The Relay That Refused to See a Short

Emeritus Professor Akhtar Kalam’s Electrifying Mysteries

This webinar series provides a structured examination of real-world engineering challenges. Each session will address specific, technically focused topics relevant to professional engineers.

Webinar details

Protection relays are engineered to detect and isolate faults within milliseconds, but real-world systems don’t always behave as expected. This webinar explores a compelling case where a genuine short circuit occurred, yet the relay failed to operate. From this failure, we uncover deeper technical issues, including CT saturation, incorrect relay settings, wiring polarity errors, and distorted fault waveforms.

Participants will be guided through a structured forensic analysis of the incident, using disturbance records, a review of protection logic, and system modelling. This session is designed to bridge the gap between theoretical protection design and field realities, equipping engineers with the skills to diagnose and prevent similar failures.

• The webinar will be recorded and will be sent out to registered attendees afterwards.
• A certificate of attendance will be provided to attendees who request one near the end of the live webinar session.
• Please note: the time stated on this event is in UTC. You will need to convert this to your own time zone.

Key takeaways from this webinar

• Understand how CT saturation and signal distortion can prevent fault detection
•  Identify critical relay setting and coordination errors
•  Analyze fault records and disturbance data effectively
• Apply a systematic approach to diagnosing protection failures

Related courses

This webinar/topic relates to our school of Electrical Engineering and is particularly found in the following courses:

• 52888WA Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering (Power Industry)
• 52892WA Advanced Diploma of Electrical and Instrumentation (E&I) Engineering in Mining
• 52883WA Advanced Diploma of Applied Electrical Engineering (Electrical Systems)
• Professional Certificate of Competency in Power Distribution
• Professional Certificate of Competency in Electrical Wiring Standards: AS/NZS 3000:2018 (Australia and New Zealand Only)
• Professional Certificate of Competency in Hazardous Areas and Intrinsic Safety For Engineers and Technicians
• Online – Bachelor of Science (Electrical Engineering)
• Master of Engineering (Electrical Systems)

To learn more about tuition fees, please click here.

About the presenter

Emeritus Professor Akhtar Kalam

BSc, BScEng, MS, PhD, FIET, CEng, FAIE, FIEAust, CPEng, NER, APEC Engineer, IntPE(Aus), PEV, MCIGRE, Life Senior Member of IEEE.

Professor Akhtar Kalam is a supervisor of EIT’s Doctoral students. He has worked at Victoria University since 1984 and recently associated with the Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities. He is the Editor in Chief of Australian Journal of Electrical & Electronics Engineering. Further, he has Distinguished Professorship position in many national and international institutions. He has been recognized internationally and nationally for his research. He is regularly invited to deliver lectures, work on industrial projects, and examine external theses overseas. Professor Kalam is a registered Professional Engineer in the state of Victoria (PEV), Fellow of EA, IET, AIE, a life Senior Member of IEEE, NER, APEC Engineer, IntPE (Aus) and a member of CIGRE AP B5 Study Committee.