Experience

Gamos Ltd.

• United Kingdom
• International Trade and Development
• 1 - 100 Employee

• Senior Research Associate

  • Apr 2017 - Present

  Gamos is a small but influential company working with the social factors surrounding technology use and transfer. Gamos was the architect of the mobile money revolution that has changed hundreds of millions of lives across the Global South. From 2015 onwards, I have worked within the co-creating team at both Loughborough University and Gamos Ltd. to ‘ethno-engineer’ the emerging concept of eCook (battery-supported electric cooking) around the myriad of culturally-distinct global cooking practices. This included a DfID/InnovateUK/Gamos-funded eCook Global Market Assessment to identify high impact countries in 2017 and leading teams of local researchers to explore the markets in Kenya, Zambia, Tanzania and Myanmar. During this fieldwork, I led a series of ‘ethno-engineering’ experiments to explore the trade-offs between energy-efficiency/usability. The evidence we co-created with everyday cooks shows that energy-efficient cooking appliances (e.g. electric pressure cookers) and practices are not just acceptable, but desirable to many poorer households. I have now ‘ethno-engineered’ six proof-of-concept eCook prototypes around local foods, tastes, practices and aspirations by turning my own kitchen and those of my neighbours/colleagues in each country into living labs.



Loughborough University

• United Kingdom
• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Senior Research Associate

  • Feb 2015 - Nov 2021

  In 2015, I joined the transdisciplinary LCEDN (Low Carbon Energy for Development Network) at Loughborough University to co-create alongside global research leaders, Prof. Ed Brown and Dr. Simon Batchelor. My roles included: • Lead field researcher on the DfID/EPSRC/DECC-funded Solar Nano-grids project in Kenya during the bankruptcy of our in-country partner, Intasave. • Strategic research & stakeholder engagement to develop the emerging concept of eCook, inc. leading a global market assessment & detailed field research in Kenya, Zambia, Myanmar & Tanzania. • Bringing together diverse actors through the LCEDN.



Wind Empowerment

• International

• Coordinator

  • Sep 2013 - Nov 2016

  Wind Empowerment is a global practioners' network to accelerate the development of locally manufactured SWT technology for sustainable rural electrification • Transforming an organisation with little activity and no funding into a vibrant community with over £100,000 turnover in 2016. • Chairing an executive board of 8, leading a volunteer team of 20 & coordinating 40+ member organisations in 25+ different countries. • Organising international transdisciplinary conferences in Greece/Argentina (2014/2016). • Legally registering the association as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation in the UK.



The University of Sheffield

• Higher Education
• 700 & Above Employee

• Research Fellow

  • Jan 2014 - Feb 2015

  In 2014, I was awarded an EPSRC Post-Doctoral Prize Fellowship at Sheffield worth £50,000. My fieldwork on the impact of SWTs on rural development in Argentina and the Falklands, enabled me to advise the Argentine government’s $200million PERMER-II rural electrification programme in 2016. I began developing the ‘ethno-engineering’ approach by blending anthropological/engineering techniques to develop more culturally-informed development solutions. In 2014, I was awarded an EPSRC Post-Doctoral Prize Fellowship at Sheffield worth £50,000. My fieldwork on the impact of SWTs on rural development in Argentina and the Falklands, enabled me to advise the Argentine government’s $200million PERMER-II rural electrification programme in 2016. I began developing the ‘ethno-engineering’ approach by blending anthropological/engineering techniques to develop more culturally-informed development solutions.



Maya Pedal

• San Andrés Itzapa, Guatemala

• Design/production engineer (volunteer)

  • May 2009 - Sep 2009

  Design, building and testing of prototypes of appropriate pedal-powered machines for applications in rural Guatemala. Design, building and testing of prototypes of appropriate pedal-powered machines for applications in rural Guatemala.



AECOM

• United States
• Civil Engineering
• 700 & Above Employee

• Sustainability Consultant (Intern)

  • Aug 2008 - Oct 2008

  Research into new sustainable energy technologies and their impact in the UK building services industry. Research into new sustainable energy technologies and their impact in the UK building services industry.



GKN Aerospace

• United Kingdom
• Aviation and Aerospace Component Manufacturing
• 700 & Above Employee

• Aerospace Engineer (Intern)

  • Jun 2008 - Aug 2008

  Research into novel heating elements for aircraft wing leading edge anti-icing and de-icing. Research into novel heating elements for aircraft wing leading edge anti-icing and de-icing.