Energy, Engineering and Social Justice - 17 Jun 2013 5.00 - 6.30 pm

Energy, Engineering and Social Justice

Abstract

Energy underwrites all human endeavors. Where energy is abundant, we find prosperous societies; where energy is scarce, we find lowered standards of living. Electricity is one of the most convenient carriers of energy, yet approximately 1.6 billion people do not have access to the electric grid. This form of energy poverty disproportionately afflicts the world’s most impoverished. As engineers, we must ask what our role is—if any—in increasing access to electricity. This presentation discusses the broad challenge of energy poverty, the potential for engineers to increase energy accessibility, and experiences in installing renewable systems in Zambia and Haiti.

Presenter

Dr Henry Louie B.S.E.E

Biographical Notes

Dr. Henry Louie received the B.S.E.E. degree from Kettering University in 2002, the M.S. degree from the University of Illinois in 2004, and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington in 2008. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seattle University in the United States, where he received the Outstanding Teacher award in 2012. His past industry experience includes working with Emerson Process Management, Power Engineers and 3TIER Environmental Forecast Group.

Dr. Louie has been the Vice President for Membership & Image of the IEEE Power & Energy Society (PES) since 2011, and is the youngest person ever to serve on the PES Executive Committee. His current and past positions include: Governing Board Member-At-Large, member of the IEEE Smart Grid Steering Committee, Long-Range Planning Committee, liaison to the IEEE Industry Applications Society and the IEEE PES Scholarship Plus Committee. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE. Dr. Louie has served as Technical Program Co-Chair of the 2012 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference and as Secretary of the IEEE PES Working Group on Sustainable Energy Systems for Developing Communities. His research includes renewable energy modeling, electric vehicle infrastructure impact analysis and humanitarian engineering.