June Lukuyu is an assistant professor with the University of Washington Electrical and Computer Engineering department. She founded the Interdisciplinary Energy Analytics for Society (IDEAS) research group, which works to progress energy systems to serve underresourced communities. As a fellow for the Energy for Growth Hub, her research models the development and planning of energy systems.
Early life and education.
Lukuyu was raised near Nairobi, Kenya. Following a high school presentation, she switched her interests from architecture to engineering. She attended Smith College where she received a Bachelor's of Science in Engineering Science. Following this, she received a Master's of Science in Renewable Energy Systems Technologies from Loughborough University. Her disseration analyzed different renewable energies and their viability for milk-cooling systems in East Africa. She attended the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and received her Ph.D. degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. Her doctoral dissertation analyzes increased energy use to promote growth and development and strategies for electrification.
Career and research.
Lukuyu worked in power systems post-graduation before pursuing her master's in 2013. She became an assistant professor at the University of Washington in 2023, where she works in Power and Energy Systems.
Her research is focused on electrification for social development in Kenya. Her work emphasizes the need for community-based solutions. In 2012, she published a paper analyzing wind-diesel microgrid systems to support an increase in energy demand through reviewing a case study in northern Kenya. In 2014, she published a paper evaluating the effects of increased electric vehicle use on the grid, finding that private EV ownership will cause significant strain on the grid compared to public and commercial electric vehicles. Her contributions to an EV project for the Energy for Growth Hub resulted in the first visualized and interactive map evaluating Africa's readiness and impact index for electric vehicles. Other research she had done include proposing solutions to reduce impact, and assessing the supply and demand of power generated by solar mini-grids.