HYBUILD is a group of 21 partners from 9 countries. Every month, a new HYBUILD partner is introduced in our Blog section. This month, the Research Centre for Sustainable Energy of the University of Cyprus.
The Research Centre for Sustainable Energy (FOSS) was created in order to play a key role in research and technological development activities in the field of sustainable energy within Cyprus and at international level with the aim of contributing to the achievement of the relevant energy and environment objectives set out by Europe. In particular, the FOSS strives to become a centre of excellence in energy that will act as a structure where world-standard R&D work can be performed, in terms of measurable scientific value (including training) and/or technological innovation. In FOSS significant research expertise from the University of Cyprus as well as from industry has been assembled that spans a wide range of fields: Electrical, Mechanical, Civil, Environmental, Chemical engineering, ICT, Physics, Chemistry, Economics, Finance, as well as Architecture. The FOSS team aims, with the development of the necessary synergies, to create the impetus for the advancement of the field of energy. Members of the Centre represent Cyprus in European Energy Committees such as the Energy Committee for the Horizon 2020, the SET Plan, the European Technology and Innovation Platform SNET and PV and the European Standards Committees on PV. Currently FOSS is a full member of DERlab, EUREC and EERA JP for SG. The researchers involved in the working team have extensive experience in grant proposal applications and have acquired funding for a range of research topics through the EU, the National Research Funding Agency in Cyprus as well as industry.
FOSS is heavily involved in all spheres of sustainable energy spreading from sources of energy, smoothly merging RES in the integrated solutions of the grid, development of enabling technologies such as storage and ICT that will facilitate the seamless merging of sustainable technologies in the energy system of tomorrow, the complete transformation of energy use by the effective introduction of sustainable alternatives in meeting the needs for mobility, heating and cooling and exploring ways of achieving even higher levels of efficiency in all areas of the economy.
FOSS role in HYBUILD
In the framework of the HYBUILD project, FOSS Research Centre for Sustainable Energy, is responsible for system analysis and design, particularly for the Cyprus demo site, simulation activities and system integration. In addition, FOSS helps on the coordination of the Cyprus demo site activities in collaboration with the Municipality of Aglantzia and other partners. Furthermore, as a university institution, participates in the dissemination of the project and its results in international scientific journals and conferences.
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FOSS staff involved in HYBUILD are George E Georghiou, Venizelos Efthymiou, Aimilios Michael, Chryso Heracleous, Chrysanthos Charalambous.
George E Georghiou. Dr George E. Georghiou is the Director of FOSS Research Centre for Sustainable Energy and the leader of PV Technology, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Cyprus. Prior to this, he was a University Lecturer and the undergraduate course leader in Electrical Engineering at the University of Southampton, and a Research Advisor for the Electricity Utilization, University of Cambridge. Having graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA, MEng, MA (1996) all with distinction and a PhD (1999), Dr Georghiou continued his work at the University of Cambridge in the capacity of a Research Fellow (1999-2002). Dr Georghiou is currently a member of the Cyprus Energy Policy Council, the CENELEC and IEC committees on PV and is acting as an expert evaluator and reviewer for Horizon 2020 energy proposals as well as being a member of CIGRE and the European Solar Energy Industrial Initiative. He also represents Cyprus on the SET plan steering committee, the European Mirror Group on Photovoltaics and sits on the board of the Cyprus Energy Agency. Dr Georghiou has published over 300 papers in international journals and conference proceedings and his team has obtained research funding in excess of 10 million Euros from bodies such as the European Union, Industry (such as Honeywell, Q Cells, Tel-Solar, TSMC etc), Royal Society, Cambridge-MIT Institute, University of Cambridge, Research Promotion Foundation, Electricity Authority of Cyprus, Cyprus Energy Regulatory Authority etc. Amongst his scholarly achievements, are five outstanding paper awards for the most significant technical scientific contributions and an innovation prize.
