Whilst working at NXP, I helped initiate a program looking at ways that semiconductor devices could contribute to reducing energy consumption. The key work areas were automotive, PC power supplies, TV back-lighting, smart metering and RFID to reduce perishable waste.
Various visits were made to other companies, including one to Andy Stanford Clark and colleagues at IBM Hursley. We discussed the feasibility of adding MQTT to set top boxes and TVs. As is common with consumer electronics though, the business model wasn’t there. Tech can do anything, but business models are normally the blocker.
More recently, I started the Renewable Energy Systems Technology MSc at Loughborough University. So far I have passed Wind 1, Biomass 1, Hydro 1, Sustainability Module and am waiting for my results on the Integration module. Highlights so far must include the anaerobic digester lab, where I was diagnosing the health of the methanogenic microbes busy processing waste grinds from a nearby coffee processing factory. Wave and tidal devices and the characteristics of the various types of hydroelectric turbine was also very interesting.
This section includes a page on Homecamp, which is a fascinating and very worthy activity, with a lot happening in the South Coast area – thanks in part to IBM Hursley. It is a shame that NXP Southampton closed down ( went from 630 staff in 2001 to about 25 today ). But then consumer electronics projects can be developed anywhere, hence the Bangalore office headcount increase from a few hundred in 2001 to over 3000 today.