We are delighted to announce two of the HEED project team members, Professor Elena Guara and Professor Heaven Crawley, have been awarded a place on the Coventry University International Women’s Day Roll of Honour.

March the 8^th is  International Women’s Day, which for the past 175 years is a global celebration to recognise the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women and call for greater activism for gender parity. To show support for the aims and ambitions of International Women’s Day, Coventry University select and celebrate female staff members who are models of  excellence as they reach out beyond academia to make a difference to the broader community. In 2018, Professor Elena Guara was one of the first recipients to awarded this honour, whilst in March of this year saw the University confer Professor Heaven Crawley this honour.

Since being given this accolade last year, Elena work has seen her recently return for India, where she spent time supporting and training young female engineers. She feels this award is more about allowing her space for greater advocacy for more inclusion in STEM fields for women as:

‘Engineering and Science are the future. It is such a creative discipline and we need the views of women to shape it, ….that (women) should stand tall, challenge the status quo and showcase their professional achievements.’

(Prof. Denise Skinner (Emeritus) presenting the award to Elena March 8th 2018)

Heaven’s award is a tribute to her dedication to research that is centred on productive change to alleviate suffering and generate policy that improves the lives of others on national and international levels. In placing Heaven on the honour list it also recognises her role in putting  together and overseeing  a team of international scholars and practitioners to undertake the largest research project globally on South-South Migration, Inequality and Development. Colleagues that work with Heaven, believe that:

‘Heaven aims to do justice with and for those who stand to benefit most from her research, which is strongly underpinned by her values of fairness, equality and integrity, and her motivation to create real social change’.

(Heaven with Thea Gibbs, Head of Operations, CTPSR)

Elena and Heaven’s acceptance onto the role of honour is a reflection of how they are making transformational impact and seeking to develop greater opportunities for inclusion and diversity in their respective field of expertise.   

Well done, to both Elena and Heaven as they continue to be outstanding examples of inspirational leadership, show commitment to addressing societal inequality and strive for research excellence.

The start of February 2019 saw a key step change in data collection as 75 Electrical Appliance Monitors were shipped ready for distribution to 21 homes based in Uttargaya, Nepal. Dr Kriti Bhargava, who oversaw the production and distribution of the Electrical Appliance Monitors, believes this is a crucial step in moving the HEED project aims forward:

‘Developing these monitoring appliances gives us the means to understand energy needs in the domestic space. In being actively involved in product design that can contribute to developing solutions to energy poverty, I feel that in some small way we are helping to improve the life chances and opportunities for displaced communities.’

The Electrical Appliance Monitors are a simple, cost effective and unobtrusive method of collecting data on energy. Each monitor consists of two components: an Individual appliance monitor (IAM) that is an off-the-shelf energy smart plug and a Raspberry Pi gateway and will be attached to every electrical appliance in the home, such as mobile phone chargers, table fans, electric irons and television.

The function of the IAM is to record when the appliance is in action and for how long by monitoring the voltage. The data collected by the IAM is communicated to the HEED -server using the Raspberry Pi based gateway, where it can be analysed.

In recording in real time for a substantive period this will identify diurnal and seasonal usage patterns . This means that findings will be based on lived experiences of energy usage in households in displaced communities.

The Electrical Appliance Monitors are instrumental in producing a body of data that allow discussion on what are the key demands from domestic appliances and to what extent are these requirements are being meet by energy providers. It will also generate discussions on how to reduce energy costs for displaced communities and whether alternative sources of energy can address the gap and provide more affordable, sustainable energy services.

The beginning of January 2019 saw three new PhD researchers joining the project team: Brandi Jess, Daniel Bammeke and Feba Chinnu Ninan. Based at Coventry University, Brandi, Daniel and Feba will be working on data mining, wireless sensor networks and micro-grid management and control systems. To find out more about please visit Coventry University team page.

Want to know more about the HEED project interventions, access extensive datasets or share insights on energy needs and aspirations in the displaced and refugee context?  The Data Portal is now open. The Data Portal is a one-stop-shop  for researchers, students, NGO’s and other vested parties that contains all the project findings, that can be viewed and used to develop and create their own interventions and projects. To sign up to the Data Portal follow this link.

The HEED team is delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Kriti Bhargava to the project. Kriti is joining us from the Department of Computing and Mathematics, Waterford Institute of Technology, Waterford, Ireland and brings to the project expertise in Fog Computing (particularly Sensor Analytics), Wireless Sensor Networks and Data Mining. See our Coventry University team page to find out more.

During November and December 2018, members of the HEED team undertook a series of E4E workshops with members of the communities with whom the project is working in Rwanda and Nepal. You can find out more about the workshops here.

HEED Project: Nursery in Kigeme                                                                    

On Tuesday the 2^nd of October HEED hosted its third and final Design for Displacement (D4D) workshop at Coventry University. Leading the workshop was Professor Heaven Crawley and  it was attended by a wide range of stakeholders and academics.  The keynote speaker of the day was Dr Glalda Lahn from Chatham House, who focused on the importance of building a robust body of data on energy use.  Following from Dr Lahn presentation, members of the HEED team provided information about the role of engineering and IoT in developing evidence based claims, which can substantiate innovation in developing efficiency and sustainability in energy services. There was also a chance for workshop delegates to be hands-on with various intervention design models. The workshop was highly successful and generated a great deal of lively and informed discussions on the extent renewable energy can provide solutions to energy poverty for displaced people and refugees. To learn more about the presentations and topics please go to our engagement page.

On 22^nd September 2018 Vijay Bhopal and Jelte Harnmeijer, from our project partners Scene, working in partnership with a local innovation hub, Bikas Udhyami held a Summer School in Tirpureshwor, Nepal. The event was attended by more than 80 people, a mixture of academics, entrepreneurs and practitioners. This Summer School provided an opportunity for the HEED project to discuss how IoT data collection can address energy poverty with the next generation of IoT entrepreneurs and academics .

To find out more about how Vijay Bhopal and Jelte Harnmeijer, from our project partners Scene, got on at the event go to our engagement page.

Looking to be part of an innovative and inspirational project to address energy poverty by providing new technical solutions for displaced populations ? The HEED project has four full funded PhD studentships in data mining, long-lived wireless sensor networks and micro-grid management and control systems

By becoming part of the HEED team you will engage in meaningful research and join a dedicated interdisciplinary team of scientists, project collaborators and fellow doctoral researchers who are exploring ways to provide better energy solutions for refugees.

The deadline for completed applications is the 1st of November 2018 and the on-line application is here.

If you have any queries or would like to find out more about the PhD studentships and working on the HEED project please contact us here

We are pleased to announce the first of our briefing papers is now available here. This paper aims to disseminate key findings to improve energy policy and practice. By adding to the literature around humanitarian energy and displaced populations it will generate greater discussion in the fields of decentralised energy, off-grid renewables and the issues of access to energy for refugees and displaced people.