The RA research is foundational and urgent, aimed at re-framing the issues of climate change, transport and sustainable energy through the lens of risk management.
The role
The research will entail historical review of corrective transdisciplines (the specific use-cases of identifying hazards and managing risks), the factors that led to their emergence, the actors and agents involved, the evidence for relative importance of the different perspectives and actions, and the mechanisms that influenced the depths and rates of the corrective change. For example, fire and workplace safety, the corrective changes in the upstream oil industry that followed the Piper Alpha and Macondo disasters, the end of production of substances like DDT, tetraethyllead, ozone depleting substances, and bans on wildlife hunting can all provide an evidence base for how corrective changes emerge, are implemented and become normal. It is important in this work to characterise the evidence through different disciplinary perspectives, for example engineering, finance, insurance, regulation, social and business. We aim to collaborate with industry, academics and professional bodies around the world to develop a working theory of corrective change for otherwise successful industrial technological enterprises, policy and governance institutions and services. Changing technological enterprises, like automobile manufacture, building road networks and urban form about automobility to retire the fossil fuel production poses wicked problems in every community. The past century of risk management experience could provide new insights into how to approach fossil fuel retirement.
The next phase will be to examine the climate change, biodiversity, just transition and resource scarcity crises using the theory of corrective change from the ground up. The research in the Transition Lab directly works in the Islands communities to engineer the transitions of incumbent systems of transport, freight supply chain, products, services, buildings and primary industries. The systems can be different, and they can be net zero. The critical question for research at this time is “how do we” engineer the transitions through interdisciplinary, whole system projects that realise reasonable return on investment. What are the factors that motivate change, organise projects and investments, create value from change, include whole system aspects and building of adaptive capacities, resilience and regeneration with equitable outcomes.
The project objective is to identify these factors and mechanisms, develop ways to evaluate the factors and techno-economic models for the values and systems interrelationships of shift projects. One of the more promising Shift projects are Data Exchange, Modellization and Observatory systems (DEMOs). With DEMOs new possibilities in behaviour change, policies, regulations, financing arrangements, business models, demand response interfaces, technologies or many other innovations become possible and efficient.
Education, Qualifications and Experience
Essential Criteria
- The preferred candidate will have an Undergraduate / Masters degree in transportation-related fields of engineering, maritime engineering, rail engineering, and preferably experience in economic analysis, geospatial information systems or transport data and modelling.
- Professional experience in industry, risk management, policy or regulation would be advantageous.
Desirable Criteria
- A PhD in transport, freight supply chain, energy modelling, data and human interface, or risk management would be preferred.
- Experience or background in Transition Engineering would be ideal.
About the Team
Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and leading-edge, relevant research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for innovation, business and industry. Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business and languages. Heriot-Watt is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the first MSc in Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition, taught from the Orkney campus.
The Islands Centre for Net Zero (ICNZ) is being established in the Scottish Islands via a £16.5M component of the Islands Growth Deal. The mission for the ICNZ is to facilitate strategic innovation with the islands organisations, companies and communities to accelerate the 80% fossil fuel retirement by 2030. Heriot-Watt University is leading the academic action research programme for energy transition in buildings, homes, personals freight transport, primary production, products and manufacturing. The research approach is to employ Transition Engineering to develop real-life shift projects.
Professor Susan Krumdieck is Chair in Energy Transition Engineering at HWU, the research director of the ICNZ and is the co-founder of the Global Association for Transition Engineering (GATE). The RA position is located in the Transition Engineering Lab in Orkney, at the International Centre for Islands Technology (ICIT) campus of HWU in Stromness. The Transition Lab group in Orkney includes academics in engineering, economics, social science, environmental science, energy modelling, and collaborations with staff across the HWU global network. The Orkney group are also contributing to the Transition Engineering theme in the global research institute iNetZ+.
About Heriot-Watt University
Heriot-Watt University has established a reputation for world-class teaching and leading-edge, relevant research, which has made it one of the top UK universities for innovation, business and industry.
Heriot-Watt University has five campuses: three in the UK (Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Orkney), one in Dubai and one in Malaysia. The University offers a highly distinctive range of degree programmes in the specialist areas of science, engineering, design, business and languages. Heriot-Watt University is also Scotland's most international university, boasting the largest international student cohort.
