Gobind Gopalakrishna Pillai

Dr Gobind Pillai graduated with a First class bachelor degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Kerala University, India in 2006. He has professional experience in India and UAE spanning across the maintenance of steel plant electrical machinery, electrical power distribution and building services engineering.

After a few years in industry Gobind went on to complete a Masters in Power Systems Engineering with a Distinction in 2011 from Anna University, Chennai, India. He also completed an MBA by distance education at the same time in Operations Management from ICFAI University, India.

Gobind moved to the UK in January 2012 for his PhD in Electrical Power Engineering (completed in February 2015) at Northumbria University as part of an EPSRC funded UK-India collaborative project titled Stability and Performance of Photovoltaics (STAPP). His PhD research looked at case studies from the UK and India, for studying the impacts of grid integration of distributed residential PV systems on near-term economic benefits, energy yield optimization and grid support.

Gobind has also worked as a part time tutor at Northumbria during his PhD and was nominated for ‘Best Postgraduate who Teaches’ in the 2014 Student Led Teaching Awards.

Gobind started as a senior lecturer at Teesside University in July 2014 and teaches a variety of modules within MEng/BEng programmes on Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and Instrumentation and Control Engineering. He is also the programme leader for MSc/PgDip in Electrical Power and Energy Systems Engineering.

Gobind received Top Reviewer (2015, 2016) Awards from Renewable Energy, a high impact journal from Elsevier, in 2016 and 2017 respectively.

Gobind does research in Energy Informatics, Electrical Power Engineering and Grid-integrated Photovoltaics. Focus areas include forecasting of generation and demand, techno-economics of new and renewable energy sources, and power system impact analysis under the smart grid paradigm. Prospective PhD students who would like to work in these areas can contact him directly for further information.

Research Supervision:

• Michael Allison – PhD [2016-2020] - Director of Studies
• Paul Spivey – PhD [2017-2021]- 2nd Supervisor

URF/20500033 - Impacts of photovoltaics in the future electricity generation mix – start-up grant – value £2100

Horizon 2020 Project Renewable Energy for self-sustAinable island CommuniTies (REACT) - €625,000

• 2014 – present, Member, IET
• 2014 – present, Member, IEEE
• 2014 – present, Reviewer, Elsevier International Journal of Electrical Power & Energy Systems
• 2015 – present, Reviewer, Elsevier Renewable Energy
• 2015 – present, Reviewer, Elsevier Energy
• 2015 – present, Reviewer, IET Renewable Power Generation
• 2017 – present, Reviewer, Elsevier Energy Conversion and Management
• 2017 – present, Reviewer, Elsevier Energy Policy
• 2017 – present, Reviewer, MDPI Energies

Gobind is keen to pursue industrial collaborations that align with his research interests and subject expertise.

Programme Leader for:

• MSc/PgDip Electrical Power and Energy Systems Engineering
• MSc/PgDip Electrical Power and Energy Systems Engineering with Advance Practice

Module Leader for:

• Renewable Energy Conversion Systems (MSc) [2016-]
• Emerging Transmission Systems (MSc) [2016-]
• Electrical Engineering Design and Implementation (BEng/MEng) [2016-7]
• Electrical & Electronic Principles (BEng/MEng) [2015-]
• Electrical Machines (BEng/MEng) [2014-]
• Mathematics for Construction (HNC/D)[2014]
• Electrical Machines (TUOLE HNC/D) [2014-15]
• Electrical Supply & Distribution (TUOLE HNC/D) [2014-15]
• Electrical System Protection (TUOLE HNC/D) [2014-15]