2007 June
IET Victoria News
June 2007
IEEE Victorian Section Event
SATELLITE GROUND STATIONS FOR REMOTE SENSING
This is a joint presentation of the Electrical and Electronics Engineering VIC (EEEVIC) group
Date: Monday, 18 June 2007
Time: 6.00 pm refreshments for 6.30 pm lecture
Venue: John Connell Auditorium, Engineering House, 21 Bedford Street, North Melbourne
Presenter: Gary Quinn, Environmental Systems and Services Pty Ltd
Details
This talk describes the design and development of a series of satellite ground stations designed and built by an Australian company based in Melbourne. From an original research antenna developed by the CSIRO, ES&S have developed a family of antennas systems covering the complete range of meteorological and remote sensing spacecraft, including the latest X-band satellites. The talk covers many aspects of satellite reception, with particular emphasis on the demodulation hardware, tracking antenna design, signal processing and image processing software. Also mentioned are interesting aspects of the process of turning research projects into successful commercial products. Examples are shown of the various systems installed in locations including Hong Kong, Malaysia, New Zealand, Bangladesh and Antarctica.
The Speaker
Gary Quinn’s first degree was in Physics and Mathematics, but a long time interest in electronics and communications encouraged him to pursue a post-graduate engineering degree. This science/engineering combination was just the right preparation for a career in sensor development and remote sensing in a range of industries. He first worked for several years in the petroleum industry, developing flow monitoring equipment, flow sensors and intrinsic safe controllers for high speed delivery of fuel. The company he worked for grew from 8 people to nearly 100 in five years, but a preference for smaller companies saw him move to a smaller firm to develop oxygen and carbon dioxide sensors for the fruit industry. This was followed by two years contract design work for the CSIRO on airborne atmospheric sensors. While at CSIRO, Gary also helped develop a new generation of satellite groundstation equipment, which was so successful that he was offered work in a communications firm to commercialise his research work. Gary continues to work in the remote sensing industry, both as a designer and project manager, developing new satellite reception systems which have been exported to many countries in the Asian region.
Network 2007 Industry Night
The Network industry dinner was held again this year in late April. This event brought together sixty undergraduate students with the same number of representatives from companies in various engineering industries. The students were from all of the major Victorian universities, studying mostly the mechatronics and electrical engineering disciplines, while the companies represented were from the power, defence, aerospace, building services and automotive industries.
After arriving at the Melbourne Olympic Park Function Centre students visited the attending companies at their booths in a careers expo type environment. This gave them the chance to find out about the graduate and vacation work opportunities in each company. Students and industry representatives then sat down to a delicious three course meal while chatting to the people on their table and learning more about the industry.
During dinner Ragu Balanathan from IET Victoria spoke of the benefits of becoming a Chartered Engineer. Also from IET Victoria, Reuben Medding and Alistair Spratt talked of the success of the Australian Technical Presentation Prizes last year. Phillip Bryant, from the major sponsor, SP AusNet, gave a great keynote speech about the role of graduates in the future of the power industry.
Altogether the night was a huge success with lots of positive feedback from both students and industry representatives. It was a great opportunity for students to learn more about the people and careers in the engineering industry, and for the companies to learn more about the up and coming talent. We would like to thank all of our sponsors and the many capable volunteers within the IET who made the night a fantastic one for all. With the success of the event this year and last year we are looking forward to another great night next year with Network 2008.
Calum Sutherland