Bob Muhwezi

About

Am a third year PhD student in the Electrical & Computer Engineering department at the University of Massachusetts (UMass)-Amherst. I work as a research assistant in the Systems Towards Infrastructure Measurement & Analytics (STIMA) lab under the supervision of Professor Jay Taneja. Prior to joining UMass, i worked for the planning department of the Electricity Utility in Rwanda where i was responsible for optimal planning of midterm and longterm electricity-infrastructure projects.

Thus far, my research in the STIMA-Labs has centered on the application of data-driven methods to tackle a number of development challenges for data-scarce countries. These challenges range from understanding interlinkages between energy use and infrastructural development among small businesses, to estimating spatial-temporal changes in economic activity for small geographical locations. To do this, i leverage a number of large scale ground collected and remotely sensed data sources such as census and demographic health surveys, daytime and nighttime satellite imagery, pollution data, and other publicly available datasets.

Education

PhD-Electrical and Computer Engineering Jan 2019 - todate. University of Massachusetts, Amherst

MSC Electrical and Computer Engineering June 2017 Carnegie Mellon University-Africa (CMU-A)

Bsc (Hons) Electrical Engineering September 2013 Kigali institute of Science and Technology (KIST),Kigali, Rwanda

Experience

Graduate research assistant (STIMA-lab: 2019-present)

Using remote sensing and data analytics to understand electricity demand and GDP growth in Kenya.

Projects Planning Engineer (EDCL, Rwanda: Jan-2018 to Jan-2019)

At EDCL, I was responsible for modelling Rwanda’s energy demand, modelling Least Cost generation expansion, static and dynamic stability studies of Rwanda’s HV network, feasibility studies for LV and MV grid extension projects and lastly, worked as part of the Rwanda government team in negotiating Power Purchase Agreements (PPA’s).

Intern EUCL-Rwanda (Feb-2017 to July-2017)

I worked as an Intern in the planning department at the Energy Utility Corporation Ltd (EUCL) in Rwanda. Here, my main duties involved carrying out load flow as well as transient stability studies for purposes of operational planning.

Teaching Assistant – Carnegie Mellon University, Africa (Jan-2017 to December-2017)

Carrying out recitations as well as grading of assignments for various graduate courses in systems modeling as well as renewable energy.

On going projects

Sub-national disaggregation of Kenya’s GDP using electricity demand and remote sensing.

In this project, we’re hoping to measure correlations between published Kenya National Bureau of Statistics’ data and electricity demand at the county level as well as Night time Lights data.

Past Projects

Development of Rwanda’s Least Cost Power development plan

Under this project, I was tasked with modeling future demand as well as optimal generation expansion pathways for the government of Rwanda. This model was reviewed and accepted by the Ministry, regulator as well as donors. It’s most recent version can be found on the EDCL website

Understanding interlinkages between complementary infrastructure and electricity consumption among Kenya’s grid-connected Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

In this project, we carried out a longitudinal analysis of monthly electricity consumption using a panel dataset of grid connected SMEs in Kenya, and then leveraged multiple publicly available geospatial datasets to estimate how complementary infrastructural variables (such as access to roads, markets, financial services etc) correlate with sustained electricity consumption growth by SMEs.

Publications

Muhwezi, Bob, Nathaniel J. Williams, and Jay Taneja. "Ingredients for growth: Examining electricity consumption and complementary infrastructure for Small and Medium Enterprises in Kenya." Development Engineering 6 (2021): 100072.

Fellowships and Awards

1. Spaulding Smith Fellowship, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2019

2. Dean’s Fellow Program, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2020