Keith Bell joined the University of Strathclyde in 2005 having previously worked as a researcher in Manchester and Naples, and been a system development engineer in the electricity supply industry in Britain.
He was appointed to the ScottishPower Chair in Smart Grids in late 2013 and became one of the co-Directors of the UK Energy Research Centre in 2014. In July 2018, he became Scientific Director of the Electrical Infrastructure Research Hub established by the University of Strathclyde with the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and the University of Manchester. In April 2019, became a member of the Committee on Climate Change.
Keith is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, he has advised the Scottish Government, the Republic of Ireland government, Ofgem and the UK Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on power systems issues. He is also active in a number of engineering research projects, collaborating with UK and European industry and academic partners.
Keith is an invited expert member of CIGRE Study Committee C1 on System Development and Economics, a member of the Executive Board of the Power Systems Computation Conference and a member of the Executive Committee of the IET Power Academy, an initiative to promote electric power engineering as a graduate career in the UK. His main research interests are around planning and operation of electricity systems and, increasingly, how they form part of a wider, low carbon energy system.
Keith leads the UKERC Energy Infrastructure Transitions theme.