Alan is the Head of Department for Electrical and Electronic Engineering in the School of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment. He spent the first part of his career in the avionics industry. This industry background and his research in Energy Asset Management is reflected in the range of consultancy he has undertaken since he joined GCU in 1992 and in his excellence in technical and project management of research and development contracts with industrial partners. His research interests are currently on the characterisation of failure modes of insulation systems to allow fault recognition and failure prediction and the development and application of sensor systems and platforms for the detection and measurement of partial discharge phenomena both for specific plant items and substation wide. As well as conducting research work with fellow research group members on condition based assessment of HV apparatus, Alan Nesbitt has undertaken consultancies and knowledge transfer activities for a range of blue chip businesses and SMEs. Specifically he has engaged with the Business Transformation Fund (University/Scottish Enterprise collaboration) to allow SMEs access to R&D resources and technical expertise. This experience has provided significant opportunities to liaise with industry and gaining an understanding of the business environment under which SMEs operate. Together with Prof. Scott McMeekin and Prof. Stewart he has been the recipient of Proof of Concept awards from Scottish Enterprise focusing on the development and application of a technology platform for the detection and measurement of discharge phenomena within HV apparatus for the energy sector. From 2000 to the present day he has been a principal and co-investigator on initiatives to the value of £3.5 million. He has published widely and is a named originator of the intellectual property generated, resulting in the award of one patent and one further patent under consideration. Alan Nesbitt is currently the Subject Area Leader for the academic discipline of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and is responsible for providing strategic leadership to academic staff in delivering undergraduate and post-graduate taught programmes in the cognate area.
