Congratulations to UCL-Energy PhD graduates

Ivan Garcia Kerdan, Paula Morgenstern, Sofie Pelmakers, Carlo Raucci, and Will Usher all attended the ceremony held at Senate House on the 7^th of September 2017. Following the ceremony, the graduates and families were welcomed for a congratulatory drinks reception with UCL-Energy staff and students, held at Central House, home of the Institute.

Pictured above are the graduates, alongside Professor Alan Penn, Dean of the Bartlett, Professor Tadj Oreszczyn, Director of the Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources, Professor Robert Lowe, Director of UCL Energy Institute and supervisors Dr Cliff Elwell and Dr Rokia Raslan.

Particularly striking was the diversity of PhD theses. Professor Robert Lowe, in his speech made at the Central House reception said:

“And this spread of work, all in the area of energy, but so varied, is a testament to the diversity of the UCL Energy Institute and the fascinating people who apply to do PhDs with us.  It has been a great to have you with us, and I hope that we can maintain the links between us in the coming years, regardless of where your future careers take you. In the meantime, let us celebrate.

Ivan Garcia Kerdan’s Thesis, entitled ‘An exergy-based modelling tool for retrofit analysis in non-domestic buildings’, developed an understanding on how simulation tools based on exergetic analysis and thermoeconomics methods can help to optimize current building systems and their energy supply chain, and provide a more accurate energy description of the building before and after retrofit actions are implemented. 

Paula Morgenstern, completed her PhD at UCL-Energy as part of the London – Loughborough EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Energy Demand (LoLo CDT) thesis ‘Understanding hospital electricity use: an end-use(r) perspective’ looked at improving the understanding of hospital electricity use from an end-use perspective and to determine the theoretical reduction potential from behaviour change for different hospital types and areas.

Sofie Pelsmakers, who also completed her PhD with a studentship from LoLo CDT, wrote her thesis ‘Pre-1919 suspended timber ground floors in the UK: estimating in-situ U-values and heat loss reduction potential of interventions’ focussing on testing floor heat-flow theory and testing and refining measuring methods, practices and analysis techniques for uninsulated and insulated floors. 

Carlo Raucci’s thesis enetitled ‘Is Hydrogen a potential fuel for international shipping?’ looked at broader energy systems that would facilitare the widespread deployment of Hydrogen Fuel Cells in shipping as well as their production, and of other sectors that may be markets for the technology.

Will Usher’s Thesis ‘Uncertainty in energy system modelling’ reviewed energy system modelling’s efficacy when it comes to deep uncertainty, modelling future scenarios.

In addition to Professor Lowe's words, the Institute would like to wish Ivan, Paula, Sofie, Carlo and Will the very best with their future careers.