Additional Contact Information
BSc MSc PhD FHEA
Position: Lecturer in IoT Pipeline Data Management
Office: Room 325, Dean Street
- tel: +44 (0) 1248 38 3989
- email: n.d.bristow@bangor.ac.uk
- networks: Google Scholar | LinkedIn| ResearchGate
As a practical person my interests are on the applied side of engineering – how can we use technology to solve the problems that society faces. I am a passionate advocate for all forms of renewable energy. My background is in electronic engineering, data analysis and computer programming and I spent nearly three decades working in industry before returning to academia. I am currently interested in the use of modern data analysis and visualisation techniques when applied to large datasets, especially those coming from the ever growing number of envirionmental IoT sensors. My practical research interests are in the fields of applied photovoltaics, embedded microelectronics and wireless sensor networks, and I am particularly interested in the use of organic photovoltaics for solar energy harvesting.
I believe that climate change is the biggest challenge mankind has ever faced and it is absolutely essential that those of us who are able to make a contribution do so. This aligns well with the Bangor University Strategy 2030 of building “A Sustainable World for Future Generations”. I have always had an enquiring mind and academic research fulfils my quest for knowledge. I believe that collaboration is a key component of research success and throughout my career I have built lasting relationships with others, to the benefit of both parties.
Qualifications
- Professional: Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education (PGCertHE)
2019–2021 - PhD: Outdoor Stability Studies in Organic Photovoltaics
2013–2017 - MSc: Renewable Energy Systems Technology, Loughborough University
Loughborough University, 2007–2009 - BSc: Microelectronics and Computer Engineering, University College of North Wales
University College of North Wales, 1984–1988
Teaching and Supervision
Teaching:
- ICE-1112: Introduction to Embedded Systems (Year 1)
- ICE-3501: Internet of Things (Year 3)
- ICE-4331: Embedded Systems (Year 3/MSc)
Supervision (Taught):
Research Interests
Renewable Energy
I am a passionate advocate for all forms of renewable energy (RE) and this has been one of the main drivers behind my research – how can we promote the optimum use of RE to get to Net Zero? I am an expert in the field of solar photovoltaics (PV), with in-depth practical and theoretical knowledge, and I have published many papers in this area. In the broader areas of RE I am involved in research looking at the potential for different types of RE (e.g. offshore wind farms and tidal turbines in the Irish Sea).
Wireless Sensing & Internet of Things (IoT)
The widespread deployment of IoT sensors will play a crucial role in future environmental research, enabling real-time monitoring of environmental conditions, and allowing rapid response to the changes that are detected. Widespread deployment of sensors ideally requires self-powered wireless communications, often using solar power. I am especially interested in the LoRaWAN radio communications protocol, allowing low power wide area networks to be created. I am interested in developing solutions for managing this large volume of data, so that it can be used effectively.
Digital Twins
Developing the IoT theme leads to the deployment of many sensors generating a large volume of data. An ideal way to utilise this data, without becoming overwhelmed by the volume of it, is to utilise it in a Digital Twin. This is a relatively new area of research and has different definitions depending on where it is applied. In the field of environmental sensing it allows for the development of computer models, closely linked to sensors reporting in real-time, allowing the models to reflect real world conditions more closely. This allows the models to be used for investigation of existing and future real-life scenarios. The input of live streaming data allows the models to learn and adapt to changing conditions, giving better results when queried.
Publications
2022
- PublishedDevelopment of a LoRaWAN IoT Node with Ion-Selective Electrode Soil Nitrate Sensors for Precision Agriculture
Bristow, N., Rengaraj, S., Chadwick, D., Kettle, J. & Jones, D. L., Dec 2022, In: Sensors. 22, 23, 9100.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedDevelopment of an organic photovoltaic energy harvesting system for wireless sensor networks; application to autonomous building information management systems and optimisation of OPV module sizes for future applications
Zhang, S., Bristow, N., David, T. W., Elliott, F., O'Mahony, J. & Kettle, J., 1 Mar 2022, In: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 236, 111550.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2021
- PublishedPredicting diurnal outdoor performance and degradation of organic photovoltaics via machine learning; relating degradation to outdoor stress conditions
David, T., Soares, G., Bristow, N., Bagnis, D. & Kettle, J., Dec 2021, In: Progress in Photovoltaics. 29, 12, p. 1274-1284
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedThe Effect of OPV Module Size on Stability and Diurnal Performance: Outdoor Tests and Application of a Computer Model.
