor more fragmented. Grids, heat, transport, and AI workloads are evolving in parallel, yet the institutions that shape them still operate in silos. In this keynote, Dr Priya Bhagavathy argues that the defining leadership challenge of the energy transition is not any single technology, but the ability to think and act across the whole system.

Drawing on two decades in power systems, national policy and commercial scale-up, she shares how whole-systems thinking shaped her career, from securing consensus across eight national utility licensees to building the UK's first whole- energy-system simulation platforms, and offers practical lessons for leading, innovating and growing in the power sector.

Biography:

Dr Priya Bhagavathy CEng is an Oxford Martin Fellow and senior energy leader with two decades spanning power systems, national policy, and commercial scale-up. As R&D Team Leader at the Power Networks Demonstration Centre, University of Strathclyde, she directs a multi-million portfolio across 30+ industry partners and created the Whole Energy System Accelerator (WESA), a globally unique multi-vector simulation environment with the Energy Systems Catapult. Her work spans whole energy systems, heat, and hydrogen. At Oxford, she designed the evaluation framework for a £500M national smart energy portfolio for DESNZ. She co-founded VIDAI, building sovereign AI infrastructure for regulated sectors, and serves on the EPSRC Clean Energy Strategic Advisory Team. Recipient of the IET Innovation Award (2023), she is a Senior Member of IEEE and active in CIGRE UK technical panels.