PECI 2023 Keynote Presenter:

Dr. Henry Louie received his B.S.E.E. degree from Kettering University in 2002, his M.S. degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2004, and his PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Washington in 2008. He is presently a Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seattle University. He is President and Co-founder of KiloWatts for Humanity, a non-profit organization providing off-grid electricity access and business opportunities in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2015/2016, Dr. Louie was Fulbright Scholar to Copperbelt University in Kitwe, Zambia. His textbook, Off-Grid Electrical Systems in Developing Countries is used by universities around the world. Dr. Louie is the 2022 recipient of the IEEE Region 6 award for Outstanding IEEE Member Who Promoted Humanitarian Projects and Activities.

Worldwide, over 700 million people live without access to the electrical grid. The majority of people afflicted by this form of energy poverty live in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. However, even in countries with nearly universal electricity access, challenges relating to energy equity and energy justice remain. This talk introduces to the audience themes of energy access, energy equity, and energy justice, and why they are more relevant than ever to power engineers. The speaker's experience working on these issues in Sub-Saharan Africa and on the Navajo Nation are shared.