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Engineering for International Development Centre

Engineering for International Development Centre researches engineering solutions for human development and wellbeing, which address SDGs using locally acceptable water-sanitation-energy approaches.

Collecting water
About

Engineering for International Development Centre focuses on engineering solutions for human development and wellbeing. The centre researches locally acceptable water-sanitation-energy solutions to address Sustainable Development Goals.

UCL’s Engineering for International Development Centre was founded by Prof Priti Parikh to address gaps in infrastructure provision in resource-challenged settings in low-middle income countries. EFID brings together a team of doctoral students, postdocs, academics and cross sectoral organisations to address global challenges in water, sanitation and energy provision. This is achieved by combining technical innovation with societal needs through mixed method research. EFID is pioneering work on evidencing links between infrastructure and the Sustainable Development Goals. Prof Parikh aspires to inspire future engineers to tackle global challenges such as urbanisation, climate change, poverty alleviation and gender inclusion through engineering. To that end she founded CEGE's Engineering for International Development MSc, the Engineering Faculty student Hub and the BSCC EFID research centre.

People 

Leadership
Associate Members
Research Fellows
  • Dr Mariam Zaqout: Mariam is a political economy researcher with focus on water and sanitation services sustainability in emerging economies. Her PhD focused on the challenges of understanding stakeholders’ incentives in financing sanitation services using neoclassical economic theories .She has a PhD in water, sanitation and health engineering from University of Leeds. Before joining UCL Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, Mariam worked at UCL Institute for Innovation and Public purpose research as part of the Global Commission on the Economics of Water where she focused on understanding the financing and market challenges of water infrastructure globally. Mariam currently explores the nexus of basic services infrastructure with the sustainable development goals through three collaborations:

  • Dasha Moschonas: Dasha is a design researcher, architect, and planner, working in the intersection of social and technical dimensions of urban challenges. She is a participatory design specialist, experimenting with design processes in infrastructure and public space projects. Dasha worked across professional cultures and geographies, in Serbia, Netherlands, UK, Australia, Belgium, Indonesia and Fiji, gathering people with different knowledges around a common design challenge. She completed a practice-based PhD in Architecture at Monash University (Melbourne), in a research project on the global scale “Revitalising Informal Settlements and their Environments”, designing and implementing the participatory strategy for water and sanitation infrastructure. After this, Dasha worked for a few years as an Urban Designer at Arup, a global engineering and sustainable development consultancy company, on climate adaptation, play, social value, child-friendly cities, active travel, and inclusion. She is interested in nature-based solutions, co-designing with nature, playful methodologies and impactful design research. She is a Research Fellow on the project “Listen, Learn and Leap: Nature-based solutions for climate resilience in East African cities”.

Research Assistants
  • Eleonora Piga: Eleonora recently completed her MSc Learning Environments at UCL, with a focus on infrastructure development in the Global South. Her research on participatory practices involving communities, practitioners, and non-governmental organisations in rural Zambia explored the key drivers and inhibitors of effective and inclusive collaboration. Alongside her role as Research Assistant, she is the Learning and Impact Officer for Caritas Westminster, overseeing the data collection and strategy of the charity. Her role consists in analysing and helping improve their many services, such as Bakhita House, a safe house for women escaping human trafficking, their Refugees and Asylum Seekers support program, and Caritas St. Joseph, a support program for individuals with intellectual disabilities.
  • Jhénelle Williams: Jhénelle is an early career Jamaican Scientist with experience in ocean science and nuclear applications. She received her BSc in Ocean Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology and worked as a Scientific Officer at the International Centre for Environmental & Nuclear Sciences (ICENS) prior to enrolling at the UCL in the MSc Climate Change Programme in 2021. Her experience has been in utilizing nuclear techniques like instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) to study Jamaica’s coastal and atmospheric environment to support Jamaica's efforts in achieving the outlined targets under the Sustainable Development Goals. Ms. Williams is currently completing her dissertation that investigates climate signals from stable isotopes in precipitation. Coupled with her studies, she is currently working with Prof Priti Parikh in the collation of a comprehensive research paper that assesses climate change impacts and solutions in developing regions like Sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Flavio Pinheiro Martins: Flavio is currently a PhD student conducting research on the interplay between infrastructure and healthcare delivery in Brazilian communities. Over the past years, Flavio has been involved in research mapping projects that connect the Sustainable Development Goals framework with various sectors. Currently, Flavio works as a Research Assistant for the following projects:
    • Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): This project aims to explore the role of ICE in promoting the 2030 agenda through its publications venues, including Civil Engineering, Energy, Engineering Sustainability, Municipal engineering, Smart Infrastructure and Construction, Transport, Urban Design and Planning, Waste and Resource Management, Water Management, and Climate Resilient Infrastructure. The project is coordinated by Prof Priti Parikh (EFID-UCL) and fostered by stakeholders from the ICE.
    • Luna De La Llama Kempeneers
    • Climate Resilient Infrastructure and the Future of the SDGs: This project aims to provide a cross-cutting perspective on climate resilient infrastructure within the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. It is coordinated by Prof Priti Parikh (EFID-UCL) and supported by Dr Samuel Godfrey (UNDP).
  • Hannah Brown
Current PhD

