Electronics and Electrical Engineering

Istvan Gyongy received the M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oxford, UK, in 2003 and 2008, respectively. Following a period in industry, where he worked on processors for smartphones and a cloud-connected activity tracking system for dairy farms, he joined the University of Edinburgh. His initial research at the University was on hydrodynamic modelling relating to the development of FloWave, the combined wave and current test facility. His research is now focused on the development of single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) cameras and their application in a range of domains including LIDAR and the life sciences.

Role: Principal Investigator and research group lead.

Lab: Wei Sun Lab – Power for AI

Recruiting: PhD and visiting researchers.

Chancellor's Fellow in Energy Systems Integration

Dr Wei Sun is a Chancellor's Fellow in Energy Systems Integration within the School of Engineering. His research focuses on the planning and operation of low-carbon energy systems with high renewable penetration, utilising applied data science and advanced optimisation techniques. Dr Sun holds a Visiting Research Fellowship at UCL.

Dr Sun has extensive experience in energy modelling at different scales. He previously worked on building a multi-scale energy system integration architecture for the National Centre for Energy Systems Integration (CESI) and served as a lead researcher on the Hydrogen’s Value in the Energy System (HYVE) project. He has also contributed to the RESTLESS and ARIES energy resilience projects.

Current Focus 1: Decarbonising AI & Data Centres

 Dr Sun’s recent work addresses the critical energy challenges posed by the rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence. He focuses on quantifying the flexibility of data centres and optimising their integration into the power grid to support net-zero targets.

• Spatial Flexibility: Scheduling computing loads across geographically distributed centres.
• Temporal Flexibility: Optimising job timing to match renewable generation.
• Supply Configuration: Integrating on-site storage and renewables.

 Dr Sun recently organised the  International Workshop on Managing Global Energy Demand of AI Data Centres (Imperial College London, 2025).

Invited talks for IEEE PES International Meeting (PESIM) 2026, Assessing Data Center Flexibility in Low-carbon Power System: Current Capabilities and Future Prospects

Selected Recent Publications

• Grid Frequency Stability Support Potential of Data Center: A Quantitative Assessment of Flexibility in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications (In press, 2026)
• Multi-Objective Low-Carbon Scheduling Method for Data Centers Based on Ensemble Reinforcement Learning in IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (2025) link

Open PhD Opportunity

Topic: Improve the Energy Sustainability of AI Data Centers in Future Energy System

Current Focus 2: Open Energy Modelling & PyPSA-GB

Teaming up with Dr Andrew Lyden, Dr Sun works on PyPSA-GB, an open-source model of the Great Britain power system. Moving away from "black box" commercial tools, the team advocates for transparent, reproducible energy modelling. Their research utilises high-fidelity simulations to stress-test grid resilience against extreme weather, analyse security of supply risks in Scotland, and optimise flexibility assets to minimise renewable curtailment.

Key Output

• PyPSA-GB GitHub Repository – Open-source code for the GB transmission network model.
• Electricity System Security of Supply in Scotland (Report for ClimateXChange/Scottish Government, 2023)
• PyPSA-GB: An Open-Source Model of Great Britain’s Power System (Foundational Paper)

• PhD Electrical Power Engineering, University of Edinburgh, 2015

• Chartered Engineer (CEng)
• Member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET)
• Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

• Hydropower Interdisciplinary Group Design Project [MEng]
• Electrical Engineering Fundamentals of Renewable Energy [MSc]
• MSc Sustainable Energy Systems - Dissertation supervision
• MSc Advanced Power Engineering - Dissertation supervision

• Network Integration of DER
• Electricity Network Modelling
• Gas/Hydrogen Network Modelling
• Climate Change Impacts on Renewable Energy
• Optimisation Modelling
• Statistic analysis
• Data Science applications in Power Systems

https://twitter.com/themispr

Themis holds the Regius Chair of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh where he established the Centre for Electronics Frontiers (CEF) and is currently the Head of the Institute for Integrated Micro and Nano Systems (IMNS) that also hosts the Scottish Microelectronics Centre (SMC). His work focuses on developing energy-efficient AI hardware solutions through innovating novel semiconductor technologies and neuromorphic computing architectures. He leads an interdisciplinary team comprising researchers with expertise across materials process development to electron devices and circuits and systems for applications in embedded systems and AI. 

He holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and is an Adjunct Professor at UTS Australia and Honorary Fellow at Imperial College London. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the British Computer Society, the IET, the Institute of Physics and member of Academia Europaea. He is the Director of the UKRI APRIL AI Hub that is developing AI tools and capabilities for the electronics sector. He also served as the Director of the Lloyds Register Foundation International Consortium for Nanotechnology and Co-Director of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Machine Intelligence for Nanoelectronic Devices and Systems (MINDS). 

In 2015, he established ArC Instruments Ltd that delivers high-performance testing infrastructure for automating characterisation of novel nanodevices in over 26 countries and in 2025 he founded EVA that is building new power-efficient AI hardware solutions. His contributions in memristive technologies and applications have brought this emerging technology one step closer to the electronics industry for which he was recognised as a 2021 Blavatnik Award UK Honoree in Physical Sciences and Engineering and with the Royal Academy of Engineering Princess Royal Silver Medal in 2025.

PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, “Application of Maxwell-Wagner Polarisation in Monolithic Technologies”, Imperial College London, UK.

MSc in Microelectronics and Telecommunications, University of Liverpool, UK.

BEng in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Lincoln, UK.

Member Academia Europaea

Fellow Member (FBCS), The British Computer Society

Fellow Member (FRSC), The Royal Society of Chemistry

Fellow Member (FInstP), The Institute of Physics

Fellow Member (FIET), The Institution of Engineering and Technology

Member of the American Nano Society (ANS)

Member, Institute of Neuromorphic Engineering (IME) 

Senior Member (SMIEE), Institute of Electric and Electronic Engineers

PGEE11195 - Engineering Research Methods with Grand Challenge

PGEE11038 - Microfabrication Techniques

Emerging Semiconductor Technologies for sustainable AI Hardware solutions (see Ingenia cover on his work as RAEng Chair in Emerging Technologies).

AI tools/capabilities for enhancing innovations in electronics and semiconductor technologies (see work as Director of the UKRI APRIL AI Hub).

AWARDS

2026                Honorary Doctorate, Department of Physics at the University of Patras, Greece

2026                Community Award (Highly Commended), APRIL AI Hub, RAI AI & Robotics Awards

2025                Princess Royal Silver Medal, Royal Academy of Engineering

2021                Blavatnik Award for UK Young Scientists in Physical Sciences & Engineering

2020                Chartered Engineer (CEng), Engineering Council

2019                Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technology – AI Hardware

2018                University Research Group of the Year finalist, TechWorks Awards

2018                University Research Award finalist: Memristor record, Elektra Awards

2017                Royal Society Industry Fellowship 

2017                Lloyd’s Register Foundation 100A1 ambassador

2013                EPSRC Early Career Fellowship

2010                Lindemann Trust Fellowship 

2008                Corrigan Foundation and LSI Inc. Fellowship in Nanoscale Science & Technology

2006                The A.G. Leventis Foundation Scholar

INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

2026 –               Head of Institute for Integrated Micro & Nano Systems, University of Edinburgh, UK

2024 –               Data Driven Innovation (DDI) Programme Strategy Board, University of Edinburgh, UK

2022 – 2026     Director of Centre for Electronics Frontiers, University of Edinburgh, UK