Energy profiling for Smart Homes and Small Businesses
Department of Computing and Electronic Systems
Applicants are sought for a fully funded EPSRC-BT Industrial CASE PhD Studentship to be held at the Department of Computing and Electronic Systems at the University of Essex. The project is focused on the application of intelligent techniques for management of energy consumption in "smart homes" and small businesses, based on energy signatures and use patterns. The availability of plentiful low-cost energy is under threat and awareness of the impact of carbon emissions is growing. At the same time, the number of connected devices in the home and business is increasing and the trend is towards always-on services. A major challenge is the ability to "retro-fit" sensing and control economically into the mass market of existing built environments and appliances that are not designed to support this capability.
Project Aims:
The project will investigate:
- Detection of energy signatures for a range of devices and appliances in the home and small business. This includes developing models for classes of devices and adaptation for the behaviour of specific types.
- Whether it is possible to identify a product by matching its signature to a library of device signatures.
- Techniques for detecting signatures from a background where devices and appliances are in operation concurrently.
- The minimum sensing infrastructure required to determine the operational patterns of a collection of devices in a home or office. Since most devices and appliances do not provide information about themselves, what level and combination of (probably non-invasive) energy sensing and other supporting environmental sensing is required to provide a basis for making decisions about energy use?
- In addition, the project will aim to show, via a working demonstrator, how the techniques investigated above, could be used to monitor and support predictive control of energy use.
The Applicant: The ideal candidate will have a good background in engineering or the physical sciences (eg computer science, electronic engineering, or physics) and be responsible, adaptable and passionate about carrying out physical experiments.
Funding:
The scholarship covers tuition fees and provides an EPSRC stipend in the region of £12,600/annum (to be confirmed for 2008-2009). Travel expenses and necessary research equipment will also be paid for. In addition this payment is enhanced by a generous contribution from BT of £5,300 for the first year, £6,700 for the 2nd year and £7,400 for the third year (subject to confirmation). The successful candidate will be expected to spend at least 4 weeks per year at BT Research Labs.
Application Procedure:
Suitable applicants should send a covering letter and CV to vic@essex.ac.uk. In addition, applicants should also apply for admission as a PhD student at Essex by submitting the general PhD application form, entering the project name and naming Prof Vic Callaghan (Essex) and Mr Phil Bull (BT) as the proposed supervisors.
Project Start Date: October 2008
Eligibility:
Potential candidates must satisfy two main eligibility criteria: academic and residency. The academic requirement is the equivalent of at least an upper second first degree. The residency requirements mean that, unless they have been living outside of the UK for a period of time, all UK students are eligible for fees and stipend. EU students who have been resident in the UK for 3 years, including for study purposes, immediately prior to starting the PhD are also eligible for fees and stipend. EU students who do not meet the residency rule above are eligible for fees-only awards (i.e. no maintenance grant). Non-EU citizens are not eligible (unless they have indefinite leave to remain from the UK Home Office).
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