Michael Newton
Transmission Market Leader, Principal Engineer – Mitton ElectroNet
I joined Transpower’s Graduate Program in my first professional year which led to summer work in Reyrolle’s Petone Indoor Switchgear Factory and then working in the field on Transpower’s assets the following summer. After completing my BE(Hons) in 2008, I rotated through various placements on Transpower’s graduate programme before settling into the stations team. I’ve always been fascinated by all aspects of engineering, which inevitably led to me becoming a generalist and overseeing the design of new substation assets.
In 2015, I took up an opportunity to head to the UK with Power System Consultants (PSC) where I got to work on the early engineering studies for new HVDC links in Europe. Most of my involvement was on the VikingLink project, a 1400MW, 765km undersea cable between England and Denmark.
Upon returning to New Zealand, I took up a position with the design consultancy, Mitton ElectroNet, where I found my true passion – design engineering! This allowed me to delve into the details of primary engineering, whilst still indulging my curiosity across a broad range of disciplines including protection systems, metering, communications, civil, structural and geotechnical engineering. A lifelong involvement in competitive sport has endeared me to the consultancy environment and I enjoy the thrill of competing against other consultancies. Our team is always striving to find new ways to deliver quality designs as cost effectively as possible by utilising innovations and new technologies such as scripting, LiDAR and 3D design tools.
I am now the Transmission Market Leader and a Principal Engineer, where I lead two teams that deliver substation designs for Transpower and other customers wishing to connect to Transpower’s network.
It is an exciting time to be working in the electricity sector; a large amount of renewable generation will be required in the next decade along with the networks upgrades to support it, and I can’t wait to be there to design it.
The EPECentre and PEET have played a pivotal role in getting me to where I am today and continues to ensure we’ll have sustainable future by growing engineers that are ready to lead us into tomorrow.
Michael was awarded the EPECentre Undergraduate Scholarship in 2007.
Published November 2022