University PhD Research Studentship
School of Engineering and Computing
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 Discipline
Department of Computer, Communications and Interactive Systems (CCIS)
Research Theme
Sustainable Environments: Urban Environments & Efficient Systems.
Research Project Summary
Energy Management Systems and Building Control Systems are becoming a very important area of
growth in the 21st century Green Economy. It requires 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 realtime 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. This project is an advancement of the
previous successful project (Advanced Sensor Architecture (Protocols and Embedded Systems) for
Development of Energy Management Systems and Building Control Systems) which culminated in a
patent and several research papers (for local controllers). 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. This type of controller will be very important for
reducing carbon footprint, and generate partnerships with industry.
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
Version1.0Feb15
algorithm design. Solid programming skills in C are highly desirable. The candidate must also have a
positive attitude toward interdisciplinary research and teamwork.
Supervisory Team
•
Dr. Hadi Larijani (DoS)
•
Dr. Ali Ahmadinia
•
Prof. Rohinton Emmanuel
Staff Contact
For informal enquiries and further details of this project please contact Dr. Hadi Larijani by email at:
H.Larijani@gcu.ac.uk
How to Apply
Applicants should complete the University Research Application Form, available from:
http://www.gcu.ac.uk/research/phdresearchopportunities/
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:
researchapplications@gcu.ac.uk
The closing date for applications is Monday 13 April 2015
Version1.0Feb15