Professor Pawel Niewczas
Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Personal statement
Professor Pawel Niewczas leads the Advanced Sensors Team within the Institute for Energy and Environment at the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Strathclyde. His main research interests centre on the advancement of photonic sensing methods and systems integration in applications that lie predominantly in power and energy sectors. He has carried out a unique portfolio of research programmes, generally focusing on optical and fibre based sensors, addressing such issues as sensor design, fabrication, packaging, deployment, and interrogation in challenging environments. The applications of his research include such areas as power system metering and protection; wind turbine structural health monitoring; downhole pressure, temperature, voltage and current measurement; and sensing in nuclear fission and fusion environments. He has published over 140 technical papers in this area and holds 6 granted patents. Externally, he is a co-founder and R&D Director of the spin-out company Synaptec.
Professor Niewczas is Director of the Graduate School in the EEE Department. He is also Director of the Electrical Power and Energy Systems (EPES) MSc Course.
Professor Niewczas is open to PhD project supervision for candidates interested in the above research domain.
Area of Expertise
Sensor development
- Development of spectrally encoded sensor devices exploiting intrinsic and hybrid sensing mechanisms
- Development of fibre-to-metal bonds, seals and fabrication techniques
- Fundamental research in the area of materials science
Sensor instrumentation and metrology
- High frequency measurements
- Static measurements
- Nano-ε resolution measurements
- Extended step-out and multiplexed systems
- Integrated photonics, low-cost/high-performance FBG interrogation techniques
Measurement capabilities
- temperature, strain (static & dynamic), pressure
- magnetic/ electric fields, voltage, current, bend
Delivery of industrially focussed projects
- Good understanding of industry needs
- Experience of projects with tight timescales and tangible outcomes
Professor Niewczas is open to PhD project supervision for candidates interested in the above research domain.
Prize And Awards
Publications
- Guest Editorial Special Section on 2023 IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference
- Donnell Kristen M, Niewczas Paweł, Abou-Khousa Mohamed, Gunawan Teddy Surya
- IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement Vol 73, pp. 1-3 (2025)
- https://doi.org/10.1109/tim.2025.3539442
- Improved calibration method of the photonic current sensor for monitoring HVDC networks
- Amiolemen Alfred, Fusiek Grzegorz, Niewczas Pawel
- IEEE Sensors Letters Vol 8, pp. 1-4 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1109/lsens.2024.3441228
- Design of a novel optical overhead line monitoring sensor
- Marston Jack, Fusiek Grzegorz, Niewczas Pawel
- IEEE Sensors Letters Vol 8, pp. 1-4 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1109/LSENS.2024.3414495
- Methodological framework for conductor lifetime estimation using optical sag sensors
- Singh Himanshi, Fusiek Grzegorz, Niewczas Pawel
- IEEE Sensors Letters Vol 8 (2024)
- https://doi.org/10.1109/LSENS.2024.3415430
- Towards the development of a photonic current sensor for HVDC networks
- Amiolemen Alfred, Fusiek Grzegorz, Niewczas Pawel
- 2024 IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC) IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC) 2024 IEEE Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (2024)
- Estimation of the Fatigue Life of a Fiber Bragg Grating Overhead Line Sag Sensor
- Singh Himanshi, Fusiek Grzegorz, Niewczas Pawel
- IEEE International Instrumentation and Measurement Technology Conference (I2MTC) 2024 (2024)
Teaching
Teaching Responsibilities:
- EE108/19260 Electrical Circuits
- EE269 Electronic & Electrical Principles II
- EE986 Professional Studies
- Final Year Project/MSc/MPhil/PhD/EngD Student Supervisor
Teaching Administration Responsibilities:
- Graduate School Deputy Director
- Director of the Electrical Power Engineering with Business (EPEwB) MSc Course
- Academic Selector for the MSc Course in EEE
- Member of the Courses & Teaching Working Group
- Member of the 1st and 2nd Year Teaching and Learning Groups
- Member of the Faculty Board of Study
- UCAS Interviewer
Research Interests
Development and application of photonic sensors within power and energy industries, including such areas as power system metering and protection; wind turbine structural health monitoring; gas turbine monitoring; downhole and subsea pressure, temperature voltage and current measurement; sensing in nuclear fission and fusion environments; and other sensing applications.
Research interest in intrinsic and hybrid fibre-optic sensors; sensor design, fabrication, encapsulation and deployment; sensor networks and interrogation techniques; signal processing and communication.
Professor Niewczas is open to PhD project supervision for candidates interested in the above research domain.
Professional Activities
- IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement (Journal)
- Guest editor
- 1/7/2023
- General Co-Chair of the IEEE I2MTC 2024 Conference
- Participant
- 1/5/2023
- IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement (Journal)
- Guest editor
- 1/7/2022
- Technical Co-Chair of the IEEE I2MTC 2023 Conference
- Participant
- 1/5/2022
- Fibre Bragg grating sensing to support transition to a net-zero economy
- Speaker
- 6/1/2022
- IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement (Journal)
- Guest editor
- 1/7/2021
Projects
- SSE Transmission SIF Discovery Project - DIVERSE 2
- Stewart, Brian (Principal Investigator) Niewczas, Pawel (Co-investigator)
- 04-Jan-2024 - 30-Jan-2024
- Photonic Supervision for Grid Resilience and Capacity Expansion (PHOENIX)
- Niewczas, Pawel (Principal Investigator) Coffele, Federico (Co-investigator) Fusiek, Grzegorz (Co-investigator) Melone, Joseph (Co-investigator)
- 18-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2025
- Expanding Measurement Range of Distributed Photonic Sensors for Holistic Power Grid Management (EMERGE)
- Niewczas, Pawel (Principal Investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2024
- EPSRC IAA: Enabling Smart Energy Networks with Digital Photonic Sensors (ESEnce)
- Niewczas, Pawel (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2026
- Yes to Energy Through Innovative Sensing (YETIS)
- Niewczas, Pawel (Principal Investigator) Booth, Campbell (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2019 - 29-Jan-2024
- Metrology for the next-generation digital substation instrumentation EURAMET (FutureGrid II)
- Blair, Steven (Principal Investigator) Fusiek, Grzegorz (Co-investigator) Niewczas, Pawel (Co-investigator) Roscoe, Andrew (Co-investigator)
- 01-Jan-2018 - 31-Jan-2021
Contact
Professor
Pawel
Niewczas
Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Email: p.niewczas@strath.ac.uk
Tel: 548 2869