Our Staff

ROAM employs full time managers and analysts with qualifications in electrical and computer engineering, software engineering, IT, mathematics, physics and commerce. In addition, we employ part time specialists with expertise in coal resources, plant efficiency and design, contract development and negotiation

Dr Ian Rose
Executive Chairman

Ian co-founded ROAM Consulting in 2000, and is principal power systems consultant. He has more than 35 years of electricity network modelling software development and application experience in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the USA and China, and has been involved in generation and transmission operations and planning throughout that period.

Throughout the 1980’s, Ian was responsible for development of all power system software and then for daily dispatch of all Queensland power generation for four years from the state control centre, now AEMO’s northern control centre. This included commissioning the Tarong and Wivenhoe power stations and associated changes to spinning reserve policy for the state.

For the following six years he was responsible for planning Queensland’s fuel requirements for all power stations. This included commissioning of the Callide B and Stanwell power stations. He was also a key technical adviser for the sale of Gladstone power station and associated contractual arrangements.

Ian has also held operational positions in generation and transmission in North Queensland, covering Collinsville, Kareeya and Barron Gorge power stations and the associated transmission systems.

He has published papers on a variety of power system issues including reliability of multi-area systems, dispatch of generation and spinning reserve. His special interests include: Demand Forecasting, Integrated Resource Planning, Linear Programming for Dispatch of generation in electricity markets, composite generation and transmission reliability assessment, power flow modelling, marginal loss factor modelling and congestion analysis.

Qualifications

Graduate Certificate in Management
Mount Eliza Business Management School, 1994

PhD in Electrical Engineering
University of Waterloo, Canada, 1977

Master of Engineering Science in Electrical Engineering
University of Queensland, 1974

Bachelor of Electrical Engineering [Honours]
University of Queensland, 1971

Professional Memberships

Certified Professional Engineer

Registered Professional Engineer, Queensland (RPEQ)

Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia (member since 1978)

Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, New York (since 1974)

Member of the International Council on Large Electric Systems (CIGRÉ), Paris

Member of CIGRÉ Australian Panel APC5 Committee - Electricity Markets and Regulation

Mr Ben Vanderwaal
Managing Director

Ben has been a core member of the ROAM Consulting team since the company was formed in early 2000. Prior to this Ben was employed as an undergraduate engineer in the Queensland Government generation planning body, to assess the impacts of the fledgling National Electricity Market. His combined experience equates to more than 12 years in the industry.

Ben's knowledge covers a wide range of market analysis from 5 minute dispatch intervals to the 30 year planning time frame. Ben's specialisation has been algorithm development and data processing techniques for large analytical models. He is the team leader for design and development of ROAM's integrated software suite.

Ben has carried out projects for major electricity systems in Australia, New Zealand and the USA. He has presented at a number of industry forums and provided training courses to government departments in Australia and abroad.

Qualifications

Company Directors Course Diploma
Australian Institute of Company Directors, 2009

Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics
Bachelor of Information Technology
Queensland University of Technology, 1999

Professional Memberships

Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (2009)

Member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers, Australia (1999)

Mr Matthew Holmes
Software Engineering Projects Manager

Matthew has been employed in the energy industry since 2001, firstly with electricity market software developers global-roam, and then with ROAM Consulting since June 2003. In that time Matthew has been involved in complex consultancy projects in both the Australian NEM and the SWIS in Western Australia, including modelling of remote power networks, as well as software design projects focussing on large information systems.

Matthew has been lead developer for a number of software tools developed for use by a variety of governmental and corporate market participants. He is also the project manager for ROAM Consulting's popular ROAM Insight market forecast publication.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Engineering in Software Engineering [Honours]
University of Queensland, 2002

Mr Jason Merefield
Information Systems Manager

Jason manages ROAM's software research and development team. He has over 14 years experience in management, consulting, developing, installation, maintenance, administration and support in multi-platform systems. His experience base includes Unix, Linux, Windows, networking, internet, programming and database management. Jason has been employed in the information technology industry since 1995.

Jason joined ROAM Consulting in 2004, initially to instigate the development of ROAM's integrated software suite. In addition to designing and developing ROAM's data warehouse, Jason developed an integration module to migrate existing ROAM Consulting software to the new system. Whilst also undertaking consulting and forecasting work, Jason maintains the integrated software suite, and continues to research and develop new technologies to keep ROAM Consulting at the forefront.

Jason has been principal in contributing major new features into ROAM’s flagship modelling software ‘2-4-C’, such as embedded co-optimised constraints, security constrained optimal power flow constraints, piece-wise linear transmission loss equations and FCAS market requirements. Jason is also the primary developer for ROAM’s fully customised Integrated Resource Planning, which is a planning tool for least cost generation and transmission expansion under multiple scenarios with an outlook of 25 to 30 years.

