A scientist has been recognised for his research in using Artificial Intelligence to increase wind turbine reliability.
Dr Joyjit Chatterjee, a data scientist, will visit the University of Bremen on a fully funded research grant, after he was awarded the Green Talents Award given to only 25 researchers from across the world by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.
Dr Chatterjee has also been named in Forbes’ Under 30 Europe, joining innovators including Marcus Rashford, Adele and Daniel Ek
The Forbes worldwide Under 30 community includes more than 7,500 individuals destined to revolutionize every industry for the next 50 years and beyond.
The Green Talents Award was awarded for his PhD research at the University of Hull which focused on developing an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven, trustworthy decision support system for the wind industry to increase turbine reliability.
A panel of experts from Germany selected the 25 winners from 467 applicants across 78 countries.
Green Talents – International Forum for High Potentials in Sustainable Development is under the patronage of the German Federal Minister of Education and Research, and provides the winners with unique access to the country’s research elite.
Joyjit, who is now a Knowledge Transfer Partner at the University and Reckitt, will now travel to Bremen in order to research the application of AI for detecting icing in wind turbine blades.
He said: “This is a huge honour for me. I am incredibly proud to have been selected for this global award. I would like to thank my supervisor Nina for her valuable guidance and support during my PhD, and everyone at the University of Hull, my family and friends, and all who rooted for me during my research journey, without which this would not have been possible.”
Since 2009, the award has honoured 307 talented researchers from 72 countries. It fosters the global exchange of innovative ideas in the field of sustainability and provides a platform for young scientists to share their views on green concepts to improve our world.
As well as securing the global prize, Joyjit was recognised for his outstanding contribution to sustainable research during his Computer Science PhD.
He said: “Wind farm operators can use the results of Explainable AI in addressing challenging concerns faced in high-risk environments such as offshore wind farms and mitigating the risks of unexpected failures and inconsistencies associated with these environments including harsh weather and uncertain operating conditions.
“By increasing the reliability of wind turbines, wind energy can become an attractive renewable energy source for organisations across the globe.”
Dr Nina Dethlefs, Senior Lecturer and Director of Research, Computer Science and Joyjit’s PhD supervisor, said: “I am massively proud of Joyjit and his achievements, and would like to congratulate him on this well-deserved award. Joyjit is an exceptionally hard-working and enthusiastic researcher who has become very dedicated since his PhD in offshore wind to dedicate his skill set in AI and deep learning towards renewable energy, and contributing to the carbon net zero transition. Joyjit has shown great creativity in his research to address some important real-world challenges, including data sparsity and human trust in AI-guided decision making, and has in this way created something that is not just novel and interesting from a scientific perspective, but also applicable and relevant to the industry. I am convinced that Joyjit’s research will have significant impact in the future to the way that Artificial Intelligence is used in the renewable energy sector, contributing to effective and informed decision making.”
Since completing his PhD, Joyjit has been pursuing research as a Data Scientist (KTP Associate) with the University of Hull and Reckitt on an Innovate UK project, with Dr Nina Dethlefs as his academic supervisor. Joyjit is continuing to carry forward the legacy of applying AI for real-world applications towards social good, by developing specialised machine learning algorithms to improve the development and optimisation of products in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industry. His ongoing research in AI at Reckitt will help to provide consumers safe, quality, and efficacious products.
Recently, Joyjit also received another accolade from multinational publishing company John Wiley & Sons, Inc. The publishers recognised that one of his papers (written with co-author Dr Nina Dethlefs) from his PhD for the prestigious journal Wind Energy was a top-cited paper. The paper proposed a novel application of deep learning techniques for decision support in operations and maintenance of wind turbines
His work with Dr Nina Dethlefs has also been shared with a wider audience online. His article Developing countries are being left behind in the AI race has been published by The Conversation.
