Smart Building Energy management for Large Non-domestic Buildings Using Intelligent Wireless sensors and HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) Control for Guaranteed Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Reference Number: SEBE_HL_2015_3

Studentship Project Title: Smart Building Energy management for Large Non-domestic Buildings Using Intelligent Wireless sensors and HVAC (Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning) Control for Guaranteed Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

Applications are invited for a full-time PhD research studentship at Glasgow Caledonian University within the School of Engineering and Computing. The studentship is for a period of three years, subject to satisfactory progress and provides payment of tuition fees at the UK/EU rate plus an annual stipend of £14,800 [please note that students from outside the EU are required to pay the difference between International and EU fees, currently this would amount to £7,100 per annum]. The successful candidate will carry out up to 6 hours of academic-related work per week as part of their research training.

Research Project Summary -

Energy Management Systems and Building Control Systems require many optimized specialties and techniques that span over a wide area of engineering: Network protocols and standards, embedded systems, and Building Standards. Central controllers have been mostly based on thermodynamic calculations for the large buildings, these are complex and require a lot of computing power, and are not suitable for real-time calculations.

The aims of the project are to:
1. Develop an advanced central controller for management of energy and building control systems in large non-domestic buildings based on Random Neural networks. Large non-domestic buildings require both local and central controllers; our focus will be central controllers in this project.

2. Rigorously test and critically analyse the central controller in the test labs of the School as well as under field conditions, including remote monitoring (BNE: RICH centre, and CEBE) of buildings with HVAC.

3. Optimize the control systems using advanced techniques (i.e. random neural networks) to develop machine learning central controller. This will generate a system that learns from the environment and what humans prefer as ideal settings for the building, and generate control commands in real-time. The main objective is energy efficiency and human comfort.

We are looking for a highly motivated candidate with a good honours degree (minimum 2.1) or Masters in Computer Engineering, Building Services Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Electronics, Mechatronics or a related discipline, who will have good analytical and programming skills and a strong interest in some or all of the following areas: Sensor Interfacing, Sensor Networks, Networking, Machine Learning, Building Control systems, Embedded Systems, Instrumentation, Energy management, and algorithm design. Solid programming skills in C are highly desirable. The candidate must also have a positive attitude toward interdisciplinary research and teamwork.

Staff Contact -

For informal enquiries and further details of this project please contact Dr Hadi Larijani by email at: [Email Address Removed]

How to Apply -

Applicants should complete the University Research Application Form, available from http://www.gcu.ac.uk/research/postgraduateresearchopportunities/ under “How to Apply”

Please send the form, stating the studentship project title and reference number, with a CV, copies of academic qualifications, references, and any other required documentation to: [Email Address Removed]

At GCU we are committed to promoting a flexible, accessible and inclusive working environment. Anticipated flexible work patterns for PhD students can be discussed with the project supervisory team at the interview stage.

The closing date for applications is Friday 26th June 2015