University of Birmingham, Siemens to create smartest campus in the world

The University of Birmingham in collaboration with Siemens, aims to create the world’s smartest campus. The organisations are combining digital sensor and analytic technologies, artificial intelligence, decentralised energy generation and storage, renewable energy, and concepts that help change user behaviour to transform the University’s Edgbaston and Dubai campuses into a Living Lab where research, teaching, and learning can take place.

The Living Lab will accumulate data from the University’s building technologies, estate infrastructure, and energy plants and use it for innovation, research, and education. Examining energy demand and production – from systems to individual consumers/producers (prosumers) – using live data from across the sites offers students a unique opportunity for applied learning and establishes a platform for research.

Siemens will fund a group of PhD studentships at universities in the United Kingdom and Dubai. Their research projects will be co-designed by Siemens and the University to address critical challenges in data, technology, urban systems and the netzero goal.

This year, the University of Birmingham will become the world’s first university to use the Internet of Things (IoT) technology on a large scale. The first phase of this large energy-saving initiative, beginning in Autumn 2021, will entail deploying 23,000 enlighted IoT sensors across the University estate.

? We’re excited to announce a revolutionary strategic partnership with the @unibirmingham which will see the University’s Edgbaston & Dubai campuses become the smartest in the world! ?

? We’re proud to start this journey as partners. Learn more ? https://t.co/YXY1MvB4Oa pic.twitter.com/R61jiCa06C

— Siemens (@Siemens) September 8, 2021

Professor Tim Jones, provost and vice-principal of the University of Birmingham said, “Our goal is to deliver the campus of the future, using cutting-edge technologies to make our campuses in Edgbaston and Dubai the smartest globally. This will enhance our student experience, create new research and innovation opportunities, whilst significantly reducing our carbon footprint. As we approach COP26 in Glasgow this autumn, it is clear we are into the ‘decade of delivery’ for netzero targets. University-Industry strategic partnerships, such as ours with Siemens, are important for helping to identify pathways for turning targets into reality.”

Carl Ennis, CEO Siemens, GB and Ireland, said: “We are excited to be working with the University of Birmingham on this project and confident that together we can develop a clear pathway to the University becoming a smart campus and net-zero. Our goal is to apply the University’s strategic vision to their campus. We will uncover where carbon savings are possible by managing resources more efficiently in a system that is adaptable to changing demand. All of this can be achieved with a combination of connected digital technologies, artificial intelligence, decentralised energy generation and storage, renewable energy and ideas that help change users’ behaviour.”

Recently, Abu Dhabi’s Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), a graduate-level research university focusing on artificial intelligence (AI), has launched an executive programme, which is designed to assist the UAE’s government and business elite in unlocking the potential of AI to ensure smart management, increased efficiencies, and enhanced productivity; all of which contribute to economic growth.

Read: Abu Dhabi’s AI university launches executive programme for UAE govt and business leaders

The programme will consist of six courses taught by instructors from academic institutions, executives from global multinational corporations, and university staff. It will also encourage more AI involvement among government, business, and the scientific community to expedite the development of future sectors in the UAE.