Who Am I

“Who Am I?” – Anyone who can answer this question is the most knowledgeable person.!

It is the question which the ancient Indian scripture called the Upanishads try to answer.  The best answer I have seen is from Chandogya Upanishad. It states the answer as “Tat Tvam Asi” which translates to “You are That”!  The primary aim of all Upanishads is to explore the term ‘That’, which is the primary cause or source of this Universe.  It may be the Higgs Bosan— the God Particle.!  Modern (Quantum) Physics is trying to explore “That”.!!!

I completed my Electrical Engineering degree at Malnad College of Engineering, Hassan (India).  I trained as a Computer Specialist during my Masters at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur.

By right, I should have progressed to my Ph.D. studies in Computer Science.  But a quirk of destiny led me to join Tata Electric Company, Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1969.    Tata Electric is a private electric utility supplying power to Mumbai. The pioneer of Tata Group, Jamsetji Tata,  planned for HydroElectric Power Stations in early 1900, because he felt that Bombay was getting polluted by the smoke emitted by the large number of textile industries in the city!

My job was the development of computer software for power system analysis.  The first project was modelling of the first 400kV transmission line under construction in India.  The aim was to analyse and  control switching transient overvoltages.  I was thrown into the deep end!  They were the pioneering days.  After literature review, I selected Dommel’s method, because of its simplicity and versatility.   At that time, the famous Electro Magnetic Transients Program (EMTP) was being developed at Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) in the U.S., under the guidance of Dr. Hermann W Dommel himself.  I wrote a letter to Dr. Dommel seeking some clarifications.  I was shocked when a big package arrived at my desk.  The package was sent through a friend of a friend in Tata Electric.  It contained all the clarifications and more.  I was amazed by the personal notings of Dr. Dommel on the transcripts— it was full of humility. 

I realised that, ‘humility is the pathway to true knowledge’.

The engineering software in those days was written in FORTRAN (FORmula TRANslation) language.  It was the language for the engineers by the engineers.  C language was yet to be born!  Punched cards were used to input the program to a room-full mainframe computer.  We had to remove our shoes to enter the computer room.  Our computer was located about 5 km away from my office.  There was an overnight wait for a single run of the program!  One typing error meant that the whole day’s effort was wasted!

I moved to Australia in 1981 and my software development work continued till early 1990s.  I developed easy to use interactive software on personal computers for conducting power system studies.  This commercial software (INTEMTP, POWSYS & RELCORD) was popular in the Australian industries, such as BHP, Capricornia Electricity, etc.

Developing microprocessor-based systems is my hobby.  I have designed, developed and manufactured microprocessor-based Industrial Burner Controllers in India. 

I have extensive experience in teaching Power Systems at a University in Australia.  I have professional consulting experience in the design of power systems using an industry standard computer software.  

In the 1990s, I moved away from software development to concentrate on teaching and consulting.  This led to the development of a 4-day Power System Workshop and 1-day Arc Flash Course, which were very popular with the engineers in Australian industries.

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My name is Sesha Prasad.  Most of my friends and colleagues in Australia call me ‘Sesha’.  I would like to share my knowledge with the wider community through this website.  

Finally, if you are still wondering about the answer to “Who Am I”?

“That which is the subtle essence, this whole world has for its Self.  That is the Truth (Reality).  That is the Self.  That thou art”,  O’Svetaketu  –  Chandogya Upanishad