PAC World:   Dr. Yoshifumi Ooura, please tell us when and where you were born and what is the first memory from your childhood?
Y.O.: I was born on January 6, 1935 in the Chinese city of Liaoning Liaoyang. My first memory is from my kindergarten times in the city of Wafangdian. My memory from the days in elementary school is the diversity of the turbulent life in Dalian City after the end of World War II.

PAC World:  When did you move to Japan?
Y.O.:  It was in March 1947. My father was an engineer of the automatic ringer of the railroads and therefore was not able to go back to Japan after World War II because of restrictions by the Soviet Union. At the end our family was able to go back to my own country.

PAC World:  Was there anything in your childhood or anyone in your family that influenced your decision to become an engineer?
Y.O.:   I heard many times my father talking about electricity during my childhood. Therefore, I knew Ohm's law or the right-hand law of Fleming all too soon. We also lived near a railway track, and I longed for a steam locomotive at the age of 10. I fought desperately every day to make a steam engine myself. I have been completely charmed to accidentally see a handmade electric motor. I think these were the motives to become an electrical engineer.

PAC World: What were your interests while you were in school and college?
Y.O.:   My main interest was to pass the national examination on electrical technique at the highest level. I did not have time for anything else because of the distance between my home and the school.

PAC World:   What was the education that you received to become an electrical engineer?
Y.O.:  In a technical high school we were able to learn all the basics, such as mathematics, physics, electromagnetic technology, electric circuits, electric power technique, electric machine technique, the electricity applied technology. I learned university level mathematics, physics, electromagnetic and electric circuits by self-education for the national examination. At that time there was not yet semiconductor and computer technology.

PAC World:   Later in your career you received a Doctor of Technology degree from Tokyo University. What made you go back to university to achieve that?
Y.O.:   I was influenced by the strong advice of two of the technical system managers of my company and Professor Sekine of Tokyo University.

PAC World: What do you consider the most important events or highlights of your professional career?
Y.O.: It was the blackout caused by the wide area voltage collapse following a fault that occurred at 13:19 on July 23, 1987. As a person in charge I carried the investigation of the cause of the accident and promoted measures to last for several years. As a result, a large blackout was prevented with the help of a 8000 MW system load interception by the operation of four steps of a distance relay, which I developed in cooperation with Toshiba. In addition, I developed and installed new VQC (voltage reactive power controller) which continuously controlled the system voltage in all 500kV substations. Unfortunately, this new model VQC was not used on the day of the accident. It was completely utilized later and the new VQC has played a big role and contributed to the recurring prevention of similar accidents.

PAC World: You have been involved in electric power system protection, control and operations for more than half a century. What do you think are the key technological changes during that period of time?
Y.O.: It is the three big innovations of semiconductor technology, communications technology and the microprocessor digital technology. They were applied and backed by the developments of the electric power facility technology, the electric power system technology and the system analysis technology.

PAC World: What is your opinion about the impact of IEC 61850 on protection and control?
Y.O.: In TEPCO I already put all outdoor digital protection control systems to practical use from the generation of devices in the 1990s. Therefore, I think that we should adopt it normally if the longtime experience in the use of electric power facility technology is reflected in the IEC 61850 systems construction (e.g., including the interlock security measures of the system bottom layer).

PAC World:  Do you think that centralized protection in the substation is acceptable?
Y.O.: I don't think so because of different maintenance issues. The benefit is very small because the microprocessor relays are already very cheap.

PAC World:  Do you think that the push for a Smart Grid will have an impact on the protection, control and operations of electric power systems?
Y.O.: The Japanese bulk power system is already very smart because of all the advanced protection and control systems that we use. I believe that the main impact of the smart grid will be at the distribution level. Most of the pilot projects are in that area. We are working on a special project on the Miako island.  

