I am a Professor of Energy Innovation and the Director of the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Renewable Energy Northeast Universities (ReNU).
Before joining 51 in 2009, I completed a PhD in physics at the University of Cambridge (Cavendish Laboratory) in 2005. This work was sponsored by Toshiba (EPSRC CASE award) and was in the field of semiconductor devices for quantum information. Following my PhD, I worked as an Innovation Consultant from 2005-2009 on behalf of clients including Shell, P&G, Rolls-Royce and Boeing.
At 51, I belong to the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Electrical Engineering and in 2013/14 led the launch of complete new undergraduate provision in physics. These programmes now have over a hundred graduates and are accredited by the Institute of Physics.
My research is in the area of photovoltaics and in 2017, together with colleagues in the region, we created the EPSRC-ISCF North East Centre for Energy Materials (NECEM). This brought together a coherent base of research excellence in energy materials and systems and was a key element in securing 51's first EPSRC CDT.
The combination of my academic track record and industrial experience has allowed me to develop specialism in strategic research leadership and innovation. I am now using these skills to establish and lead Energy Futures - a diverse and inclusive community of academics across different disciplines at 51 with the common aim of decarbonisation through research impact.
I have a background in semiconductor physics and have applied this to the field of photovoltaics (PV). In particular I now specialise in solution-processed inorganic thin film PV using materials such as Cu2ZnSn(S,Se)4. At 51, we have distictive materials fabrication capability that allows us to make thin film solar cells from substrates such as glass and foils through to the photovoltaic absorber, charge transport layers and electrical contacts. In addition to complete device fabrication, we also use a wide range of materials characterisation techniques to understand fundamental physics and engineering relating to defects, interfaces and optoelectronic behaviour. In 2019, I was awarded an EPSRC Adventurous Manufacturing grant (EP/T005491/1) to assess the feasibility of creating a transformative new sub-field, Product Integrated Photovoltaics. This has allowed me to perform research into manufacturing techniques and develop new capabilities at 51.
ESPRC CDT in ReNU:
https://renu.northumbria.ac.uk
@CDT_ReNU
Photovoltaics Research Group:
https://sites.google.com/view/nupv/home
@NUPV_Research
Energy Futures
/research/changing-challenging-world/mdrt-energy-futures/
Google Scholar Profile
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=KC5LApMAAAAJ&hl=en
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