Prof John Counsell

Professor, Electrical & Electronic Engineering

School of Computer and Engineering Sciences
Prof John Counsell

Professor John Mark Counsell is a senior member of staff in the School of Computing & Engineering Sciences. His research Chair is in Digital Energy and Control Systems (DECS)

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Professor Counsell is modules leader at Level 7 for MEng and MSc in Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE). He teaches and leads modules in Intelligent Systems and MEng Group projects. He supervises level 6 and level 7 individual research projects for Computer Science and EEE.

Professor Counsell leads a research team in the field of advanced control and optimisation of complex energy systems, especially those relating to optimised performance of local energy supply and utilisation systems. Local energy systems applied to building and sustainable heating solutions are of particular interest including Heat Pumps and Demand Side Response solutions.

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  • Research Professor and Research Group leader of DECS- Digital Energy and Control Systems.
  • Nonlinear Multi-Input Multi-Output (MIMO) Control Systems theory and application to high performance machines, process control systems and multi-vector energy systems.
  • Artificial Intelligence applied to control system design, machine learning and optimisation of complex MIMO systems.
  • Building Physics and Energy Systems’ Modelling for use in building’s energy utilisation and Control Systems Design.
  • High Performance Aircraft/Drone Control Systems and Robotics.
  • Research Collaborators:  Arup NW, URENCO, Glen Dimplex, BRE, Eastbourne Borough Council, University of Durham, University of Manchester, Fujitsu (Kawasaki City), Japan.

Current Research Grants

  • EPSRC Solar Heating Heat Pump & Storage (c£330K, 2020 - present)

Selected Previous Research Grants

  • EPSRC, “Heat STRESS”, (c£320K, 2014-2018)
  • InnovateUK/EPSRC, “Renewable & Integrated Sustainable Energy Heating, RISE Heating System”, (c£190K, 2014-2017)
  • InnovateUK, “Combined Heat and power with fully integrated PV – CHPV”, (c£220K, 2013-2016)
  • EPSRC, TEDDInet Programme, Principal Investigator “Building Management linking Energy Demand, Distributed Conversion and Storage using Dynamic Modelling and a Pervasive Sensor Infrastructure”, (c£320K, 2009-2012)
  • InnovateUK, “Building Integrated Energy Networks, BIEN”, (c£170K, 2008,2010)
  • EPSRC, “Engineering design Centre in Mechatronics”, (c£1million, 1997-1999)
  • EC/EU ESPRIT Programme, Framework 4 DGIII, partner, “DICE”, (c£250K, 1996-1999)
  • EC/EU ESPRIT Programme, Framework 4 DGIII, Principal Investigator, “ETHOS”, (c£3.4million, 1996-1999)   

Counsell. J.M., Reeves, J.H, “Heating apparatus controlled to utilize lower cost energy”, Patent Number 5700993, Dec 23, 1997.

Brother International Europe Ltd,.

Counsell, J.M., Murphy, G.B., Allison, J. “Control of micro-CHP and thermal energy storage for minimising electrical grid utilisation”, International Journal of Low-Carbon Technologies Advance Access Published, August 21, 2014.

Counsell, J. M., Ameer, A. K., & Stewart, M. J. “Advance control of a fully integrated energy system for a building”, International Journal of Smart Grid and Clean Energy, vol 5, no. 4, October 2016, pp229-236.

Stewart, M., Counsell, J.M., Al-Kaykhan, A., “Design and specification of building integrated DC electricity networks”, 2016 Future Technologies Conference (FTC), 1237-1240.

Counsell, J.M., Stewart, M.J., Williams, A., “Powering of Devices”, Feb 21, 2011, Patent Number 20130154367.

Counsell,J.M,  Khalid,Y., Stewart, M.J., “Hybrid Heat Pump for Micro Heat Network”, World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology International Journal of Energy and Power Engineering Vol:11, No:7, 2017.

Murphy, G., Counsell, J.M., Baster, E., Counsell, S.D., “Symbolic modelling and predictive assessment of air source heat pumps”, Building Services Engineering Research and Technology, Vol 34, Issue 1, CIBSE, Sage Journals October 22, 2012.

Brindley, J., Counsell, J.M., Obadah. O. S., Pearce, J.P. “Design and simulation of a non-linear, discontinuous, flight control system using rate actuated inverse dynamics”, Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering, Vol 227, issue 4, pp 632-646, 2013.

Murphy, G. B., Counsell, J., Allison, J., & Brindley, J. (2013). Calibrating a combined energy system analysis and controller design method with empirical data. Energy, 57, 484-494.

Counsell Ian Porter David Dawson, J. and Duffy, M. (1999), "Schemebuilder: computer aided knowledge based design of mechatronic systems", Assembly Automation, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 129-138.

J. Counsell, Y. Khalid and M. Stewart, "Comparative performance modelling of heat pump based heating systems using dynamic carbon intensity," The 11th IET International Conference on Advances in Power System Control, Operation and Management (APSCOM 2018), Hong Kong, China, 2018, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.1049/cp.2018.1768.

Gencoa Ltd, Liverpool (UK).

Bellido-González, V., Daniel, B., Counsell, J., Stevens, M., “Flexible Reactive Gas Sputtering Process Control”, Society of Vacuum Coaters 505/856-7188 1 47th Annual Technical Conference Proceedings (2004) ISSN 0737-5921.

  • 1st Class Hons BSc in Mechanical Engineering, University of Salford, 1987
  • PhD in Engineering, University of Lancaster, 1992
  • Passed CEng qualification for IMechE in 1993
  • Member of The IET and Built Environment Sector Steering Group
  • Electricity Research Council (now EA Technology) Churchman Prize winner 1995 for CELECT a Demand Side Response (DSR) system for heating systems using energy storage

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