PAC World:  What is the biggest challenge you have faced and what is your biggest professional achievement?
Y.O. I think my main achievements are three innovations related to system protection technology: The first innovation is the full-scale protective relay for the EHV system which I carried out in the 1970s. I established an automatic monitoring technology of the protective relay and developed the high-reliability protective relay with the automatic monitoring function of all solid state devices and applied it to EHV system overall, which largely improved the reliability of the electric power system in those days. Having established protective relay reliability evaluation technique in TEPCO and the collaborative investigation system of Toshiba greatly contributed to this. The second innovation is the development of the standardization of digital relays that I promoted in the '80s and their full-scale application to the EHV, 154 kV and 66 kV systems. Thus I was able to completely establish a practical hi-reliability digital protective relay technology.This was accomplished by TEPCO for more than ten years in collaboration with five electrical equipment manufacturers - Toshiba, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Fuji and Meidensha.The full-scale spread of this digital protective relay technology contributes to the reduction of the facilities constitution side of the electric power system, as well as the reduction of protective relays' maintenance duties. The third innovation is the full-scale application to the EHV system of the predictive out-of-step protective systems based on the new method that I developed around 1985.The application of this new protection system greatly contributed to the stabilization of the EHV system. This new method does not use conventional indirect information of the auxiliary contact of the circuit breaker. It calculates the system information by the change of power flow and the voltage phase in real time. TEPCO developed this new predictive out-of-step protective system in collaboration with two electrical equipment manufacturers - Toshiba and Mitsubishi.

PAC World:  You have been Director of CIGRE Study Committee 34 in Japan and had leadership positions in different Japanese professional organizations. How do you compare them and what do you think is their impact?
Y.O.: I feel that in CIGRE there are many quick committee activities. The work of this society reports mainly on the joint development of protective relays by manufacturers and electric power companies that later become mainstream technology in Japan.

PAC World:   You have authored, edited and co-authored numerous papers and several books. How do you choose a topic and what is the writing process that you follow?
Y.O.: The fundamentals of protection, such as symmetrical components, are very important and I wanted to write a book that will help people understand the basics, so they do not make mistakes when applying protection technology. Operations and testing of protection relays also play a very important role, so that is why I focused on this topic as well. 

PAC World:  You have been a Professor in TEPCO's Educational Institute and General Training Center. Why did you decide to teach and what does it give you?
Y.O.: TEPCO traditionally gives great importance to in-house education and OJT (on the job training), and I carried a professorship from the retirement age of 60 to 65. Now I work as a lecturer from time to time. I tried to cover basic electric theory, the basics of electrical engineering and the basics of systems engineering, and I put emphasis on practical aspects of protective relaying for the training of approximately three thousand practitioners.

PAC World:  Have you observed any changes in the students throughout the years?
Y.O.: In Japan there is a trend in keeping away from science and technology advances. A review of the basic education is pushed forward. A tendency that there is little curiosity and customs to think deeply about things is seen, and, therefore it is necessary to strengthen employee training and OJT for a university graduate, a masters course graduate, not to mention a high school graduate.

PAC World:  You have received many awards during your career. Which one is the most important to you?
Y.O.: It is the Achievements award that I won from the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan. This prize is given to one or two people a year in every electric power section.

PAC World:  What do you consider your biggest personal achievement?
Y.O.: My biggest personal achievement is my children. My son works for TEPCO and lives independently in Tokyo. My daughter lives with her husband who is an employee of Toshiba's semiconductor sales department in Shanghai.

PAC World:  What is your favorite food?
Y.O.: My particularly favorite foods are crab, lobster, sea urchin, fatty tuna and beef. But I don't cook.

PAC World:  What type of music do you enjoy?
Y.O.: I like opera music, songs, classical music, the French chanson, and the tango.

PAC World:  Do you have any hobbies?
Y.O.:  I like watching movies, listening to music, driving and radio controlled model airplanes.

PAC World:  Can you tell us something about your family and how you balance your professional and personal life?
Y.O.: I am not a workaholic and I consider that family has a very important role in a person's life.

PAC World:  Are you still actively involved in the Japanese professional organizations?
Y.O.: I participate very much. One reason is because I am happy to feel that I am slightly useful for society. And the other reason is because it is good for my health to participate in a favorite activity.

PAC World:  Do you have a motto that has guided you through your life?
Y.O.: It is cooperation and communication between people. For example to develop a new protection you need cooperation between many people and organizations.

PAC World: What do you like to do when you are not working?
Y.O.: I like to travel.  I like many countries and especially the US and Brazil. I also like playing golf and swimming.