Benjamin Küchler l Photo: © Carla Schmidt

Benjamin Küchler is this year’s winner of the HIGHVOLT Award for the best final thesis. The graduate of Electrical Energy Systems at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences wrote his thesis on “Analyzing fault records to evaluate disturbances in electrical power supply systems”.

“Evaluating recorded data to assess faults in transmission and distribution grids is a key requirement for reliable operation. Suitable tools, which allow both access to comprehensive data quantities and also offer evaluation algorithms, are essential,” explains Benjamin Küchler.

As part of his final thesis, the engineer developed software to evaluate significant volumes of data simply and conveniently. The program cannot only be used for fault records of all protective devices (COMRADE format), but also for time series of any format. That makes the application particularly interesting for grid operators.

Benjamin Küchler currently works as a research associate at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Science. His research interests are new concepts for operating distribution grids. This involves integration of renewable generation systems in electricity supply grids and the resulting grid structure requirements.

Thomas Steiner, Technical Director at HIGHVOLT, presented the award on 13 April during the Graduate Colloquium of the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Science.

The HIGHVOLT Award, with prize money of € 1,000, is awarded annually. It recognizes final theses in electrical engineering that demonstrate outstanding dedication and lead to practically relevant results and findings.