Vasco Megulhao

  • Primary supervisor: Prof Priti Parikh
  • Secondary supervisor: Dr. Licia Capra
  • Research interests: Sustainable Energy; Energy Access; Applied Machine Learning; Data Science. My research seeks to leverage the ever-increasing data assets that are being collected under the Pay As You Go (PAYGo) model to increase our understanding of Solar Home System (SHS) adopters. 
  • Working thesis title: Rwandan & Kenyan Solar Home System User Behavioural Patterns – a Data-driven Approach

Penelop Yaguma

Flavio Pinheiro Martins

  • Primary supervisor: Prof Priti Parikh
  • Secondary supervisor: Prof Monica Lakhanpaul 
  • Research interests: Sustainable Development Goals, Universal Healthcare, Vulnerable Communities, Science diffusion and communication. My PhD research focuses on investigating the impact of diverse infrastructure dimensions on the achievement of Universal Healthcare Coverage (UHC) in communities that are typically underserved by healthcare delivery in Brazil.
  • Working thesis title: The Role of Infrastructure in Achieving Universal Health Coverage in Brazilian Communities

Katharina Oemmelen

  • Primary supervisor: Prof Priti Parikh
  • Secondary supervisor: Dr Ben Page
  • Research interests:  Energy Access; Sustainable Development; Poverty Alleviation; Equality and Inclusion; Gender. My research applies a mixed-methods approach to examine the gendered benefits and trade-offs of mini-grid access in rural Madagascar. 
  • Working thesis title: From mini-grid to sustainable development: The renewable energy transition in rural Madagascar 
Visiting researchers

Nana Deng

  • Primary Supervior: Dr Jing Meng
  • Research interests: Residential electricity demand response; energy poverty; residential energy consumption behaviour. My research focuses on the factors such as economic incentives, policies and technologies, influence household energy consumption patterns and carbon emissions in China.
  • Working thesis: Inequitable and Heterogeneous Impacts on Household Adaptation From Poverty Eradication. 

Imlisongla Aier

I am Imlisongla Aier, a PhD scholar at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, my research focuses on developing technologies for clean cooking and improving household energy access. My work also includes monitoring indoor air pollution and collaborating with communities to assess the impacts of technological interventions.

During my PhD, I had the opportunity to collaborate with Prof. Priti Parikh on the “TEG Cookstove Project,” a joint initiative between IIT Delhi and UCL. This project aimed to evaluate the adoption, health benefits, and user perceptions of the TEG cookstove, as well as identify any barriers to its use. Our research involved field visits and designing questionnaires to gather data. The results showed that while users reported reduced smoke and fuelwood consumption with the TEG cookstove, none had used the stoves in the months leading up to the survey. Based on these findings, we recommended co-designing of cookstoves to better meet their needs and providing knowledge and awareness that highlights both the health benefits and the visible advantages, such as cleaner kitchen walls and reduced fuel consumption.

    Collaborators

    BBOXX
    Vitol Foundation 
    Water Aid
    Kounkuey Design Initative
    International Institute for Environment and Development
    eThekwini Municipality
    IIT CRDT

    Alumni
    • Dr Iwona Bisaga
    • Akaraseth Puranasamriddhi
    • Lucila Carbonela
    • Kerry Bobbins
    • Imad Ahmed
    • Anthony Odili
    • Jonathan Barnsley
    • Loan Diep
    • Marta Koch
    • Tash Perros
    • Vivien Kizilcec

    Publications   

    Prof Parikh's publications

    View Prof Parikh's publication on UCL Profiles. 

    In the media 

    Prof Priti Parikh did stand-up comedy on sanitation issues  

    on Twitter

    Videos
    News and links
    Media and Blogs

    Teaching and Student Experience

    EfID Centre members contribute to the following programmes:  

    EfID Centre Director Prof Parikh founded Engineering for International Development MSc in 2014, and was the programme director for five years.
    The UCL EfID hub, also founded by Prof Parikh, facilitates opportunities for all UCL Built Environment undergraduates from across the Faculty to work on global international development projects, honing their skills and putting their engineering knowledge to good use.
    As UCL's branch of Engineers without Borders UK, the UCL Engineers without Borders student society offers its members the opportunity to network, upskill and participate in overseas projects. EfID Centre members has strong connections and extensive collaborations with the charity and student society. 

    Contact

    UCL Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction

    2nd Floor
    1-19 Torrington Place
    London
    WC1E 6BT

    Prof. Priti Parikh, EfID Centre Director 

    E: priti.parikh@ucl.ac.uk