Instructors
Alister Anderson
Alister is based in rural South Canterbury, New Zealand and has had a long career in Engineering and Education. He has been widely involved in the Civil Engineering Industry from contract and project management, civil structural and geotechnical consultancy and education as a secondary school mathematics teacher.
As a tertiary lecturer and academic programme leader he has worked with Engineering Degrees and Diplomas in New Zealand and more recently had a 2-year contract with the Cook Islands Ministry of Education were he was Head of Faculty in Trades Training.
He is a member of the New Zealand Institute of Professional Engineers (GIPENZ) and is actively involved with the South Canterbury branch of IPENZ.
Alister gained his initial qualifications of NZ Certificate in Engineering by part time study at night classes and distance learning which has given him an empathy with students juggling work, family and study commitments. He gained a Diploma of Teaching and became a secondary school mathematics teacher before continuing his Engineering qualifications at Canterbury University completing his BE (Hons) in 1999.
He is a keen and early adapter for developing new technologies in Engineering Education. As Academic Programme Leader at NZIHT he led initiatives to investigate, explore and develop technologies for online support and learning with the blended distant learning model. As Head of Faculty at Cook Islands Tertiary Training Institute he led initiatives to support education in remote Pacific islands via the internet.
Alister co-authored a paper “Tailoring Academic Programme Delivery to Industry Needs in Engineering” which was presented by the papers principal author A Morkel at the European Academic Conference Rome, Italy in 2012.
Professor Akhtar Kalam
Professor Akhtar Kalam is the head of EIT's Academic Board. He has been at Victoria University in Melbourne since 1985 and was formerly Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Health, Engineering and Science for 7 years. He is currently the Head of External Engagement in the College of Engineering and Science. He is also the Editor in Chief of the Australian Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. More than 40 PhD students have graduated under his supervision.
He has wide experience in educational institutions and industry across four continents. He received his B.Sc. and B.Sc. Engineering from Calcutta University and Aligarh Muslim University, India in 1969 and 1973 respectively. He completed his MS and Ph.D. at the University of Oklahoma, USA and the University of Bath, UK in 1975 and 1981 respectively. He has worked with Ingersoll Rand and other electrical manufacturers. He has held concurrent appointment as Distinguished Professor at the University of New South Wales – Sydney, Australia; MRS Punjab Technical University – Bhatinda, India; Crescent University – Chennai, India; VIT – Vellore, India and 5 Malaysian universities.
He is regularly invited to deliver lectures, work on industrial projects and examine external thesis overseas. His major areas of interests are power system analysis, communication, control, protection, renewable energy, smart grid, IEC61850 implementation and cogeneration systems. He has been actively engaged in the teaching of Energy Systems to undergraduates, postgraduates and providing professional courses to the industry both in Australia and overseas. He regularly offers Continuing Professional Development and Master Class courses on Power System Protection, Renewable Energy, IEC61850, Cogeneration & Gas Turbine Operation and PBL in engineering education to practicing engineers, the Energy Supply Association of Australia (ESAA) and Australian Power Institute (API). He also runs postgraduate distance education program on Power System Protection for the ESAA. He has conducted research, provided industrial consultancy and published over four hundred and seventy publications on his area of expertise and written over 29 books in the area. He provides consultancy for major electrical utilities, manufacturers and other industry bodies in his field of expertise. Professor Kalam is a Fellow of EA, IET, AIE, a member of IEEE and CIGRE AP B5.