Pakistani Engineers' New Device Reduces Electricity Usage at Home by 20pc
November 7, 2020
POWER SYSTEMS RESEARCH LAB
ENENT, a startup founded by a team of electrical engineering graduates from National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST) in Karachi developed a device to reduce electricity use at home by 20%. The device patented as 'Intellica-Three-Phase Load Balancer' was one of the winners of 2020 UN Asia-Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge in May 2020.
Tackling the energy problem is the first step to strengthening the economy. Pakistan has taken some clear steps such as developing its renewable resources and tapping its coal reserves, which can help expand and diversify where and how it generates its electricity. Further harnessing these resources will help alleviate the electricity shortfall.
Young engineers from Karachi say their award-winning invention will help cut Pakistan's carbon footprint and reduce electricity consumption in homes by up to 20 percent. Patented as Intellica-Three-Phase Load Balancer, the device was one of nine winners of the 2020 Asia-Pacific Low Carbon Lifestyles Challenge organized by the United Nations Environment Program in May 2020.
Sajjad Zaidi, a professor of engineering at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), worked with student scholars in the U.S.-Pakistan Centers for Advanced Research in Energy (USPCASE) to develop a home-grown AMI solution. Also known as smart metering, AMI provides the backbone for the power grid of the future.
Mr Danish Ahmad, Mr Muhammad Mughal and Ms Zenab Junaid represented Pakistan in Malaysia by competing in ‘HILTI IT Competition 2018’ as team 'The Automatons' held from 26-29 March 2018. Among 600+ teams, the PNEC team made it to the top finalists with an industrial model application of the project 'Sensorless Machine Control' under Capt Sajjad Haider Zaidi.
The project was led by Capt Dr Sajjad Haider Zaidi PN and the group members included Sheikh Talha, Shahyan Adil, Shariq Waqar and M.Talha Javaid. The title of the research paper and project was ‘Development and Designing of Algorithm for Intrusive fault analysis of Electrical Machines using FPGA’.