Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cell Technology Expert

Expertise

Experience

Undisclosed Company, Chief Technology Officer, Present   

• Responsible for overseeing all technical aspects of the company.
• Working with Executive Management to grow the company through the use of technological resources and a research and development programme.
• Using an active and practical approach, directing all employees engaged in technical development to attain the company's strategic goals established in the company's strategic plan.
• Identification of main literature sources, providing scope of international markets and how they translate to the situation in South Australia.

Independent Consultant, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 2016 – Present

• Assignments have included providing technical expertise to startup companies Aquahydrex, Petawatt, Zenogen, HEMS Global, and Microcat Fuels Ltd.
• Design of solar and solar-hybrid systems for GEM Energy, Contributed to Academy of Science report on Energy for Australia in the 21st Century: The central role of electricity.
• Contract work for GHD - due diligence for research grant funding.
• Contract work for GPA engineering - project on direct injection of green hydrogen into natural gas transmission system.
• Provide insight into technology and pricing of electrolysers, gasification and other hydrogen production methods.
• Provide techno-economic analysis of hydrogen pathways.
•  Member of the Australian Clean Energy Council, Storage Advisory Group.
• Member of ARENA advisory Panel.
• Member of CSIRO National Hydrogen Roadmap steering committee.
• Exco member for IEA Hydrogen.

LC Engineering, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, Industry Advisor, 2011 - 2016

• Subcontractor to Aurecon to design solar/hydrogen/fuel cell energy system for the Sir Samuel Griffith Centre (Brisbane).
• Carried out review of waste gasification technologies for Sydney City Council.
• Invited Keynote Lectures at All-Energy Conference (Melbourne), Ecogen, (Brisbane).
• Leading collaboration with National Physical Laboratory (New Delhi, India) developing new low-Pt catalysts for PEM fuel cells.
• Invited public lectures at NPL New Delhi and IIT New Delhi, and lecture on Heterogenous Catalysis - QUT.
• Chair of the 10th Australian Coal Science Conference.

Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD, Australia , 2010 - 2011

Senior Research Fellow

• Supervised research on low-Pt catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction in PEM fuel cells.
• Supervised research on advanced micro-channel reactor design for catalytic fuel processing.
• Taught undergraduate courses in electrochemistry.
• Gave keynote/invited lectures at AIE National Conference (Adelaide), Ecogen, Conference (Sydney), World Hydrogen Energy Conference (Essen), and Second International Climate Change Conference - session and paper on Reef Climate Adaptation Research and Technology.
• Round-table discussion on energy storage at the Royal Institution Australia.
• Member of the International Review Panel for UK energy research (Research Councils UK).

The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, 2002 - 2010

Director of the CSIRO National Hydrogen Materials Alliance, 2007 - 2010

Senior Research Fellow, 2002 - 2010

• Supervised research programme on fuel cells and advanced nanomaterials.
• Chair of the World Hydrogen Energy Conference.

Advantica Technologies Ltd., Loughborough, UK, Principal Scientist, 1990 - 2001

• Responsible for leading fuel cell and hydrogen research and managing research team of scientists and engineers.
• Collaboration with companies/organisations in Europe, Canada and the USA.
• Leading project manager for multi-national research programmes funded by European Commission.
• Member of the Process Technology Group Committee of the Royal Society of Chemistry
• Member of the Fuel Cell Advisory Committee for the UK Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)
• Member of the Grove Fuel Cell Symposium organizing committee, the European Fuel Cell Forum and session chair.
• Member of the Electrical Engineering College of the EPSRC.
• Several Invited Lectures to conferences in Europe and the USA.

British Gas/ BG plc., Solihull and Loughborough, 1970 - 1990

Senior Scientist

• Responsible for a project concerned with the long-term availability and supply of liquid hydrocarbon feedstocks.
• Attended courses in project management (PA consultants) and team leadership.
• Worked on project developing catalysts for pre-reforming and methanation of CO-rich gas.

Experimental Scientist

• Worked on catalytic gas making processes including coal gasification, Fischer Tropsch Synthesis, steam reforming of hydrocarbons and hydrodesufurization.
• Named on patents for steam reforming of liquid hydrocarbons over ruthenium catalysts.
• Developed unique assay method for coal decomposition.
• Developed thermal analysis techniques for characterizing carbon deposition on materials.

Accomplishments

• Worked on processes for the gasification of coal and related fuel processing.
• British Gas Economic Planning Section, London (secondment from R&D), Responsible for a project concerned with the long term availability and supply of liquid hydrocarbon feedstocks.
• Worked on coal (BGL slagging gasifier) and oil gasification processes and latterly, especially on catalytic syngas processes including Fischer-Tropsch, methanation and hydrodesulphurisation.
• Built up fuel cell R&D programme and appointed Principal Scientist for Advantica Technologies Ltd., Loughborough, UK.  
• Developed a high pressure assay method for coal analysis, which was used in the development of the BG/Lurgi slagging gasifier.
• Appointed to lead the British Gas research group working on fuel cells technology.
• Started collaboration with GEC Alstom, Westinghouse and TNO on SOFC modelling - first of many European-wide collaborations on fuel cells.
• Designed and built Europe’s first pressurised MCFC test facility after technology transfer from IGT (now GTI) in Chicago.
• Managed 2 large European Union Projects on fuel cell systems (SOFC and MCFC) a 9 year project.
• Developed the first fuel cell stack networking configuration, which was later adopted by ECN in Holland, successfully commercialized by Fuel Cell Energy.
• Contributor in the UK government Foresight programme.
• Successfully managed the construction of Europe’s first SOFC balance of plant test facility, in collaboration with ENI Technologie.
• For the European Commission review of fuel cell technology, assisted in developing 10 year strategy for the EC.
• Set up MoU between BG plc and Alstom on Fuel Cell Technology.
• Appointed Director of the CSIRO National Hydrogen Materials Alliance (Flagship research cluster of 12 university research groups and ANSTO).
• Working with Aurecon to design solar/hydrogen/fuel cell energy system for the Sir Samuel Griffith Centre (Brisbane)
• Carried out review of waste gasification technologies for Sydney City Council.
• Invited Keynote Lectures at All-Energy Conference (Melbourne), Ecogen (Brisbane)
• Leading collaboration with National Physical Laboratory (New Delhi, India) developing new low-Pt catalysts for PEM fuel cells.
• Invited public lectures at NPL New Delhi and IIT New Delhi.
• Invited public lecture on Heterogenous Catalysis – QUT.
• Consultancy assignments for Uniquest, Alternative Energy International, and Electrygen.
• Chair of the 10th Australian Coal Science Conference.
• Contributed to Australian Academy of Science report on Energy for Australia in the 21st Century: The Central Role of Electricity.

Honors & Publications

Education

• Ph.D. Physical Chemistry, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
• D.I.D. Industrial Chemistry, Loughborough University, Loughborough, UK
• B.Sc. Industrial Chemistry, Loughborough Univeristy, Loughborough, UK