Open Lecture by Steven Griffits 'Prototyping Future Cities'
On May 27, 2019, Steven Griffits, Member of the Global Energy Prize International Award Committee, Senior Vice President for Research and Development, Khalifa University of Science and Technology (KUST), will give a lecture on prototyping future cities at the Higher School of Economics.
About lecturer:
Dr. Steven Griffiths is the Senior Vice President for Research and Development at Khalifa University of Science and Technology, which is the recently established university in the United Arab Emirates that resulted from the 2017 merger of the Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, the Petroleum Institute and the Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research. At Khalifa University, he has overall responsibility for research institutes and centres, research partnerships, research grants and contracts, technology management and transfer, research laboratories and research computing.
Among his activities external to Khalifa University, Steven Griffiths is advisor to the UAE Research Program for Rain Enhancement Science, Governing Board member of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Center at the University of Manchester, member of the Zayed Future Energy Prize Selection Committee, Associate Editor and Editorial Board member of Elsevier’s international journal Energy Strategy Reviews and Associate Editor and Editorial Board member of Springer’s international journal Energy Transitions. He further serves as advisor to journals and magazines focused on energy systems and technology innovation while regularly providing insights on innovation, energy policy and energy strategy for international peer-reviewed journals and think tank publications.
Dr. Griffiths holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management.
About the lecture:
Urbanisation, or the aggregation of people in and around cities, is a megatrend that will continue to be at the heart of global economic growth through the remainder of the 21st century. Although there is no single agreed definition of a city, in essence a city is a settlement of more than a few thousand people that live, work and socialise together. Cities today occupy only about 2 to 3% of the earth’s surface but are home to roughly 55% of the world’s population, generate approximately 80% of global economic output, consume close to 66% of the world’s energy and generate more than 70% of the world’s carbon emissions. By 2050 it is expected that nearly 70% of the world’s population will live in cities and so the way in which we develop our cities will essentially determine the way in which we develop our world.
In this talk, global urbanisation trends will be discussed as well as the importance of designing and developing future cities that are both smart and sustainable. Particular focus is placed on research, development, demonstration and deployment (RDD&D) of smart and sustainable city technologies that are tailored to particular urban settings. Major cities in the United Arab Emirates are the particular setting used to illustrate a variety of RDD&D opportunities for prototyping future cities that utilise technology to support sustainable growth.
Venue: National Research University Higher School of Economics, Myasnitskaya Street, 11, room 518
Time: 14:00–15:00