Fergus Nicol

Prof. James Fergus Nicol B.Sc.

Recent research activities

1993 -: Oxford Brookes University
1997-2000: Leader and co-ordinator of EU-funded SCATS project to develop smart controls for AC and NV buildings [with O Sykes, J Saady, K McCartney and M Humphreys and 8 partners in Sweden, France, Portugal and UK] (project budget 1.44 MEuro, EU funding 1.04MEuro)
October 2003: Awarded Professorship
June 2002: Awarded professorship

Other research-related activities

June 2000: Invited speaker at International conference on comfort and thermal performance of buildings, COTEDI 2000, Maracaibo Venezuela
July 2000 Member of the International Scientific Committee, Invited speaker and session chair: World Renewable Energy Congress WREC 2000, Brighton.
July 2000 Member of Scientific committee, invited speaker and invited workshop chair at Teaching in Architecture TIA 2000 conference, Oxford.
April 2001 Conference organiser for the Moving thermal comfort standards into the 21st Century conference 5th-8th April organised by OCSD and the Human Thermal Environments Laboratory, Loughborough University and attended by 50 delegates including leading members of the appropriate International Standards committees.
August 2001, Session chair at the seventh International Building Performance Simulation Association conference, Rio
June 2002 Joint editor of special issue of Energy and Buildings based on the above conference (Volume 34 No 6)
January 2002 Invited speaker on Thermal Comfort - state of the art and future directions at ENERBUILD symposium on State of the art in solar thermal technologies in buildings, Athens
2002 Co-chair of International Symposium: 'Building Research and the Sustainability of the Built Environment in the Tropics' 14-15 October 2002, Jakarta - Indonesia2002 - Joint editor of special issue of Energy and Buildings based on the above conference.
2002 EPIC2002 conference, Lyon France Energy Efficient & Healthy Buildings in Sustainable Cities 23-26 October 2002, Lyon, France: session chair and member of scientific committee.
2003 member of CIBSE working party redrafting thermal comfort section of CIBSE Guide part A1
2003 World Health Organisation Temporary Special Advisor for the workshop on Vulnerability to Thermal Stress, Freiburg, Germany, 5-7 May (Deutscher Wetterdienst)
2003 June invited speaker at the Sixth Sharjah Urban Planning Symposium, Sharjah, UAE
2004 Windsor conference on Closing the Loop Post Occupancy Evaluation: member of the scientific committee
2003 Solar Energy. Journal of the International Solar Energy Society: guest Associate Editor for special issue based on Sustainable Energy and Green Architecture conference, Thailand
2006 Invited member of the International Advisory Committee for the Healthy Buildings Conference HB2006
2003 Invited member of the Editorial Board of Energy and Buildings Journal

Experience of teaching and learning guidance

1999-present: Executive secretary to an international group developing a European Master course in the Incorporation of Renewable Energies into Buildings (ALTENAR contact XVII/4.103/Z/98-415). Partners Universities of Athens, Barcelona, Florence, La Rochelle and Porto
2002-: Developing a web-based teaching package on comfort and low energy building design (CLEAR) for Europe and India with University of Athens, School of Planning and Architecture (Delhi) and TVB School of Habitat Studies (Delhi) based on Mulcom and DayMedia part-funded by EC AsiaIT programme
2003-: TAREB project Developing multi-media teaching aids for the European Masters Course (see above) and running academies on the use of solar energy (project scientific coordiinator.

Examining at post-graduate level

September, 2000: PhD, Cambridge University School of Architecture [M. Guedes]
December, 2001: MSc, Cambridge University School of Architecture [F Zhu]
May 2003: PhD, University of Strathclyde School of Architecture [S. Howieson]
2002 - , University of East London: External Examiner to MSc course on Advanced Environmental and Energy Studies.

PhD supervision

London Metropolitan University:: Director of studies, J Rudge, Supervisor, El-Khier Belayat
Oxford Brookes University:: Supervisor: Kate McCartney, Rajat Gupta
University of East London:: Director of Studies to completion: Jane Matthews awarded PhD, Comfort in the Desert: an analysis of the indoor climate in the Havelis of Jaiselmer December 2000