David, T., Bristow, N., Stoichkov, V., Huang, H., Todeschini, G. & Kettle, J., 3 Oct 2021, In: Energies. 14, 19, 6324.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2020
- PublishedDevelopment of a Wireless Sensor Node for Building Information Management Systems: 2020 IEEE 6th World Forum on Internet of Things (WF-IoT)
Bristow, N., Elliott, F., O’Mahony, J., Kartopu, G., Oklobia, O., Irvine, S. & Kettle, J., Jun 2020, p. 1-6. 6 p.
Research output: Contribution to conference › Paper › peer-review - PublishedDevelopment of intermediate layer systems for direct deposition of thin film solar cells onto low cost steel substrates
Menendez, M. F., Martinez, A., Sanchez, P., Andres, L. J., Gomez, D., Haponow, L., Bristow, N., Kettle, J., Korochkina, T. & Gethin, D. T., 15 Sept 2020, In: Solar Energy. 208, p. 738-746
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2018
- PublishedAssessing the potential of steel as a substrate for building integrated photovoltaic applications
Kettle, J., Hughes, L., Bristow, N., Korochkina, T., Sanchez, P., Gomez, D. & Gethin, D., 1 Nov 2018, In: Applied Energy. 229, p. 209-223
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedOutdoor Organic Photovoltaic module characteristics; benchmarking against other PV technologies for performance, calculation of Ross coefficient and outdoor stability monitoring
Bristow, N. & Kettle, J., Feb 2018, In: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 175, p. 52-59
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedOutdoor performance monitoring of perovskite solar cell mini-modules: Diurnal performance, observance of reversible degradation and variation with climatic performance
Stoichkov, V., Bristow, N., Troughton, J., de Rossi, F., Watson, T. M. & Kettle, J., Aug 2018, In: Solar Energy. 170, p. 549-556
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedTuning the optical properties of luminescent down shifting layers based on organic dyes to increase the efficiency and lifetime of P3HT: PCBM photovoltaic devices
Fernandes, R. V., Urbano, A., Duarte, J. L., Bristow, N., Kettle, J. & Laureto, E., Nov 2018, In: Journal of Luminescence. 203, p. 165-171
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2017
- PublishedDevelopment of multidye UV filters for OPVs using luminescent materials
Kettle, J., Fernandes, R. V., Bristow, N., Stoichkov, V., Anizelli, H. S., Duarte, J. L. & Laureto, E., 18 Jan 2017, In: Journal of Physics D: Applied Physics. 50, 2, 025103.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2015
- PublishedApplication of UV-absorbing silver(I) luminescent down shifter for PTB7 organic solar cells for enhanced efficiency and stability
Bristow, N. D., Kettle, J. P., Moudam, O., Bristow, N., Chang, S. W., Horie, M. & Kettle, J., 14 Jan 2015, In: RSC Advances. 5, p. 12397-12402
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedOutdoor performance of organic photovoltaics: Diurnal analysis, dependence on temperature, irradiance, and degradation
Bristow, N. D., Kettle, J. P., Bristow, N. & Kettle, J., 29 Jan 2015, In: Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy. 7, 1
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedPrintable luminescent down shifter for enhancing efficiency and stability of organic photovoltaics
Kettle, J. P., Bristow, N. D., Kettle, J., Bristow, N., Gethin, D. T., Tehrani, Z., Moudam, O., Li, B., Katz, E. A., dos Reis Benatto, G. A. & Krebs, F. C., 23 Oct 2015, In: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 144, p. 481-487
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedRapid synthesis of ultra-long silver nanowires for tailor-made transparent conductive electrodes: proof of concept in organic solar cells
Bristow, N. D., Kettle, J. P., Andres, L. J., Menendez, M. F., Gomez, D., Martinez, A. L., Bristow, N., Kettle, J., Menendez, A. & Ruiz, B., 9 Jun 2015, In: Nanotechnology. 26, 26, p. 265201
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedThree dimensional corrugated organic photovoltaics for building integration; improving the efficiency, oblique angle and diffuse performance of solar cells
