Craig Baker

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

SKILLS

ABOUT CRAIG BAKER

Electrification of heat is needed now.Every day we hear about how difficult this is to do.Action rather than words are needed, engineering and technology need to collide to provide the solution. Innovation, Innovation, Innovation!Heat pumps have been at the heart of my work since 2003; I found myself to be managing the installation and commissioning of what was probably the first ground source heat pump in a school in the U.K.This black magic wizardry intrigued and inspired me, it gave me that feeling of “I want to know more, much more!”So I left the traditional world of M&E engineering, and said hello to the Swedish world of heat pump manufacturing, in particular the geeky techy world of R&D and product development; I was a sponge with purpose, amongst great teachers!Fast forward a couple of decades working for manufacturers, installers, and specialists of heat pumpery, gaining experience and knowledge of this fascinating world, and then the realisation; I need to pass all of my sponge onto others. Mentoring and training others has always been part of my life, whether graduates, improvers, or the old dog who has been plumbing for 50 years, it is so rewarding to see that eureka moment when “why we do things” crashes into “how we do things” and makes sense.At heatly, I get to take the next step, by helping make things easier, reducing the high level of skill and experience that is needed for a successful heat pump install. We don’t have time on our side, we have to innovate and find ways of passing on that knowledge and experience instantly. To have a virtual expert at the side of designers and installers, so that they can achieve more every day; by reducing the monotony, doing the heavy lifting, we can significantly increase productivity. Heat pumps roll out can then happen at scale.On top of this we need to learn more, we need to refine systems and applications, we need to gather evidence and prove the best way forward. We need to monitor the installs, gain more knowledge, and have full confidence that we can tweak the theory with what happens in real life.Again time is not on our side, so let’s use more techy geeky stuff to do the number crunching and absorb all that big data, let the power of AI refine how heating systems are designed and specified, making the transition quicker and easier.So the action plan; put a load of world leading software gurus in a room in Leeds, with a team of engineers, throw in a few data scientists and Bobs your uncle, the heatly vision becomes