Email: sam.williamson@bristol.ac.uk
About Sam
Sam is passionate about engineering supporting a positive social change, providing a more equal and just society. During a sabbatical year in Nepal during 2008-9, Sam realised first hand how energy was a key enabler to achieve this. Since then, he has been working on small-scale hydropower through his PhD study, a follow on EPSRC grant, and currently through an EPSRC DTP scholarship. From his experiences in remote and rural communities, he has learnt how innovative they are, able to understand, modify and repair technology with limited tool sets and potentially restricted understanding. He has forged links with research groups in the Global South, from Brazil, South Africa and Nepal, to co-design and co-produce high quality research outputs and educational materials. Prior to Sam’s time in academia, he worked in engineering consultancies for Airbus and other clients developing design methods, test plans and safety databases.
Sam grew up in Cornwall, spending his summers working for his parents in their dairy engineering company. He therefore enjoy spending time outside, especially ambling along beaches or walking up hills. He is very keen on living a minimum impact life, and so lives in an energy efficient house which was developed with his family and two cats.
Projects
Publications
- Amazon energy cultures and the transition to sustainability
- A methodology for renovation of micro-hydropower plants: A case study using a Turgo turbine in Nepal
- Passive-Regulated DC Microgrid for Rural Electrification: An Assessment from a Design for Localisation Approach
- Evaluating the Environmental Impact of Micro Hydropower in Nepal
- Reliable Prosumer: Local Energy Management for Increased Reliability in Interruption-Prone Distribution Grids
- Understanding the barriers to clean cooking in informal settlements – Case Studies from Freetown and Kampala
- Smart Energy Cities - A Perspective from West Africa
- Energy Transition on St Helena Island: A system dynamics approach
For more publications, please visit
https://www.bristol.ac.uk/people/person/Sam-Williamson-8e943320-0f72-457c-af72-51f99fe557f2/
Posts
Cooking With Electricity In Nepal
PhD student Will Clements tells us how switching from cooking with biomass to cooking with electricity is saving time and saving lives […]