Kettle, J. P., Bristow, N. D., Sweet, T. K., Jenkins, N., dos Reis Benatto, G. A., Jorgensen, M. & Krebs, F. C., 9 Sept 2015, In: Energy and Environmental Science. 8, p. 3266-3273
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
2014
- PublishedEffect of processing additive 1,8-octanedithiol on the lifetime of PCPDTBT based Organic Photovoltaics
Waters, R. H., Bristow, N. D., Kettle, J. P., Waters, H., Bristow, N., Moudam, O., Chang, S. W., Su, C. J., Wu, W. R., Jeng, U. S., Horie, M. & Kettle, J., 1 Oct 2014, In: Organic Electronics. 15, 10, p. 2433-2438
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedOptimisation of the material properties of indium tin oxide layers for use in organic photovoltaics
Doggart, P., Bristow, N. & Kettle, J., 14 Sept 2014, In: Journal of Applied Physics. 116, 10, 103103.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review - PublishedWorldwide outdoor round robin study of organic photovoltaic devices and modules
Madsen, M. V., Gevorgyan, S. A., Pacios, R., Ajuria, J., Etxebarria, I., Kettle, J. P., Bristow, N. D., Neophytou, M., Choulis, S. A., Roman, L. S., Yohannes, T., Cester, A., Cheng, P., Zhan, X., Wu, J., Xie, Z., Tu, W. C., He, J. H., Fell, C. J., Anderson, K., Hermenau, M., Bartesagh, D., Koster, L. J., Machui, F., González-Valls, I., Lira-Cantu, M., Khlyabich, P. P., Thompson, B. C., Gupta, R., Shanmugam, K., Kulkarni, G. U., Galagan, Y., Urbina, A., Abad, J., Roesch, R., Hoppe, H., Morvillo, P., Bobeico, E., Panaitescu, E., Menon, L., Luo, Q., Wu, Z., Ma, C., Hambarian, A., Melikyan, V., Hambsch, M., Burn, P. L., Meredith, P., Ratha, T., Dunst, S., Trimmel, G., Bardizza, G., Müllejans, H., Goryachev, A. E., Misra, R. K., Katz, E. A., Takagi, K., Magaino, S., Saito, H., Aoki, D., Sommeling, P. M., Kroon, J. M., Vangerven, T., Manca, J., Kesters, J., Maes, W., Bobkova, O. D., Trukhanov, V. A., Paraschuk, D. Y., Castro, F. A., Blakesley, J., Tuladhar, S. M., Röhr, J. A., Nelson, J., Xia, J., Parlak, E. A., Tumay, T. A., Egelhaaf, H. J., Tanenbaum, D. M., Ferguson, G. M., Carpenter, R., Chen, H., Zimmermann, B., Hirsch, L., Wantz, G., Sun, Z., Singh, P., Bapat, C., Offermans, T., Krebs, F. C. & Bristow, N., 1 Nov 2014, In: Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells. 130, p. 281-290
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Activities
2020
- Cutting-edge photonics research at Bangor University
At Bangor University's school of computer science and electronic engineering (SEECS), cutting-edge research is being pursued in fields of photonics and optoelectronics, including optical super-resolution imaging, sensing, solar energy, laser manufacturing, nano laser, micro robots, 5G communication and IoT.
For example, the school is the birth places of the widely publicised 'spider silk superlens' technology, which uses spider silks found in nature as superlens to increase the imaging resolution of optical microscopes by 2-4 times.
The school is actively engaged in developing new applications of edge computing deployed in North Wales and enhancing the reliability of solar cells, and electronic sensors in the industry.
In this webinar, Drs. James Wang, Noel Bristow and Jeff Kettle from the school will present:
• Laser-based Micro/nano-manufacturing for industry (engraving, colour marking, texturing, cleaning, security labelling) - James
• Optical superlens and nanoscope and their applications – James
• New applications of IoT and edge computing deployed in North Wales (Noel)
• Enhancing the reliability of photonic and electronic products (Jeff)
Join with us to explore the cutting-edge photonics research at Bangor University school of computer science and electronic engineering. Meet our team to discuss photonics solutions for your business.
14 Jul 2020
Links:
Activity: Invited talk (Speaker)
Projects
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01/07/2022 – 30/09/2023 (Finished)
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MEECE R&D project - APT wind farm constraints tool
01/04/2022 – 31/08/2023 (Finished)
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01/04/2022 – 30/06/2024 (Active)
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01/02/2022 – 01/08/2022 (Finished)