Investigating the Ability of Smart Electricity Meters to Provide Accurate Low Voltage Network Information to the UK Distribution Network Operators

This research presents a picture of the current status and the future developments of the LV electricity grid and the capabilities of the smart metering programme in the UK as well as investigating the major research trends and priorities in the field of Smart Grid. This work also extensively examines the literature on the crucial LV network performance indicators such as losses, voltage levels, and cable capacity percentages and the ways in which DNOs have been acquiring this knowledge as well the ways in which various LV network applications are carried out and rely on various sources of data. This work combines 2 new smart meter data sets with 5 established methods to predict a proportion of consumer’s data is not available using historical smart meter data from neighbouring smart meters. Our work shows that half-hourly smart meter data can successfully predict the missing general load shapes, but the prediction of peak demands proves to be a more challenging task. This work then investigates the impact of smart meter time resolution intervals and data aggregation levels in balanced and unbalanced three phase LV network models on the accuracy of critical LV network performance indicators and the way in which these inaccuracies affect major smart LV network application of the DNOs in the UK. This is a novel work that has not been carried out before and shows that using low time resolution and aggregated smart meter data in load flow analysis models can negatively affect the accuracy of critical low voltage network estimates

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD):A holistic approach to curriculum design, development and implementation using participatory and integrative methodologies

In response to the climate emergency and future Sustainable Development (SD) of our planet, HEIs must adopt integrated, holistic approaches to curriculum design that are primarily focused on developing graduates into more socially responsible, global citizens and engineers with sought-after sustainability competencies and skills, empowered to tackle complex local and global SD challenges. In line with our institutional strategic goals and commitments, we outline the use of innovative, participatory programme design methodologies involving internal and external stakeholders, in our approach to designing a new post-graduate course in Sustainable Engineering at Aston University that has the potential to fulfil these transformative goals, asking ourselves and all stakeholders throughout: “What content really matters?” “Are students doing something that is meaningful?” “How should it be taught?”. This work describes the implementation of our innovative ESD approaches to holistic curriculum design, development, implementation, and delivery. Using evaluation data from staff, students, and external stakeholders the effectiveness and impact of these programme design and delivery approaches are evaluated, and the findings are presented. Highlighted areas of good practice, as well as key lessons learned in our work can serve as potential signposts for other HEI adopters of similar or other ESD methodologies

Using smart meters to estimate low voltage losses

Losses on low voltage networks are often substantial. For example, in the UK they have been estimated as being 4% of the energy supplied by low voltage networks. However, the breakdown of the losses to individual conductors and their split over time are poorly understood as generally only the peak demands and average loads over several months have been recorded. The introduction of domestic smart meters has the potential to change this. How domestic smart meter readings can be used to estimate the actual losses is analysed. In particular, the accuracy of using 30 minute readings compared with 1 minute readings, and how this accuracy could be improved, were investigated. This was achieved by assigning the data recorded by 100 smart meters with a time resolution of 1 minute to three test networks. Smart meter data from three sources were used in the investigation. It was found that 30 minute resolution data underestimated the losses by between 9% and 24%. By fitting an appropriate model to the data, it was possible to reduce the inaccuracy by approximately 50%. Having a smart meter time resolution of 10 minutes rather than 30 gave little improvement to the accuracy

Low voltage current estimation using AMI/smart meter data

Knowledge of the currents is a key foundation for smart grid applications. However, knowledge of low voltage currents is generally poor. The new information streams from advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)/smart meters and the monitoring of distribution substations offer the opportunity of rectifying this. Unfortunately, often not all the smart meter readings will be available in real-time. For example, this situation will arise when older (non-compliant) smart meters do not have real-time reporting capabilities. This paper investigates how knowledge of the substation currents can be combined with the available real-time AMI/smart meter readings and the historical readings from the non-real-time meters, to estimate these missing values. It is found that the k-nearest neighbor weighted average approach performs best but that the gains over using simpler methods are relatively modest

Development and delivery of innovative engineering degree apprenticeship programmes in collaboration with industry

