DoctorHamish Avery
Director - EPECentre
Electric Power Engineering Centre
- Director - EPECentreElectric Power Engineering Centre
- +6433690831 (Work)
- Link, Room 207
BIO
My work focuses on the transition to resilient, low-carbon renewable energy systems. I am interested in how electricity networks, transport, renewable energy, energy markets, community needs and public policy interact to shape New Zealand's energy future. My goal is to connect research, industry and government to accelerate practical energy transitions that deliver economic, environmental and social value.
I am the Director of the Electric Power Engineering Centre (EPECentre), where my role centers on translational engineering — taking rigorous academic research and scaling it into hardware, infrastructure, and commercial platforms that solve real-world resilience problems.
EPECentre is New Zealand's premiere research centre dedicated to studying electric power, electrification, renewable energy, and the energy transition. The centre covers the techno-socio-economic spectrum, with a diversity of topics including;
- The electric power system
- Community energy
- Distributed energy systems
- Renewable energy, including wind energy, solar energy, geothermal energy and hydro energy
- Systems design and integration
- Flexible energy services
- Energy storage
- Zero-carbon transportation system
- Energy policy
EPECentre is industry and community facing, being initiated at the request of the energy sector in 2002. Much of our research is performed under commercial sensitivities and our outputs are non-indexed publications.
Before joining EPECentre, I spent nearly two decades commercialising deep-tech research out of my PhD project. I developed the low-cost CUSP strong-motion accelerograph system, which led to co-founding Canterbury Seismic Instruments Ltd (CSI) in 2003. Today, I am focused macro-level research strategies for New Zealand's low-carbon energy transition, focusing on the tension where communities, renewable energy, and the legacy electrical grid interact.
TE WHARE WĀNANGA O WAITAHA - UNIVERSITY OF CANTERBURY APPOINTMENTS
- Director - EPECentreUniversity of Canterbury, Electric Power Engineering Centre, Faculty of Engineering3 May 2021 - present
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
- Industry AffliliateQuakeCore, New Zealand
NON-ACADEMIC POSITIONS
- Chief Technology OfficerCanterbury Seismic Instruments, New Zealand1 Oct 2014 - 30 Aug 2021
- Government Relationship ManagerCanterbury Seismic Instruments, New Zealand1 Jul 2019 - 30 Aug 2021
DEGREES
- PhDUniversity of Canterbury and Uppsala University, New Zealand and Sweden2025
- BE (Hons)University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand1998
- BSc (Physics)University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand1996
LANGUAGES
- SwedishCan read, speak and understand
FACULTY
- Faculty of Engineering
GRADUATE RESEARCH SUPERVISION
- Registered to supervise Master's/Doctoral students
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
- 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities
- 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
- 9 Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
AVAILABILITY
- Collaborative research projects
- Consulting & advisory services
- Industry partnerships & innovation
- Media enquiries
- Outreach & community engagement
- Policy advice & government consultation
- Technical expertise & support