A Teesside University spin out business has secured a £100,000 grant to help improve electrical engineering capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa.
V-LAB Ltd will use the grant to work in partnership with Teesside University, UNIZIK Business School in Nigeria as well as four other Nigerian Universities and companies to catalyse the employability and entrepreneurial impact of engineers in the country’s electricity industry.
V-LAB Ltd is a Tees Valley-based smart engineering and energy consultancy business founded in 2020 by Teesside University academic Dr Vladimir Vukovic working with Teesside University graduates, Technical Manager Vishak Dudhee, and Energy Consultant Edgar Segovia.
The company delivers forward-thinking solutions focused on sustainable innovation to real-life markets using research emanating from Teesside University.
V-LAB works in a number of areas associated with energy efficiency, carbon neutrality and clean technologies, including applications of artificial intelligence, digital twins, augmented, virtual and mixed realities, numerical modelling and optimisation.
The Nigerian initiative has been supported by a grant from the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Higher Educations Partnership in Sub-Saharan Africa Programme (HEP SSA), backed by the Anglo-American Group Foundation and the UK Government through the Global Challenges Research Fund.
It will address the engineering skills shortage in Sub-Saharan Africa, helping to improve electricity access in Nigeria which will, in turn, contribute to the transformation of the country’s infrastructure.
Dr Vukovic, who is the project lead for UK partners, said “We are delighted to work with such dedicated teams from Nigeria to help make a difference to everyday people’s lives in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“We hope that this is just a beginning of a long and prosperous collaboration to advance and expand the skills and opportunities for engineering graduates in Africa.”
Vishak Dudhee, Technical Manager of V-LAB, who also serves as an expert consultant for the European Commission Joint Research Centre and was recently awarded Fellowship to the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), said: “Originating from Africa myself, I know how an unstable electricity supply can be problematic and interrupt people’s daily activities.
“With this project, we will provide training on electric load simulation, essential for accurate load prediction and guaranteeing electricity supply stability and efficiency.”
V-LAB is participating in the DigitalCity Accelerator Programme, a Teesside University-led initiative, funded through ERDF and designed to fast-track the growth of early-stage tech start-ups through mentoring, workshops and a development grant.
Scott Watson, Sector Growth Manager from DigitalCity said: “At DigitalCity, we are astonished by the innovation of V-LAB and the initiatives it is working on in Nigeria, which have the potential to change the quality of many people’s lives especially during this tough time with the energy crisis we are all currently facing.
“DigitalCity is delighted by the way in which V-LAB is using skills and expertise developed here at Teesside University to engage with other universities and drive entrepreneurship and employability to create a stronger economy and sustainable future in Nigeria.”
The Tees Valley business has previously been successful in an application to the Innovate UK Fast Start innovation call, to develop an award-winning thermal comfort controller prototype allowing occupants to control their heating by expressing whether they are hot or cold. This controller, based on the PhD research by Edgar Segovia, has shown potential to save up to 30% of energy costs while improving occupants’ comfort by up to 15%. The prototyping is currently in process and it could provide huge innovation to the industry.
If you would like more information about V-LAB, please email contact@v-lab.uk or follow its LinkedIn and company page (www.v-lab.uk).