Venizelos Efthymiou. Dr Venizelos Efthymiou from Cyprus is a holder of the UMIST university degrees: BSc in Electrical Engineering and Electronics, Master of Science (MSc) in Power Systems and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). He worked for the Electricity Authority of Cyprus from March 1979 up to November 2013 and he left the Company from the post of Executive Manager Networks and from the post of Manager of the Distribution System Operator of Cyprus. He is a member of the Steering Committee of the European Technology and Innovation Platform of SNET, a member of the Steering Committee of PV Technology and Innovation Platform, a member of the DSO Committee of EURELECTRIC, chairman of the Research Centre FOSS of the University of Cyprus and chairman of CIGRE Cyprus.
Aimilios Michael. Architect Engineer Dipl.Arch.Eng., M.Sc., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Architecture at the University of Cyprus, Director of Energy & Environmental Design of Buildings Research Laboratory (E&EDB) and member steering committee of the Inter-departmental Master Programme, Energy Technology and Sustainable Design of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Cyprus. Aimilios Michael currently holds the position of Vice-President of the Council for Planning Derogation Applications, Ministerial Council Appointment. He is also member of the Board Council of the Scientific Technical Chamber of Cyprus, CSTC. Aimilios holds a PhD in Environmental Design and Energy in Architecture from the Department of Architectural Technology, School of Architecture, National Technical University of Athens, NTUA. During his studies, he was awarded numerous academic performance distinctions, including the Academic Excellence NTUA Award 2004, NTUA Silver Medal 2004 (1st rank), Best Design Diploma Thesis NTUA Award 2004 and Nomination for Best Doctoral Dissertation Award NTUA 2011. His research activities take on an interdisciplinary perspective and they focus on the areas of Energy and Environmental Design of Buildings and Advanced Architectural Technology. He participated as principal investigator and/or project coordinator in several funded research programmes. His architectural work -placing emphasis on energy and environmental architecture- has won awards (16) in architectural European and international competitions, including 1st prizes (2), and was presented in several architectural exhibitions in Cyprus and abroad. His research work has been published in books, refereed journals and conference proceedings.
Chryso Heracleous. Chryso Heracleous is a research fellow, seasonal lecturer and PhD candidate in the Department of Architecture of the University of Cyprus. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Architecture Engineering from the Technical School of the University of Patras, a Master’s in Environmental Design from the University of Bath (UK), and she is Certified Passivhaus Designer from the Passivhaus Institut, Germany. Her research interest focuses on the fields of Architectural Building Technology, Environmental Design and Energy Performance of Buildings with main purpose energy saving and improvement of human comfort, health and productivity. Since 2013, she participated as researcher in several research programmes funded by the European Commission, Directorate General for Research & Innovation, Research Promotion Foundation IPE-RPF and published her scientific work in some international conferences and scientific journals.
Chrysanthos Charalambous. Chrysanthos Charalambous was born in Cyprus on July 11, 1989. He received the bachelor’s degree and the MSc degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the Democritus University of Thrace, Xanthi, Greece, in 2014 and 2016, respectively. Now he is student of PhD in Electrical Engineering at University of Cyprus since January 2018, and special scientist at FOSS Research Center for Sustainable Energy. His research interests include power systems, renewable energy, smart grids, DC and hybrid DC-AC power systems, and distributed energy resources. Since 2017, he participated as a researcher in several research programmes funded by the European Commission, and Research Promotion Foundation IPE-RPF. In addition he has successfully attended the KNX course for smart home and building automation solutions.
In the face of an ever more extreme climate the world is calling urgently for answers to questions of how people can stay not only comfortable, but also thermally safe and healthy in a warming world. Current and future temperature trends and events threaten not only buildings, settlements and cities but also the temporary settlements built to cope them such as transient populations.
Mattia Dallapiccola is a researcher at Eurac Research, Institute for Renewable Energy, Bolzano.
Chiara Dipasquale is a Senior Researcher at the Institute for Renewable Energy at Eurac Research, Italy.
Federico Trentin received a MSc in Energy Engineering at the University of Trento – Free University of Bolzano in 2018.
