Dr William Batten, Dr Patrick James and Mark Jentsch were invited to take part in a renewable energy workshop in Malaysia as part of a UK delegation from three universities. The workshop was organised by the British Council Malaysia within the framework of the International Networking for Young Scientists (INYS) programme in order to bring together young researchers from both countries. It was hosted by the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur. Workshop topics included solar technologies, hydrogen fuel cells, the built environment, marine energy and energy policy. The researchers of the Sustainable Energy Research Group arranged for further collaboration with Malaysian partners.

A delegation from the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment was invited to a workshop on environmental sustainability hosted by the University of California San Diego.

Prof Charles Banks, Mark Jentsch, Prof AbuBakr Bahaj, Prof Mike McDonald and Prof Mutasem El-Fadel attended the workshop, which aimed to set up research partnerships between leading academics in the SetSquared partner univerisites in the UK and the University of California. Topics covered included transportation, water resources, biofuels, air quality, buildings and the built environment.

Members of the Southampton team were also invited as VIP guests to a presentation on climate change by Ed Mazria.

Prof AbuBakr Bahaj was invited to give a presentation at the RSA on the 'Exploitation of Ocean Currents and Waves for Electricity Generation'. The session was chaired by HRH Prince Philip.

Members of the IDCOP research team presented their current work on climate change weather file generation for thermal building simulations to the UKCIP team in Oxford. An automated form of generating simulation weather files in TMY2 (Typical Meteorological Year) format using UKCIP data was presented. Further steps of how to disseminate this tool to the wider building services industry were discussed.

Prof AbuBakr Bahaj was invited to give a presentation at an international workshop hosted by the British Council Germany and the Einstein Forum, Potsdam. The workshop ‘Carbon in the City - International Perspectives’ was held on the 11th of May 2007 at the British Embassy, Wilhelmstrasse 70 in Berlin and brought together experts from India, Germany and the UK.

Dr Patrick James was invited by the French Embassy in London to give a talk on 'Microgeneration: Opportunities and Barriers' on the 15th of February 2007. The event was held at the Novartis Foundation in London. The same talk was presented again on the 20th April at Imperial College in London to their energy group and invited guests.

Malcolm Wicks, Secretary of State said that he 'considers that the report “Unlocking the Power House” makes an important contribution to the growing body of research on the deployment of microgeneration technologies and will help to inform the development of the microgeneration aspects of the Energy White Paper.' The report is part of a recently completed 3 year project funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). The consortium consisted of Southampton University’s Sustainable Energy Research Group, the Social Policy Research Unit at Sussex University and Imperial College.

9 papers were presented by the Sustainable Energy Research Group at the World Renewable Energy Congress IX in Florence, including papers on marine current energy converters, energy and comfort in commercial buildings and microgeneration.

World Renewable Energy Congress IX
Florence, Italy
19 - 25 August 2006

The Conservative Party Leader Mr David Cameron MP visited the Sustainable Energy Research Group within the School of Civil Engineering and the Environment. He was welcomed to the University by the Vice Chancellor Prof Bill Wakeham and Prof William Powrie, head of School. Prof ‘Bakr Bahaj described some of the Sustainable Energy Research Group's activities in renewable energy systems and energy in buildings (including microgeneration technologies). He also presented to the visitors various issues related to building refurbishment and occupier comfort that the Group is researching.

5 Canadian undergraduates, Natalie Parks of Dalhousie U, David Rancourt of Sherbrooke U, Kathryn Klement of U Toronto, Vittorio Spoldi of U Calgary, and Michael Burgess of UBC were the first recipients of a new British Council Canada award for Young Canadian Ambassadors in S&T (YCAST). They were awarded a journey to the UK to explore UK research in the area of renewable and new energy sources. Three British universities and one Research Council laboratory had been identified as having programmes at the forefront of energy research and state of the art equipment, one of them being the University of Southampton with its Sustainable Energy Research Group. The students have recorded their experiences on a daily basis on a web blog.

Vittorio Spoldi commented: "The University of Southampton, about an hour and a half drive from London, proved to be one of the most hospitable of all the places we visited. I felt very relaxed and welcomed at Southampton, and I think the rest of the group will agree. The biscuits they served were even shaped like dolphins (the logo of Southampton University), which I found to be thoughtful of them. The research presentations had mainly to do with turbines for wind and marine applications, as well as photovoltaic cells, and bacteria that were magnetized. All the presentations were easy to follow and went into enough detail to keep you interested, but not so much as to confuse you. We also had the chance to have lunch with some 3^rd year engineering students in the school cafeteria, it was neat to hear their opinions on the University."

BBC's South Today News requested an interview with Dr. Bahaj on photovoltaics and solar thermal energy. The PV array on the roof of the new Professional Services Building was visited and demonstrated to the reporters.

On air 25 August 2005, 6:30pm

G8 scientists requested a visit to the Sustainable Energy Research Group at the University of Southampton to see current research and test facilities of the group, including marine current energy converters and the new PV array on the Student Services Building.

pictures of the visit

10 papers presented by the Sustainable Energy Research Group at the World Renewable Energy Congress VIII in Denver, including papers on Marine Current Energy Converters, Photovoltaics and HOEs