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Young Power Engineer of the Year Award

Nominations for the 2026 Young Power Engineer of the Year Award will open in the second half of 2025.

2025 WINNER

MOHAMMAD MOHAMMADI

Engineer - Future Energy Systems, Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO)

Mohammad recently graduated with a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Melbourne (UoM), specialising in integrated energy systems. During his PhD, he played a pivotal role in an industry project with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), influencing the Market Ancillary Services Specification (MASS) and contributing to the development of new markets for Very Fast Frequency Control Ancillary Services (FCAS).

Currently, Mohammad is an Engineer in the Future Energy Systems group at AEMO. His recent work involves developing a methodology to quantify synthetic inertia from grid-forming (GFM) battery energy storage systems (BESS) to support the National Electricity Market's transition to high penetrations of inverter-based resources.

In addition to his industry work, Mohammad was deeply involved in teaching activities at UoM, including courses such as Introduction to Power Engineering and Power System Analysis. He currently co-supervises undergraduate students in their final year projects in the Faculty of Engineering at the Monash University.

Mohammad has received several awards and scholarships, such as the PhD Thesis Write-Up Award and Melbourne Research Scholarship. His research has been published in over 15 journal papers and book chapters, contributing both to the international research community and practical applications in the power industry. 

ABOUT THIS AWARD

The Electric Energy Society of Australia developed this prestigious national award which recognises emerging engineers for their outstanding contributions and exceptional achievements in the field of power engineering. This award celebrates the achievements of young power engineers and supports their continuous development within the power industry by providing the opportunity to attend an EECON conference and an international CIRED or CIGRE conference. This award also encourages young members to maintain long-term involvement with EESA as they develop their technical knowledge and become future leaders within our industry. In the past, this award has been made jointly by the Electrical College Board of Engineers Australia and EESA.

SELECTION CRITERIA

The applicant must:

  • Be an individual EESA member.
  • Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident.
  • Be aged 35 years or under.
  • Be an Electrical Engineering graduate (of six years or less).
  • Be currently employed in the power engineering industry with less than six years of experience.
  • Not have previously received this award.
  • Be nominated by an EESA corporate member or be self-nominated.
  • Be prepared to participate as a member of their local EESA chapter committee for the duration of their award title year.

THE APPLICATION

The application must:

  • Demonstrate significant contribution to the power industry (max. 800 words).
  • Demonstrate contribution to the power community e.g. EESA or Engineers Australia (max. 800 words).
  • Detail an example of a technical contribution to the power industry, e.g. a project or pioneering solutions.
  • Include two signed reference letters in support of the nomination, at least one must be work-related.
  • Include a current headshot and a short bio outlining your experience (to be published on the EESA website)

THE PRIZE

The winner will receive:

  • Paid travel, accommodation, and registration for an international CIRED or Cigre conference. The winner will be asked to submit a written report on their experience, to be published in the EESA bulletin.
  • Paid travel, accommodation, and registration for an EECON conference. The award will be presented at EECON.
  • A spotlight article on the EESA website and in the EESA bulletin.
  • Complimentary EESA membership for one year.
  • The requirement to participate as a member of their local EESA chapter committee for the duration of their award title year.

KEY DATES

Nominations open: 

Nominations close: 

Winner notified by: 

CONFERENCE DATES

The winner will receive paid travel, accommodation, and registration for one EECON conference and one international CIRED of Cigre conference:

MORE INFORMATION

Please note that, if in the opinion of the judging panel, no suitable candidate is nominated in that year, the judging panel has the right to decline the making of an award in that year.

For more information about this award, please contact us.