Jason has experience with several different markets aside from the Australian NEM such as New Zealand’s Electricity Market, the California ISO and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas market.

Qualifications

ITIL v3 Foundation Certificate
Global Certification Institute, 2010

Microsoft Certified Professional
Spherion, 2004

Certificate of Programming Technologies
Computer Power, 1997

Dr Jenny Riesz
Climate Change Manager

Jenny joined ROAM Consulting in October 2007. She models and advises on topics related to climate change, such as the Federal Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (emissions trading), the National Renewable Energy Target, and the anticipated impacts of these on the NEM (including pool prices, transmission congestion, and changes in dispatch). In addition, Jenny is constantly developing ROAM’s expertise in detailed modelling of renewable technologies including wind, solar, biomass and geothermal energy.

Prior to joining ROAM Jenny completed a PhD in the field of biophysics at the University of Queensland, employing techniques such as theoretical quantum mechanical modelling, advanced spectroscopy and nuclear science. In 2007 Jenny was selected as the Queensland Young Achiever of the Year in recognition of her scientific contributions.

Jenny spent the latter half of 2009 working with the government of the Solomon Islands on international climate policy, culminating in joining their delegation for the critical climate negotiations at the United Nations meeting in Copenhagen.

Qualifications

PhD in Physics [Dean's Commendation]
University of Queensland, 2007

Bachelor of Science in Physics [First Class Honours, University Medal]
University of Queensland, 2003

Awards

Queensland Young Achiever of the Year, 2007

Smart Women Smart State Award, 2005

Mr Andrew Turley
Senior Financial Analyst

Andrew joined ROAM Consulting in March 2005, prior to which he was employed as an IT consultant at a software development house in Brisbane and in the United Kingdom. He has significant experience in user interfaces and web based products, as well as product design and development from conception to delivery. Andrew also has over two years experience as an academic staff member in the University of Queensland's Business and Economics Departments.

Andrew is primarily involved with the financial and economic analysis of participants and regulators of the NEM. He has been the lead consultant on a number of Regulatory Test applications, market rule development assignments, and short- and long-range market forecasting projects. Andrew has also been involved with the ongoing development of ROAM's software packages, particularly the development of customised client solutions and ROAM’s suite of Excel-based analytical tools.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Commerce [Dean's Honour Roll]
Bachelor of Information Technology
University of Queensland, 2004

Dr Richard Bean
Senior Mathematical Modeller

Richard joined ROAM Consulting in April 2007, after several years as a post-doctoral research fellow in the Institute of Molecular Bioscience at the University of Queensland and at the Institute for Studies in Theoretical Physics and Mathematics in Tehran. He has a PhD in pure mathematics, and a strong knowledge of data analysis and algorithm development.

With his mathematical and theoretical background Richard is a key member of the ROAM Consulting team developing and strengthening modelling systems and integrating them in ROAM’s software suite. His experience at ROAM has covered a wide range of modelling exercises. In particular, he has focussed on statistical analysis of historic market behaviour and preparation into forms suitable for market forecasting, including bidding behaviour. He has advised a number of developers and incumbent generators on forecast market outcomes.

Richard has travelled extensively in the Middle East and Asia, teaching Mathematics and English whilst living in Tehran, Iran.

Qualifications

PhD in Mathematics
University of Queensland, 2001

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Mathematics [First Class Honours, University Medal]
University of Queensland, 1997

Professional Memberships

Associate Fellow of the Institute of Combinatorics and its Applications (since 2001)

Life Member of the Combinatorial Mathematics Society of Australasia (since 2001)

Mr Sam Shiao
Senior Networks Analyst

Sam specialises in the modelling and analysis of electrical systems. With a strong engineering background coupled with experience in complex systems modelling, Sam has been the lead engineer on a number of projects targeted at finding solutions to complex problems related to network power flows, transmission congestion, connection point loss factor estimation and system frequency transient response. Furthermore, Sam is also actively involved in the development of innovative models to forecast short and long term electrical demand patterns as a key input to ROAM Consulting’s flagship modelling software 2-4-C.

Sam joined ROAM Consulting in March 2007 after completing his university studies in Electrical and Electronics Engineering at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. Fluent in English and Mandarin, Sam has had work experience in both New Zealand and Taiwan. In 2005, he was awarded the Golden Key International Engineering/Technology achievement award for his outstanding achievement in the field of Engineering.

Qualifications

Master of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering [Distinction]
University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2007

Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronic Engineering [First Class Honours]
University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 2005

Awards

Golden Key International Engineering/Technology Achievement Award (1st Place), 2005

Professional Memberships

Graduate Member of the Institution of Engineers Australia (2009)

Lifetime Member of the Golden Key International Honours Society (since 2003)

Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (since 2002)

Dr Joel Gilmore
Analyst

Joel is a member of ROAM’s team of energy market modellers, specialising in renewable energy technologies and applications, and greenhouse gas emissions forecasting. Since joining ROAM in November 2008, he has conducted a number of major modelling exercises in the NEM related to renewables, including work on the proposed 1GW of solar power for the Commonwealth Government, and work for AEMC on the changes resulting from the introduction of the CPRS and RET. He has also conducted a major study on the effect of variability in wind generation on the WEM to 2020.

