Zensi, an energy monitoring company based on technology developed by UW CSE professor Shwetak Patel and collaborators, has been purchased by Belkin.
Zensi’s technology was licensed from the University of Washington and from the Georgia Institute of Technology, Patel’s Ph.D. institution. The technology includes single-point-of-attachment sensors for electrical power, water, and natural gas — a single sensor in a home or business uses signal processing and machine learning to identify sources and rates of consumption. This dramatically reduces the cost of instrumenting the home or business and providing occupants with the information they need to behave in more economical and environmentally responsible ways.
According to Patel, this is just the beginning for using software to help consumers better conserve energy. “This puts UW on the map as a premier place for energy work in the residential space,” says Patel.
Xconomy article here. TechFlash article here. Seattle Times article here. CNET article here. Yahoo! Finance article here. Technology Review article here. Belkin press release here.
UW CSE “Sustainability Sensing” research overview here.