Energy-Efficient Bluetooth Solutions

UCL bright spark collaborates with Lightricity 

Rising energy costs may well be driving the adoption of innovative home devices such as smart plugs, lighting, and thermostats. Through seamless internet connectivity, the increasing prevalence of these Internet of Things (IoT) devices is making our everyday tasks simpler, more energy-efficient, and responsive to our needs.  

With this, balancing technological advancement with efficient power consumption grows ever more pressing. Developers and users increasingly focus not just on understanding how much power new innovations require, but also on achieving the most energy-optimised solutions possible. Against this backdrop, collaborative efforts between universities and industry are paving the way for smarter, more sustainable technologies, where careful attention to energy efficiency is at the heart of every breakthrough. 

In partnership, University College London (UCL) and IoT leaders Lightricity joined forces to tackle this challenge head-on, showcasing the power of university-industry collaboration in driving innovation. 

The collaboration was initiated through NCUB’s konfer platform which quickly paired Electronic and Electrical Engineering MSc students with real-world business briefs, inviting companies to propose projects that address current industry needs. Lightricity, renowned for its expertise in photovoltaic energy harvesting and IoT, tasked a student with a critical investigation: evaluating the energy efficiency of a cutting-edge Bluetooth channel sounding protocol, a technology poised to revolutionise distance measurement between devices. 

Dr Julien Campos of Lightricity highlighted the significance of the project: “Understanding BLE Channel Sounding was essential for us, given its potential across various applications. As a specialist in energy harvesting, our priority was to assess this technology’s power consumption and optimise its energy performance. The student’s work provided exactly the insights we needed to consider a proof of concept powered by our photovoltaic technology.” 

Guided by expert supervisors from both UCL and Lightricity, the student delivered valuable findings that are now shaping Lightricity’s commercial and technological strategies. Ian Thompson of Lightricity remarked, “The project was well worth it. The student and their supervisor helped deepen our understanding of a technology that could be commercially significant in the future.” 

This successful collaboration demonstrates the dual benefits of academic partnerships. UCL students gain hands-on experience tackling complex engineering problems, while participating companies receive fresh perspectives and access to innovative research. UCL’s Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, recognised globally for its interdisciplinary research and industry-focused curriculum, continues to lead the way in preparing students for the demands of modern engineering. 

Such university-industry partnerships are shaping the future of technology, fostering talent, and delivering solutions to pressing real-world challenges. As the need for sustainable, energy-efficient innovation intensifies, collaborations like that between UCL and Lightricity are setting new standards for what can be achieved. 

By enabling Lightricity to share a clearly defined technical brief and matching it with UCL’s academic expertise and student talent, konfer reduced the friction often associated with university–industry engagement. We provided a simple, scalable route to collaboration, allowing UCL to quickly embed real-world business problems directly into its MSc programme while giving Lightricity rapid access to student talent and high-quality research insight. Projects like this demonstrate how konfer helps universities translate teaching and research excellence into meaningful industry partnerships that deliver tangible value for all involved. 

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