Ahmet Merev is a Turkish high-voltage technology pioneer whose passion for metrology has taken him around the world. In April 2024, he moved to Finland with his family to work in his dream job at VTT MIKES. But what is high-voltage metrology’s role in smart cities and electrification?
Metrology is a multidisciplinary science crucial for the development of all kinds of products, materials and devices. High-voltage metrology, for its part, provides reliability and quality in testing and measuring the various components used in energy systems. In other words, our confidence in the energy we use is based on the technological and sustainable confidence provided by high-voltage metrology. Ahmet Merev, Senior Scientist at VTT MIKES, thinks high-voltage metrology has much to offer for future cities and transportation.
“Our dependence on energy systems is constantly increasing. The development of smart cities, smart buildings, electric vehicles and charging stations imposes serious loads and electrical pollution on the energy grid. I believe that high-voltage metrology has played a crucial role in detecting and finding solutions to these issues and will continue to do so,” says Ahmet.
Passion for high-voltage metrology was born through studies
Ahmet (PhD, Electrical Engineering) has been interested in the high-voltage field since he was a student. He also became interested in pursuing an academic career early on. In the late 1990s, Ahmet started to set up small experimental systems in his university’s high-voltage laboratory.
In 2002, Ahmet got involved in establishing the High-Voltage Calibration and Testing Laboratory of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye (TÜBITAK). He ended up working there for 22 years, 14 of which as the laboratory manager and chief researcher. He is a true high-voltage technology expert.
Ahmet has been involved in many international high-voltage technology projects, such as standardisation activities for IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) and TSE (Turkish Standardization Institute), accreditation projects for TÜRKAK (Turkish Accreditation Agency) and RvA (Dutch Accreditation Council), as well as technical working group memberships in CIGRE (International Council on Large Electric Systems) and SEERC (South East European Regional Council of CIGRE). International cooperation also brought Ahmet to Finland.
“Finland is a special place for me and my family as well”
“My first encounter with VTT MIKES was in 2009 when I visited Finland for a collaboration project on measurement activities. In 2012, my family and I spent a longer period in Finland – I worked as a guest researcher in the high-voltage metrology laboratory at MIKES for six months. After that, I visited Finland often for different work occasions,” Ahmet says.
Ahmet and his family had developed a deep emotional bond with Finland. The bond was born already before they visited Finland, through the book Finland: The Country of White Lilies by Grigory Petrov. It is a well-known book in Turkey that has positively influenced the Turkish people's perspective towards Finland and Finns.
“Once I heard that the high-voltage group at VTT MIKES was looking for a senior scientist, we thought it was time to change not only my job but also our lives. A job I love very much in the country I love the most was too good to be ignored,” Ahmet says.
As a result, Ahmet and his family have lived in Finland since April 2024. Ahmet’s role in VTT MIKES is to actively participate in national and international cooperation projects, solve customer problems in commercial projects and develop and maintain national reference measurement systems.
“I think the work environment here is very enjoyable – productive, reliable, teamwork-oriented and well organised. My biggest advantage is that I will be a part of a very talented expert team,” Ahmet says.
Sports and work support one another
Ahmet’s number one passion outside of work is swimming. Ahmet follows a regular training programme and has succeeded in various national and international master competitions. These include various intercontinental open-water swimming competitions, such as swimming from Asia to Europe in the Bosphorus, from Europe to Asia in the Dardanelles and from Megisti, a small Greek island in the Mediterranean, to Kaş, the mainland of Türkiye.
“For me, an active lifestyle definitely has a positive impact on my working life, too,” Ahmet says.
Right now, Ahmet and the team are preparing a project for a EURAMET (European Association of National Metrology Institutes) research program related to metrological infrastructure for electrical insulation testing for a reliable electricity grid.
