Professor Wim Vanderbauwhede he/they

My research passion is to reduce CO2 emissions from computation, as this is a massive looming problem that could make the climate emergency much worse.

My research group typically works on compute systems, in particular energy-efficient ones, but my personal outlook is much broader.

I would like to collaborate with e.g. sociologists and psychologists on behavioural change, and with researchers in economics and business on business models, as well as with educators.

I am currently working with sociologists on a project for education about the climate cost of ICT in schools and I have worked with meteorologists and climatologists on improving the performance and energy efficiency of their models. Most of my projects have both a computing science and an electronic engineering component. 

My aim is to help my PhD students to reach their full potential. I guide them but never pressurise them. I see them more as co-workers and colleagues than students.

I have graduate many students so it is hard to paint a coherent picture. Most are in industry, I would guess about half in technical roles, the others managerial; several are still academia.

I am very highly committed to EDI. I think we should view diversity broader than the projected characteristics, e.g. neurodiversity is also very important to me. I also feel we should reach out more to disadvantaged communities, e.g. people with a disability, as it is very hard for them to get to do a PhD.

I have not been in an EDI-specific role, but my track record in hiring shows that I have successfully hired a diverse set of people for the School. Also, I was director of teaching of the School so I am familiar with University policies on EDI etc.

On a personal note, I love nature photography and art; I’m a long-time vegetarian and an immigrant in the UK