Dr Ozak Esu

Job Title – Technical Lead (Smart buildings) at BRE (Building Research Establishment)

Dr Ozak Esu is an award-winning chartered electronic and electrical engineer. Born and raised in Nigeria, she came to the UK as an International student in 2008 to study for her undergraduate degree in Electronic and Electrical Engineering at Loughborough University where she graduated with First Class Honours in 2011. In the same year, she was awarded a three-year £54,000 Loughborough University Studentship to advance to her PhD. in the same discipline. Her research was in wind energy, embedded technology and advanced signal processing.

In 2014 and partially concurrent with her PhD., she joined the construction and built environment industry, working as a Graduate Electrical Building Services Engineer at multi-disciplinary engineering consultancy, Cundall. She designed electrical services for buildings, working on national and international construction sites. In 2015, she passed her PhD. viva and thesis titled “Vibration-based Condition Monitoring of Wind Turbine Blades”, graduating in July 2016 at 25. In 2017, she was promoted to Electrical Engineer and received numerous awards in recognition of her contributions to the profession including the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) Young Woman Engineer of the Year 2017 Award.

In 2019, she joined the Centre for Smart Homes and Buildings at BRE and the Construction Innovation Hub, as the Technical Lead – Smart Buildings, combining her previous experience in building services engineering and her PhD. knowledge of technology and energy. In this role, she leads the research to address common challenges faced in the adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) and future technologies within the UK construction industry, while considering the wider implications of integrating smart buildings into the proposed smart grid, transport, infrastructure and city plans.

(Twitter: @esu_o)