Creating Partnerships

We recognise the importance of building connections between academia and industry to ensure the continued development of the off-grid sector. The Efficiency for Access Design Challenge aims to help establish these long-lasting, productive partnerships.

If you are a company and want to be an industry partner for the competition please contact EforAchallenge@est.org.uk

Connecting Academia and Industry workshops

Academic and Industry partners have had opportunities to participate in workshops designed to bring together both sectors and explore opportunities for collaboration. As part of the Challenge, we provide opportunities for academics and industry partners to connect and explore opportunities for collaboration. We hope to help academics forge connections with industry reps whose perspective can inform course content, and enable industry partners to connect with academics whose perspective and access to research can help inform innovations.

This year, Kinya Kimathi of Kijani Testing, Dr Alan Bigelow from Solar Cookers International, and Dr Ping Yin from Swansea University each gave presentations that explained they have successfully forged collaborative partnerships between universities and the energy access sector. Following this, we held a speed-networking session for academic and business representatives involved in the Efficiency for Access Design Challenge. The key takeaways from this event can be found here.

In the first year of the Challenge, Dr Iwona Bisaga and Dr Priti Parikh presented on the UCL and BBOXX partnership. The key takeaways from the Connecting Academia and Industry workshop can be found here.

In the second year of the Challenge, Biraj Gautam and Sam Williamson presented on the PEEDA and University of Bristol partnership. The key takeaways from the Connecting Academia and Industry workshop can be found here.