The University of Birmingham, has teamed up with technology major Siemens, to transform its Edgbaston (UK) and Dubai campuses into the world’s smartest global campuses, creating a ‘Living Lab’ where research, teaching and learning all benefit from access to new data and connectivity. 

 

It will be done with a combination of digital sensor and analytic technologies, artificial intelligence (AI), decentralised energy generation and storage in addition to renewable energy and concepts that help change users’ behaviour.

 

The ‘Living Lab’ will capture data from the University’s building technologies, estates infrastructure and energy plants and use it for innovation, R&D activities, as well as teaching, said a statement from University of Birmingham.

 

Scrutinising energy demand and production - from systems to individual consumers/producers (prosumers) - with live data from across the sites provides a unique opportunity for applied learning for students and creates a platform for cutting-edge research, it stated.

 

Siemens said it will be sponsoring a team of PhD studentships at the university based in the UK and Dubai. 

Their research projects will be co-designed by Siemens and the University to address important challenges in data, technology, urban systems and the NetZero goal. 

 

This year, the University of Birmingham will become the first in the world to roll out Internet of Things (IoT) technology at scale. Starting in Autumn, the first phase of this major energy efficiency project will include the roll out of 23,000 enlighted IoT sensors across the university estate, it stated.

 

On its ambitious vision, Professor Tim Jones, Provost and Vice-Principal, said: "Our goal is to deliver the campus of the future, using cutting-edge technologies to make our university campuses in Edgbaston and Dubai the smartest globally. This will enhance our student experience, create new research and innovation opportunities, whilst significantly reducing our carbon footprint."

 

"As we approach COP26 in Glasgow this autumn, it is clear we are into the ‘decade of delivery’ for NetZero targets. University-Industry strategic partnerships, such as ours with Siemens, are important for helping to identify pathways for turning targets into reality," he added.

 

Matthias Rebellius, managing board member of Siemens AG and CEO of Smart Infrastructure,: "As one of the largest institutions in the UK, with a global community of more than 38,000 students, the University is already an energy prosumer and these technologies will be further optimised in the future energy system we are now working together to achieve."

 

"Partnerships like this are extremely important for gathering new insights, testing and developing new technologies and creating efficient and sustainable energy infrastructures. The university’s campus in Dubai will be a global example of sustainability at the rescheduled Dubai Expo 2020," he noted.

 

CEO Siemens (GB & Ireland) Carl Ennis said: "We are excited to be working with the University of Birmingham on this project and confident that together we can develop a clear pathway to the University becoming a smart campus and net zero."

 

"Our goal is to apply the University’s strategic vision to their campus. We will uncover where carbon savings are possible by managing resources more efficiently, in a system that is adaptable to changing demand. All of this can be achieved with a combination of connected digital technologies, artificial intelligence, decentralised energy generation and storage, renewable energy and ideas that help change users’ behaviour," he noted.

 

In addition, Siemens will deliver a 10-year bureau for Energy and IoT services to ensure that the University reaps the full potential of both the technology and industry expertise, he added.-TradeArabia News Service