Work Based Learning (WBL) programmes such as Degree Apprenticeships (DAs) have the potential to widen participation in Higher Education and transform lives, while also supplying the engineering industry with high calibre workforce that are committed, knowledgeable, skilled, and professional. In 2019, Aston University’s Professional Engineering Centre (APEC) developed a suite of level 6 BEng Professional Engineering DA programmes in line with three existing DA standards and in collaboration with major UK manufacturing companies. The curriculum was designed to be flexible and responsive to employers’ needs while ensuring academic and professional development of apprentices aligned with the Knowledge, Skills, and Behaviour (KSB) requirements of the DA standards. This work details our approach in working with employers to develop effective, efficient, and flexible curricula for three DA Programmes launched in January 2020. The case study also outlines the student support measures put in place as part of the successful delivery of this programme to ensure simultaneous academic and professional growth of the apprentices while ensuring compliance with the KSB and the End Point Assessment (EPA) requirements of the DA standards. The success of the programmes in meeting the needs of over 70 apprentices and 15 employers since January 2020 while meeting the rigorous academic and regulatory requirements of such programmes is appraised using feedback from the University validation panel, employer feedback, and apprentices’ feedback from Module Evaluation Questionnaires (MEQs) scores and comments, tripartite review meetings, and programme committee meetings

Education for Industry 5.0 and ESD: co-creation of engineering design challenges with industry

Since October 2022, Aston University have partnered with a leading UK employer in the industrial water/utilities sector to co-design and implement multi-disciplinary, problem-based learning (PBL) engineering design challenges that aim to address complex sustainable development (SD) challenges faced by this sector. The engineering design challenges were embedded within formal and informal postgraduate curricula. The conceptualised framework sought to develop key technical and professional, industry-desired skills in students in line with graduate competencies and attributes integral to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). This work details the participatory co-design and implementation of a pioneering initiative in collaboration with our industrial partner, outlining the context, structural framework and pedagogical approaches implemented that are crucial to developing engineering graduates ready for the Industry 5.0 era. Survey data of student perspectives of the challenge on their skills development and overall learning experience, as well as reflections from academic staff and industry professionals involved are thematically analysed. The main findings highlight the multi-faceted benefits of our approach in facilitating learning through interdisciplinary PBL, real-world challenges and industry exposure. Also emphasised is its effectiveness in providing students with transformative learning experiences, enhancing their skills, and bridging the gap between their academic experience and industry expectations. Overall, our pedagogical approach demonstrated tangible outcomes by preparing students for the evolving needs of Industry 5.0, and fostering a skilled workforce ready for real-world, complex SD challenges, thus also signifying the relevance and impact of our methodology in the current higher education landscape

Experiential learning in STEM education: review of interesting practices

This paper is an interim report into current practice in experiential learning in Higher Education with a primary focus on STEM courses funded by a QAA Collaborative Enhancement project grant. The methodology was mixed method with a combination of document analysis, a large-scale survey of QAA linked institutions, and focus. This paper looks at the key emergent themes – a fuller discussion of the research and a toolkit for effective use of experiential learning will follow as an output of the project. Key themes which have been identified are:APL processes tend to focus on prior academic learning rather than experiential. The exception being English Degree Apprenticeships.Experiential learning’ includes a wide range of activities which “bring the workplace into the classroom, or the classroom into the workplace” (focus group attendee 15).Key benefits include: improved employability, improved experience and engagement with studies, deeper understanding and better grades and increased maturity for students and more industry contact, course relevance, and enriched professional experience for staff. There is also a recognised marketing boost for institutions.Challenges to implementation include: existing university structures and processes, staff reluctance to become involved, lack of planning and structure, engagement of industrial partners.Supporting factors include: Strong industry links, supportive University structures and processes, a clear rationale, purpose and pedagogy, a focus on reflection, staff motivation, student engagement

Global Engineering Competency (GEC) development through participation in the Engineers Without Borders Engineering for People Design Challenge

This research paper explores the outcomes of delivery of an engineering challenge from the student perspective in two institutions which utilise different delivery structures. Setting out to conduct a comparative study, qualitative and quantitative data have been collected both pre- and post- participation via online surveys. Using the Global Engineering Competencies (GECs) as a framework for analysis, students’ self-reported confidence in key skills are examined, first at the institutional level, then compared across institutions. Whilst this project is a work-in-progress, the initial analysis of data has shown that participation impacts student development of Global Engineering Competences, with no significant differences being observed between the different delivery methods at present