Keep it Civil 301 - Solar Energy in Rwanda

In this week’s episode of Keep it Civil, we are joined by Dr Clemence Cavoli from the UCL Centre for Transport Studies, to speak about the past, present, and future trends of transport use. The centre for transport studies is a multidisciplinary research centre at UCL, the work they do covers established transport networks to developing solutions to the cities of the future, all around the globe, and this year celebrated its 50th anniversary. More information on the work done by Clemence and CTS can be found here - https://iris.ucl.ac.uk/iris/browse/profile?upi=CMCAV97 http://www.cege.ucl.ac.uk/cts/Pages/cts.aspx

In this new episode of Keep it Civil, Julie Elkouby, the president of the UCL Student Society of Women Engineers, joins us to speak about the issues facing women in the engineering industry, and what her soceity is doing to improve the numbers of women studying engineering. Follow the UCL Student Society of Women Engineers on facebook (https://www.facebook.com/UCLWE/), twitter (https://twitter.com/uclwe) and through their website (http://www.engineering.ucl.ac.uk/women-engineers/).

For the second episode of series three we are joined by Professor Brian Collins to talk us through the work of the UK Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC), which aims to address the insufficient and unsustainable value extracted by services using national infrastructure. We analyze the motivations for this project, and look at the developments for UK and international infrastructure it will bring about. More information about UKCRIC can be found at www.ukcric.com, you can also follow them on twitter @UKCRIC. More information on the International Symposium for Next Generation Infrastructure can be found at www.isngi.org. Catch up on past episodes of Keep it Civil (soundcloud.com/cege_ucl/sets/keep-it-civil) Intro & outro music: "Helix Nebula" by Anamanaguchi (freemusicarchive.org/music/Anamanag…-_helix_nebula)

In this new episode of Keep it Civil, Iwona Bisaga talks about her work with solar energy in Rwanda, and the Beacon Bursary grant project bringing the user story to the people of Kigali and London. Follow Iwona on twitter (twitter.com/IwonaBisaga)or through her blog (photovoice.org/through-the-lens-energy-access-stories-of-solar-home-system-users-in-rwanda/). More information on BBOX can be found at www.bboxx.co.uk. Make sure to see the photography exhibition at the Impact Hub Kings Cross, from Friday June 9th. www.facebook.com/events/133104777235207/

For the last episode of this mini series, we're joined by EngD Researcher Alison Fairbrass to discuss her research measuring and monitoring biodiversity in cities and the built environment using sound recordings, and the ways in which this research can help make these places more habitable for wildlife. Keep it Civil will be back soon with new episodes and a new host to explore more fascinating areas of engineering. Follow Alison(https://twitter.com/alisonfairbrass), the Bat Conservation Trust(https://twitter.com/_BCT_), UCL's Centre for Urban Sustainability and Resilience (https://twitter.com/UCL_USAR) and UCL's Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research (https://twitter.com/uclcber) on Twitter. Catch up on past episodes of Keep it Civil (@cege_ucl). Intro & outro music: "Helix Nebula" by Anamanaguchi (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Anamanaguchi/Party_in_Space/kzz007_-_14_-_anamanaguchi_-_helix_nebula)

Josh Macabuag, Research Engineer at UCL with the Centre for Urban Sustainability and Resilience (USAR), joins us to talk about his work with the charity Search and Rescue Assistance in Disasters (SARAID). Working with SARAID, Josh was deployed to Nepal as a Structural Engineer as part of the relief efforts following the devastating earthquake in 2015. Follow SARAID (twitter.com/team_saraid), EPICentre (twitter.com/EPICentreUCL) and (twitter.com/UCL_USAR) on Twitter. Find out more about SARAID and their work in Urban Search and Rescue (http://www.saraid.org.uk/). Catch up on past episodes of Keep it Civil (soundcloud.com/cege_ucl). Intro & outro music: "Helix Nebula" by Anamanaguchi (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Anamanaguchi/Party_in_Space/kzz007_-_14_-_anamanaguchi_-_helix_nebula)

Keep it Civil is back for series two, and we're joined by EngD Researcher Gennaro Senatore to discuss the design philosophy of adaptive building structures he developed here at UCL with the Centre for Urban Sustainability and Resilience (USAR) and Expedition Engineering, with the work sponsored by EPSRC. Unlike conventional structures, adaptive structures are designed to change their shape to prevent excessive movement caused by loads, which allows for super-slender structures that look great and use much less material and less whole-life energy. Follow Gennaro (https://twitter.com/g_senatore), Expedition Engineering (https://twitter.com/EXP_Eng) and USAR (https://twitter.com/UCL_USAR) on Twitter. Find out more about adaptive structures and see the truss mentioned in the podcast at a special exhibition at the London Building Centre until 2nd September 2016 (http://www.buildingcentre.co.uk/exhibitions/adaptive-structures). Find out more about Gennaro's work (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/usar/who-we-are/cdt-students/gennaro-senatore) and see the adaptive responsive truss in action (https://vimeo.com/groups/315224). Catch up on past episodes of Keep it Civil (soundcloud.com/cege_ucl/sets/keep-it-civil). Intro & outro music: "Helix Nebula" by Anamanaguchi (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Anamanaguchi/Party_in_Space/kzz007_-_14_-_anamanaguchi_-_helix_nebula)

Rachna Leveque, Urban Planner and doctoral student at UCL, joins us to talk about how density relates to governance and resilience in cities, with a special look at Mumbai. What exactly do planners mean when they talk about density, and why is it important? How are resilience and density linked? What can we learn from Mumbai's example? Follow Rachna (https://twitter.com/RachnaLeveque) and the UCL Centre for Urban Sustainability and Resilience (https://twitter.com/UCL_USAR) on Twitter and find out more about USAR and their work (http://www.ucl.ac.uk/usar). Catch up on past episodes of Keep it Civil (soundcloud.com/cege_ucl/sets/keep-it-civil) Music: "Helix Nebula" by Anamanaguchi via CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Anamanaguchi/Party_in_Space/kzz007_-_14_-_anamanaguchi_-_helix_nebula) "Wallflower" by Plurabelle via CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Plurabelle/Money_Blood_and_Light/Wallflower)