R&D / ILRT

Demanding Hackathon Win

21 October 2013

Hacking a toasterIT Services R&D/ILRT senior technical researcher, Dr Chris Bailey, was a member of the prize-winning Demand Shaper team in a non-stop 36-hour Hackathon at Imperial College over the weekend of 19 October 2013. The event was organised by NESTA as part of their Dynamic Demand Challenge which is providing funding to entrepreneurs and start-ups who are tackling the problem of shifting electricity usage towards renewable energy at off-peak times.

Chris provided IT know-how for the Demand Shaper team who had constructed innovative agent-based simulations and developed a home energy control unit to moderate the usage of large-impact energy sources in the home (heating, hot water, electric vehicles, etc.) to help shift their usage to better make use of constantly changing energy sources such as wind power.

Exhausted but elated, Chris' team were chosen as one of five winners who will now receive £10,000 to enhance and refine their ideas over the next six months and proceed to the final stage of the competition, with the chance of winning the overall £50,000 prize.

A video of the hacked together Demand Shaper demonstration can be seen here.