The Hydrogen Economy

Dr Kate Thornton

Lead Research Scientist, Croda

Kate has completed her PhD at the University of Manchester investigating biomaterials for stem cell culture. She currently workd at Croda, a speciality chemicals company, as Lead Research Scientist in their Biopolymer division.

: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-thornton-uk

Baroness Brown of Cambridge, Julia King

Crossbench Member of the House of Lords, Chair of the Carbon Test, House of Lords

Baroness Brown is an engineer, with a career in both academia and industry before becoming a Crossbench member of the House of Lords, where she is a member of the European Union Select Committee and its Environment Sub-Committee and of the Science and Technology Select Committee.  Her major interests are climate change and the low carbon economy. She was Vice Chair of the Climate Change Committee for 12 years and is Chair of its Adaptation Committee; she is Chair of the Carbon Trust; a non-executive director of the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult; and a member of the Government’s Hydrogen Advisory Council.  She led the King Review for HMT on decarbonising transport (2008), and was a non-executive director of the Green Investment Bank.

Dr Graham Cooley

CEO, ITM Power

Dr Graham Cooley joined ITM Power as CEO in 2009. ITM Power was the first hydrogen related company to be listed on the London Stock Market and has been developing electrolyser equipment for over 20 years. Graham started his career in the power sector in 1989 joining the CEGB and became Business Development Manager at National Power plc and then International Power plc developing energy storage and new generation technologies. Before joining ITM Power Graham was CEO of Sensortec Ltd, founding CEO of Metalysis Ltd, a spin out from Cambridge University and founding CEO of Antenova Ltd. Graham has a PhD in physics, an MBA and is a Fellow of the Institute of Metals, Minerals and Mining (FIMMM).  Graham also sits on a number of industry bodies and is a member of the UK Government’s Hydrogen Advisory Council.

: www.itm-power.com
: https://www.linkedin.com/company/456373
: @itmpowerplc

Richard M Oblath

Executive Chairman, H2Transition Capital LLP

Richard has recently initiated as Executive Chairman and one of three General Partners a global $350mln private equity to invest in the hydrogen value chain. Following his retirement from Royal Dutch Shell in mid-2017 he built a portfolio of global advisory positions for Boards and C-Suite Executives in the Downstream Oil, Chemicals and other industries focusing on strategy and corporate transformations ahead of the Energy Transition. He is the Chair of the Energy Transition Group of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (where he also a Fellow), a Fellow of the Energy Institute, a member of Chatham House (Royal Institute of International Affairs) and a member of Chapter Zero (a community of non-executive directors who understand and can position the Energy Transition with their board colleagues). Richard is also a non-executive director of Boson Energy S.A.  His non-profit and philanthropic endeavours include being Chairman of the London Chamber Orchestra Trust (www.lco.co.uk) until March 2021 and the named sponsor of 6 scholarships a year for gifted second year Nottingham University undergraduates receiving financial aid to allow them to also pursue their studies overseas for up to a year

: https://www.h2capital.co.uk/
: richard-m-oblath-phd-c

Professor David Knowles

Chief Executive Officer, Henry Royce Instititute

Professor David Knowles joined the Henry Royce Institute as its CEO in early 2019, bringing with him a wealth of experience from senior roles in both academia and industry. David is a Fellow of the Royal Academy and prior to joining Royce, was Professor of Nuclear Engineering at Bristol University and Co-Director of the South-West Nuclear Hub and Atkins Fellow. David is particularly experienced in leading the collaboration between higher education and industry, to accelerate energy sector-related research, knowledge transfer and implementation. In recent years David has led industrial projects related to design and assessment of renewable energy offshore structures and nuclear plant. He also leads the EDF Energy High Temperature Centre.

: https://www.royce.ac.uk/
: https://www.linkedin.com/company/henry-royce-insti
: @RoyceInstitute

Chris McDonald

Chief Executive Officer, Materials Processing Institute

Chris McDonald is the Chief Executive Officer of the Materials Processing Institute.  The Institute is a not-for-profit, industrial research institute, which has develops new technologies, primarily for the steel and metals sector in the areas of advanced materials, digital technologies, industrial decarbonisation and the circular economy.  Chris led the divestment of the 75yr old Institute in 2014 from its then parent company, returning the organisation to independent ownership.

Chris’s background is in industrial research and manufacturing, where he has worked internationally.  A graduate of Cambridge University, Chris is a Fellow the Institute of Chemical Engineers and of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He is Chair of the UK Metals Council, a member of the North East Council of the CBI and policy chair for Innovation & Enterprise at the Federation of Small Businesses.

Chris is often called on to commentate in the media and speak on topics such as industrial strategy, digital technologies, steel and decarbonisation.  He provides expert opinion and support to companies, government and non-governmental organisations in these areas, to support policy development, growth and inward investment.  He has a strong interest in the wider social impact of business, including issues such as employee participation, community involvement and environmental sustainability, all of which are covered on his Youtube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/c/chrismcdonald

: www.mpiuk.com
: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-mcdonald-7292676
: @MrChrisMcDonald

Dr Christine Pout

Principal Consultant: Net Zero Solutions BREEAM, BRE

No bio provided

: www.bregroup.com
: @BRE_Group

Jon Maddy

Director, Hydrogen Centre

Jon Maddy is the Director of the University of South Wales’ Hydrogen R&D Centre at Baglan, where he leads the University’s R&D activities on electrolytic hydrogen production, hydrogen recovery and purification, hydrogen energy storage, thermochemical hydrogen production, hydrogen for transport and fuel cell applications as well as hydrogen as a decarbonisation mechanism for industry and heating. Prior to joining the University, Jon had nearly two decades of experience in the industrial gases industry, with a particular emphasis on all aspects of industrial hydrogen. This experience supports the mission of the USW Hydrogen R&D Centre to focus on mid- to later TRL hydrogen and fuel cell R&D, with a strong emphasis on collaboration with industry and government as well as academic partners. Jon is the Academic Lead for the South Wales Industrial Cluster, the regional representative on the Management Board of the Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) and is a member of the UK Government Hydrogen Advisory Council.  

: @USW_SERC

William Joyce

Innovation Lead, Innovate UK (UKRI)

William is an Innovation Lead within the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge, a £170 million funding stream delivered by UKRI as part of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF), to accelerate the decarbonisation of UK industry.  Core technologies funded through this programme include hydrogen and carbon capture and storage.  Prior to this William founded a biotech startup as part of a spin out from Imperial College London.  William holds a first-class degree and PhD in Chemistry, both from Imperial College London.

: https://www.ukri.org/our-work/our-main-funds/industrial-strategy-challenge-fund/clean-growth
: william-joyce-65573512