Mark Hawkins
SCI - Global Humanitarian Technology Manager
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Mark started out his career in the Royal Navy Submarine Service. After 8 years of service, he left and worked as a commercial yacht skipper. From 1999 Mark started a new career in IT working for Medical Emergency Relief International (Merlin) where he was the head of IT. In 2014, Mark moved to Save the Children International where he is responsible for field technologies and Humanitarian Response. He is a specialist at making technology "Just work" in the most challenging field conditions. Specifically, he is expert in satellite and radio communications. You will also see Mark getting very much involved in power supplies as if there is no power, ICT is just a door stopper!
Area of Expertise
Infrastructure For Home, For Work, For the Village
Before the pandemic NetHope members needed to meet the infrastructure needs of a collection of people in a fixed location - the office. From internet connectivity to electricity supply and backup power, meeting these needs for offices has been our comfort zone where we have developed our competency.
The pandemic forced our team members to work separately from their homes, and we have adapted in various ways to support their individual infrastructure needs. What have we learned from this and what opportunities has it created that will be of value after the pandemic?
Can we scale our infrastructure efforts effectively in the opposite direction and share infrastructure with other organisations that are located nearby? Renewable energy solutions work better on larger, shared scales. What are the barriers to us cooperating around this? How can we overcome them?
University of Oxford Off-Grid Rotary Renewable Energy Generation Solution
The University of Oxford has developed a renewable energy generation technology that uses locally-sourced, cost-effective components to produce clean energy. The core of the innovation is an off-the-shelf induction motor, which is controlled using a patented electronic circuit, to ensure that the maximum available power is extracted, over a wide speed range. The economical design requires minimal maintenance and can be controlled remotely, meaning that it is perfectly suited to remote locations.
The advantage of this technology is its flexibility; it can be used to realise multiple, diverse, off-grid applications, including powering a microgrid, purifying water using membrane distillation, and pumping water. This technology has been successfully proven with a wind-powered prototype, which has been operating reliably and efficiently for thousands of hours. The next step is to develop more demonstrations and explore ways in which this technology can be used to provide robust, renewable energy to remote communities across the globe. The goal is to achieve affordable, reliable, sustainable energy access for all, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 7 of the UN.
Mark Hawkins
SCI - Global Humanitarian Technology Manager
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