Dr Hindolo George-Williams

Job: Senior Lecturer in Energy Engineering

Faculty: Computing, Engineering and Media

School/department: School of Engineering and Sustainable Development

Address: Q2.27e, Queen's Building, De Montfort University, The Gateway, Leicester, LE1 9BH

T: +44 (0)116 3664974

E: hindolo.george-williams@dmu.ac.uk

 

Personal profile

Dr Hindolo George-Williams holds a BEng degree in Electrical/Electronic Engineering from the University of Sierra Leone, MSc in Energy Generation from the University of Liverpool, and a Dual PhD in Engineering and Nuclear Engineering from the University of Liverpool and the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. In his PhD research, Dr George-Williams developed advanced Monte Carlo Simulation techniques for modelling the reliability and maintenance of complex systems. His techniques have been applied to problems ranging from the availability assessment of offshore oil installations and the maintenance strategy optimisation of power systems, to the probabilistic risk assessment of station blackout accidents in nuclear power plants. In 2020, he was awarded the Donald Julius Groen prize by the Safety and Reliability Group of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, for his work on the Survival Signature technique, an emerging technique for the efficient reliability analysis of complex systems. 

Dr George-William’s research interests include: improving the reliability and resilience of severely unreliable electricity grids, especially those in low-income countries; developing low-cost smart grid solutions for low-income countries; optimal design and operation of electric vehicle charging infrastructure; and advanced modelling and simulation of distributed energy systems under uncertainty. Prior to joining DMU’s Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development, Dr George-Williams was with the Electrical Power group of Newcastle University, where he worked as a Power Systems Engineer on an Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer project with Flexisolar Limited. This demonstrator project, dubbed the Smart Hubs project, sort to build the UK’s first solar-powered electric vehicle charging stations in public car parks. 

Dr George-Williams also worked as a Postdoctoral Research Associate in Energy Systems in the Energy and Power Group of the University of Oxford. At Oxford, he was part of a multidisciplinary team of engineers, economists, and social scientists, working on a DFID funded project that sort to improve the way energy services were delivered and utilised in his native Sierra Leone. In 2020, he was nominated as 1 of the top 100 black scientists to have worked or studied at the university, as part of its 2020 Black History month celebrations. 

Prior to enrolling for his PhD degree, Dr George-Williams was the country lead for the maintenance team of Total Sierra Leone, the Sierra Leone affiliate of the French oil giant, Total. As Maintenance Supervisor, he oversaw maintenance proceedings across 30 to 40 sites and worked on several critical engineering projects, in consonance with the projects team.

Research group affiliations

Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD)

Publications and outputs

  • George-Williams, H., Wade, N., Carpenter, R. N., 2022. A probabilistic framework for the techno-economic assessment of smart energy hubs for electric vehicle charging. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Volume 162, 2022, 112386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2022.112386.
  • George-Williams, H., Santosh, T.V., Patelli, E., 2022. Simulation Methods for the Analysis of Complex Systems. In Aslett., L et al. (editors) Uncertainty in Engineering. SpringerBriefs in Statistics. https://rdcu.be/cVf3u
  • Hirmer, S.A., George-Williams, H., Rhys, J., McNicholl, D., and McCulloch, M., 2021. Stakeholder decision-making: Understanding Sierra Leone’s energy sector. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 145. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2021.111093.
  • George-Williams, H., Feng, G., Coolen, F. P., Beer, M., and Patelli, E., 2019. Extending the survival signature paradigm to complex systems with non-repairable dependent failures. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability, 233(4), 505–519. https://doi.org/10.1177/1748006X188080
  • George-Williams, H., Lee, M. and Patelli, E., 2018. Probabilistic risk assessment of station blackouts in nuclear power plants. IEEE Transactions on Reliability, vol. 67, no. 2, pp. 494-512. https://doi.org/10.1109/TR.2018.2824620.
  • George-Williams, H. and Patelli, E., 2017. Maintenance strategy optimization for complex power systems susceptible to maintenance delays and operational dynamics. IEEE Transactions on Reliability, 66 (4), pp1309-1330. https://doi.org/10.1109/TR.2017.2738447.
  • George-Williams, H. and Patelli, E., 2017. Efficient availability assessment of reconfigurable multi-state systems with interdependencies. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 165, pp.431-44. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2017.05.010.
  • George-Williams, H. and Patelli, E., 2016. A hybrid load flow and event driven simulation approach to multi-state system reliability evaluation. Reliability Engineering & System Safety, 152, pp.351-367. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2016.04.002.

Research interests/expertise

  • Reliability and resilience of power systems.
  • Power systems operation scheduling and optimization.
  • Carbon flow tracing in energy systems. 
  • Energy access in low-income countries.
  • Low-cost smart grids for low-income countries.
  • Uncertainty propagation in energy system models.
  • Smart electric vehicle charging. 
  • Distributed energy systems.
  • Complex systems and processes modelling.
  • Probabilistic risk assessment in nuclear power plants.

Areas of teaching

  • Renewable energy systems.
  • Rural electrification.
  • Nuclear energy.
  • Smart energy systems.

Qualifications

  • Dual PhD Engineering and Nuclear Engineering, University of Liverpool and National Tsing Hua University, 20014 – 2018.
  • MSc Energy Generation, University of Liverpool, 2012 – 2013.
  • BEng Electrical/Electronic Engineering, University of Sierra Leone, 2005 – 2010.

Courses taught

ENGT5114 Sustainable Energy

ENGD1103 Electrical/Electronic Principles

Honours and awards

  • Winner of the 2020 Institution of Mechanical Engineers Donald Julius Groen prize for my first author co-authored paper titled “Extending the survival signature paradigm to complex systems with non-repairable dependent failures” published in the Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part O: Journal of Risk and Reliability.
  • First prize winner (group category) of the mathematical competitive games, 2017.
  • College of Nuclear Science merit-based bursary, National Tsing Hua University, Sept. 2016 to Jan. 2017.
  • Second prize winner (group category) of the mathematical competitive games, 2015.
  • School of Engineering PhD studentship, University of Liverpool, 2014 to 2018.
  • Commonwealth shared scholarship for master’s study at the University of Liverpool 2012-2013.
  • Best Engineering project, awarded by the Sierra Leone Institution of Engineers, 2010.
  • Best graduating student, Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Sierra Leone, 2010.
  • Best student eastern Sierra Leone and second nationwide, at the West African Senior School Certificate Examination, Sierra Leone, 2004.

Membership of professional associations and societies

  • Institute of Engineering and Technology – Member 
  • Chattered Management Institute – Affiliate Member

Current research students

David Turner, Full Time, 1st Supervisor.

Professional esteem indicators

Journal Refereering:

  • Reliability Engineering and Systems Safety
  • Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing
  • IEEE Transactions on Reliability
  • IISE Transactions
  • Ocean Engineering

 

ORCID number

0000-0002-9316-3911