Antoni Sapina Grau and Lucy Pemble
For the first time, the Ken Dale Travel Bursary has been awarded to two people.
Lucy Pemble, studying for an MSc in sustainable engineering management for international development at Swansea University, and Antoni Sapina Grau, mechanical engineer at WSP, were both named as winners. They will each receive a bursary to travel while undertaking industry-relevant research.
Pemble won the award for her research topic ‘Demand management: Integration of low carbon and renewable technologies’, and intends to travel to Zambia, South Africa, America and Wales. She will investigate electrical demand management practices in different geographical and development contexts, as well as the opportunities and challenges presented by photovoltaics, and electrical vehicles and building integration.
Pemble’s MSc course took her to Zambia for two and a half weeks over the summer, and she used some of this time on her research. She said: ‘I’m delighted to be given this opportunity to be funded to travel the world and research a topic at the forefront of our industry. I look forward to encountering different people and practices, and representing CIBSE internationally.’
Grau, who was the CIBSE Graduate of the Year 2016, will research ‘Resilience and adaptive capacity for upcoming climate challenges’. He will travel to China, Hong Kong, Australia and America to identify and visit buildings that have been designed with consideration for the impact of weather, and that have been adapted based on current and future climate changes, and illustrate how to improve energy adaptation and resilience of buildings.
Grau said: ‘Winning the bursary is a unique opportunity to discover, learn and develop things that are not written in textbooks.’
On their return, both winners will have to present their 5,000-10,000-word report to the CIBSE board.
The annual Ken Dale Travel Bursary offers between £1,500 and £4,000 to CIBSE members in the developmental stage of their career to spend three to four weeks abroad, researching aspects connected to their field of work.
The application process involves a written application, followed by a presentation to a CIBSE panel. Applicants have to propose a research topic, a planned itinerary, and a financial breakdown of their potential trip.