Energy Futures Bulletin Q1 2022
NE LEP Energy Summit
Grant Successes
On the March the NE LEP organised an Energy Summit bringing together key regional partners in the energy sector. The opening of the Summit was chaired by Northumbria University's Pro-Vice Chancellor for Employability and Partnerships and included reflections from Dr Zaid Alwan’s experience at COP26
Academics across Energy Futures have had recent success in funding. • Dr Daniel Ho has been awarded £20k from the Royal Society to purchase a microscope heating stage to characterise losses, stability and performance of solar-thermal absorbers. • Dr Marc Etherington, alongside Dr Jonathan Knowles, has been awarded £9k to hire a research assistant to develop fluorescent organic compounds. • Dr Juna Sathian has been awarded a Royal Society International Exchanges grant and a £50k Proofof-concept award from Northumbria for to work on Masers and Solidstate lighting respectively.
8th
Northumbria University hosted a delegation on the 10th March showing facilities in the Faculty of Engineering and Environment and further opportunities to collaborate at the academia/industry interface. A recent NE-LEP funded case study can be found here (https://www.northeastlep.co.uk/wpcontent/uploads/2022/03/NEL1221c-Energy-for-Growth-casestudy-3-Northumbria-University-Fabrication-002.pdf)
Batteries Working Group Dr Apel Mahmud now coordinates a batteries working group with relevance to Britishvolt’s recent announcement for the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre that will help scale-up next generation cell technology. The Roulton Group has also set up an engineering scholarship scheme to fund women from minority ethnic backgrounds . (https://newsroom.northumbria.ac.uk/pressreleases/scholarshipsand-work-experience-for-aspiring-engineering-graduates-3164350) The North East Battery Alliance (NEBA) will be hosting a two-day conference at Northumbria University (10th/11th May).
Student helps cut Carbon Footprint Godwin Buluku who is currently studying for a MSc in Safety, Health and Environmental Management with Advanced Practice is helping Quorom Park reduce their carbon footprint. Read more at https://quorumpark.com/news/university-student-helps-us-cut-ourcarbon-footprint/.
EPSRC CDT in ReNU Cohort 1 and 2 are currently involved in Industry Challenge group mini-projects to gain valuable experience of working with a real-world client. A group of ReNU students presented their projects to the Executive Chairman of Britishvolt at his public lecture at Northumbria University. We have also been filming and footage about ReNU will soon appear on ReNU’s website. Follow us on Twitter @CDT_ReNU
Inaugural Lecture – Prof. Neil S. Beattie Prof. Neil Beattie gave his inaugural lecture on the 26th January 2022. The title of the talk was ‘Tackling carbon dioxide emission with physics, innovation and leadership.’ In this talk Neil, described how Northumbria research and innovation is offering a new contribution to reducing carbon dioxide emissions with aesthetically integrated solar cells. You can watch the recording here (https://eu-lti.bbcollab.com/recording/3b67ea3953f049feba388d3ff9da6f7a) For more details please contact neil.beattie@northumbria.ac.uk