Joel received a PhD in physics from the University of Queensland in 2007, where he developed models to describe complex biological processes such as vision and photosynthesis. He then worked for two years as a science communicator with the University of Queensland, heading a team promoting public understanding and appreciation of science across the country to diverse audiences.

Qualifications

PhD in Physics
University of Queensland, 2007

Bachelor of Science in Physics and Mathematics [First Class Honours, Dean's Commendation, University Medal]
University of Queensland, 2002

Professional Achievements

Honorary Position - Science Communication
University of Queensland (2008-present)

Dr Melinda Buchanan
Analyst

Melinda joined ROAM Consulting in March 2009. She specialises in customised long-term electricity system planning using ROAM's Integrated Resource Planning software suite. Her recent projects include network augmentation and congestion analysis for the AEMC and Grid Australia, and modelling work for the Commonwealth Government's Energy White Paper.

Prior to joining ROAM, Melinda completed a PhD in pure mathematics at the University of Queensland, and was subsequently employed there as a post-doctoral research fellow and lecturer.

Qualifications

PhD in Mathematics [Dean's Commendation]
University of Queensland, 2007

Bachelor of Science in Mathematics [First Class Honours, University Medal]
University of Queensland, 2002

Mr Dane Winch
Analyst

Dane joined ROAM Consulting in November 2006. Prior to this he studied at the Queensland University of Technology where he specialised in power systems analysis, renewable energy systems, computational mathematics and mathematical modelling.

Since joining ROAM Dane has developed several algorithms and methodologies used in short and long term load forecasting and Integrated Resource Planning using advanced mathematical modelling, neural network and combinatoric techniques. Dane regularly conducts prefeasibility studies involving large scale new entry generation and industrial load projects, as well as performing auditing and parallel exercises for the Australian Energy Market Operator involving Marginal Loss Factors and Forced Outage Rates.

With his experience in software suites and languages such as Matlab, Powerworld and C, Dane is a key member in conducting electrical market modelling studies at ROAM.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Computer Engineering
Bachelor of Applied Science in Mathematics
Queensland University of Technology, 2007

Professional Memberships

Graduate Member of the Institution of Engineers Australia (member since 2003)

Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (since 2003)

Mr David Yeowart
Software Developer / IT Specialist

David is intensively involved in developing advanced algorithms for ROAM’s electricity market models including energy and ancillary service markets and hydro thermal optimisation.

David holds a Bachelor degree in IT from the Queensland University of Technology. He has worked with ROAM Consulting since 2003.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Information Technology
Queensland University of Technology, 2009

Mr Rico Zhang
Software Developer / IT Specialist

Rico joined ROAM Consulting in August 2009, as a member of ROAM's software development team to be involved in researching and developing new software solutions for the energy market.

Rico completed postgraduate studies at the University of Wollongong, and worked on some J2EE web applications and a 3D project using C++ after graduation. Fluent in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, Rico has work experience in both China and Australia.

Qualifications

Master of Computer Science (Advanced)
University of Wollongong, 2007

Master of Information and Communication Technology
University of Wollongong, 2005

Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and Technology
Sun Yat-Sen University, China, 2004

PhD of Computer Science
University of Technology Sydney (in progress)

Professional Memberships

Sun Microsystem Certified Developer

Sun Microsystem Certified Programmer

Mr Nick Culpitt
Part Time Analyst

Nick joined ROAM Consulting in August 2009 as a part-time employee, and has been assisting with the Review of the Reliability Standards and Settings.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Queensland, and is currently completing a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Finance and Accounting.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Statistics
University of Queensland, 2009

Bachelor of Commerce
University of Queensland (in progress)

Mr Edric Natamihardja
Part Time Analyst

Edric joined ROAM Consulting in July 2008 as a part-time employee and has been primarily assisting with Marginal Loss Factor studies. Edric graduated from the University of Queensland in 2010 where he completed a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering majoring in Power Systems and Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Finance.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Electrical Engineering [Honours]
Bachelor of Commerce
University of Queensland, 2010

Ms Renee Kelly
Executive Assistant

Renee joined ROAM Consulting as Executive Assistant in June 2008, after having been employed in various administration and client service roles since 2003. Renee has developed a keen interest in the dynamic response of the energy industry to the current political and socio-economic climate, and is expanding her technical knowledge and skills relevant to this field.

Renee is currently working towards attaining a Certificate IV in Business Administration.