Farouk A.M. Rizk holds a BSc Eng and an MSc from Cairo University; a PhD from the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden; and a DTech from Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
He worked as a research engineer with ASEA (ABB), Sweden, in the High Power Laboratory, Ludvika, from 1960 to 1963, and in the Computer Department, Vasteras, in 1963. He worked for the Egyptian Electricity Authority (1964-1971), becoming manager, High Voltage, in 1968. He joined the Hydro-Québec Institute of Research (IREQ) as a senior research scientist in 1972, subsequently passing from scientific director (1976) to vice president of laboratories (1986). He also held the title of fellow research scientist from 1986 to 1996.
His research work covers a wide range of topics in high voltage and high power engineering: arc dynamics in circuit breakers, polluted insulators, single-pole switching, electromagnetic shielding, compressed gas and liquid breakdown, long air gaps, and lightning attachment.
He was elected IEEE fellow in 1982 "for contributions to the science of high voltage technology and for technical leadership in the advancement of the electric power industry." He has served as chairman of the 10th International Symposium on High Voltage Engineering (ISH) in 1997 and as chairman of the ISH Steering Committee. He received prize paper awards from the IEEE Transmission and Distribution Committee in 1989, 1991, and 1995 and from the Power Engineering Society of IEEE in 1996. He was awarded the IEEE Herman Halperin Electric Transmission Award in 1996 for outstanding contributions to electric power transmission and distribution. He is a distinguished member of the International Council on Large High Voltage Electrical Systems (CIGRE) and a recipient of the CIGRE Technical Committee Award, 1997.
He made major contributions to standardization work, particularly during his tenure as international chairman of IEC Technical Committee 28: Insulation Co-ordination, 1983-1996. Under his leadership, the whole area of insulation co-ordination was revised, which led to the new standards IEC 71-1 and IEC 71-2. His efforts to promote insulation co-ordination of high-voltage DC transmission led to standardization work now undertaken by IEC TC 28.
He currently serves as president of Lightning Electrotechnologies Inc., a lightning protection equipment manufacturer, and Expodev Inc., a consulting engineering firm, both of which are in Montréal, Québec, Canada.
Giao N. Trinh received his BSc in electrical engineering in 1963 and his PhD in high voltage engineering from Laval University, Québec City, Québec, Canada, in 1969. His study of corona discharges in atmospheric air helped establish the various corona discharge modes developed at high-voltage line conductors.
He joined the Hydro-Quebec Institute of Research (IREQ), Varennes, Québec, Canada, in 1968. Until 1977, he participated in various research activities, studying the corona performance of high-voltage transmission lines up to the ultra-high-voltage level of 1,200 kV AC and ・}600 kV DC. His main contribution has been to the development of a method for evaluating the corona performance of high-voltage line conductors, based on cage-test results obtained under artificial rain conditions.
In 1978, his research activities shifted to the field of insulation of high-voltage equipment, and until 1997, he carried out studies on practical insulation systems, including the following:
- Gas insulation: He studied the influence of epoxy spacers on dielectric performance and the risk of burn-through of gas-insulated cables. He participated in the commissioning tests of the first few GIS introduced at Hydro-Québec in the Montréal region in the late 1970s.
- Power transformers: He studied the breakdown of large oil volumes, which clearly established the important role of particle contamination with regard to the withstand capability of transformer insulation.
- High-voltage cables: He participated in a study group on the feasibility of a river crossing for Hydro-Québec's 500 kV dc line at Grondines and participated in the testing of the type cable selected for the project.
He holds two patents and is the author or coauthor of over 80 technical papers in the areas of corona and partial-discharge phenomena; liquid, solid, and gaseous insulation; high-voltage testing; and power equipment insulation. His main contribution has been in the field of gas-insulated cables, where his work on the assessment of the risk of burn-through of gas-insulated cables earned him the 1993 prize paper award from the Substation Committee.
He was elected fellow of the IEEE in 1997 for his "contribution to understanding of dielectric and arc phenomena in gas insulated cables." He is a member of the Power Engineers Society (PES), where he participates in the activities of PES-nsulated Conductors and PES Substation Committees, and of the Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS), where he has served as secretary of DEIS-dCom from 1993 to 1994 and as chairman of the DEIS Statistics Committee from 1995 to 1997. From 1976 to 2002, he served as an invited professor at Ecole Polytechnique de Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada, where he taught a graduate course on high voltage engineering. He currently serves as a consultant in high voltage engineering.
