Conference Program


DTEC 2026 Overview

Tue 19 MayTutorial 1 – Earthing Fundamentals
Tutorial 2 – Safety Criteria
Newcastle Engineering Heritage Walk
Welcome and Registration
Wed 20 MayPapers and Presentations Day 1
Conference Dinner
Thu 21 MayPapers and Presentations Day 2

19 May


Day 1 will commence at 1pm with two parallel tutorial streams:

There is also the option to register for our Engineers Australia Heritage Walk which will take place between the tutorials and welcome reception.

Tutorial and heritage walk spaces are limited! Register now to secure your place.

At 5:30pm the Welcome Reception will commence where delegates can meet and explore the exhibition.

20-21 May


We have a full 2 day program of technical conference presentations, many with supporting peer reviewed technical papers.

Please note that the detailed schedule may be subject to change.

Interactive Schedule

19/05/2026
20/05/2026
21/05/2026

13:00-
15:30

Tutorial Stream 1

Newcastle Room (Ground Floor)

This tutorial is designed for newcomers or more experienced professionals who would like a refresher on the fundamentals. This interactive tutorial…

Tutorial

Stephen Palmer

13:00-
15:30

Tutorial Stream 2

Mulubinba Room (Upstairs)

Advance your earthing expertise with our tutorial on the Application of Safety Criteria. Designed for experienced practitioners, this tutorial will…

Tutorial

Bill Tocher

William (Bill) Carman

15:30-
17:00

Inner Newcastle Heritage Walk

Meet at the Registration Desk

Separate registration required. The Australian Earthing institute invites you to join us on an historical walking tour of Newcastle CBD led by Engi…

17:30-
19:00

Registration & Welcome Reception

Banquet Room (Ground Floor)

Please join us at the welcome reception to register for the conference, meet other delegates and explore the exhibitions.

Daniel Snodgrass

08:30-
09:00

Welcome and Opening

Concert Hall (Upstairs)

Our Conference Committee Chair and Technical Chair will open the first day of speakers.

Opening Plenary

Daniel Snodgrass

Nick Smith

9:00-
9:30

Hazard based earthing for major substations

Concert Hall (Upstairs)

Energy Queensland Limited (EQL) has recently rewritten its major substation earthing standard. To support the writing process, a thorough literatur…

Opening Plenary

Chanelle Olive

Jason Mayer

09:30-
10:00

Loaded Touch Voltages… What is the Risk?

Cummings Room (Upstairs)

With the introduction of the risk-based approach to earthing hazard assessments, the ‘Loaded’ touch voltage has not yet found its place in earthing…

Risk

Riley Blackwell

Bill Tocher

16:00-
16:30

Trenchless Grounding System

Concert Hall (Upstairs)

All electrical networks rely on earthing systems to provide safe and efficient flow of electricity between the electrode and the ground. Earthing w…

Materials and Construction

Tim McClure

16:30-
17:00

Asperity Model for Electrical Connection

Concert Hall (Upstairs)

Electrical connections including grounding connections, at a microscopic levels will show that the surface contact can vary in different types of c…

Materials and Construction

Rohit Narayan

16:30-
17:00

LFI and EMF hazards

Cummings Room (Upstairs)

This paper looks at the potential hazards that are present due to Low-Frequency Induction (LFI) and Electromagnetic Fields (EMF), with a focus on a…

Interference

Chris Harris

09:00-
09:30

Earthing and Bonding in Rail Tunnels

Cummings Room (Upstairs)

Rail Tunnels in DC Electrified areas present complex challenges associated with the segregation of track side equipment/structure earthing, Overhea…

Rail

Gurumoorthi Saravanan

10:30-
11:00

Lightning Protection of Utility Scale Solar Farms

Concert Hall (Upstairs)

Utility scale solar farms range in power output from tens of MW to many hundreds of MW and consequently cover areas ranging from 1 hectare to 1500 …

Lightning

Bill Carman

Franco D’Alessandro

13:30-
14:00

Earthing Standards Updates

Cummings Room (Upstairs)

Members of the Australian Standards Committee will provide brief updates on the latest revisions being made to standards that are commonly used in …

Standards

Ian Webster

Stephen Palmer

William (Bill) Carman

14:00-
14:30

Internal or Split Site Earth Testing

Concert Hall (Upstairs)

In 2018 an earth fault occurred internal to 33 kV switchgear at a main substation in New Zealand. The 33 kV switchgear was located in a Switchroom …

Testing

Philip Boys

15:30-
16:00

What could we do better?

Concert Hall (Upstairs)

During the 1960s Australia was a world leader in setting safety criteria for POCO, power coordination between telecommunication plant and the impac…

Closing Plenary

Dr Darren Woodhouse

select a different day

The Full DTEC 2026 program will feature two concurrent streams, over 30 technical talks, and insights across a range of expertise and industries.

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