Our FPC2024 Keynote Speakers
Check back soon for updates as we announce this year's keynote speakers
Prof. Nigel Brandon
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London
Prof. Nigel Brandon
Dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Imperial College London
Professor Nigel Brandon holds the Chair in Sustainable Development in Energy and is Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at Imperial College London. His research is focused on electrochemical devices for low carbon energy applications, with a particular focus on fuel cells, electrolysers, and flow batteries. He was Director of the UK Hydrogen and Fuel Cells SUPERGEN Hub from 2012 to 2022, and is Chair of Imperials Sustainable Gas Institute. He is a founder of Ceres Power, a FTSE 250 fuel cell and electrolyser company spun out from Imperial College in 2000, a founder and Chairman of RFC Power, a flow battery company spun out from Imperial College in 2018, and Director of Nigel Brandon Consulting, offering specialist Consultancy services in the electrochemical technology space. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow of the Royal Society and an International member of the US National Academy of Engineering.
Mario Brunner
Executive Vice President Engineering and Technology Powertrain Systems, AVL
Mario Brunner
Executive Vice President Engineering and Technology Powertrain Systems, AVL
Professional Education Industry Experience
- University of Applied Sciences Vehicle Technology – FH Joanneum Graz
- Secondary College for Mechanical Engineering Aeronautical Engineering – HTBLA Eisenstadt
Industry Experience
- Executive Chief Engineer Systems Engineering, Powertrain
- Electrification & Transmission Passenger Car Transmission
- Head of Passenger Car and Light Duty Transmissions, System
- Engineering and Powertrain Electrification
- Business Development Director PC transmission EAST ASIA
- Manager PC transmission System, Software, Simulation and Testing
- Manager Mechanical Simulation
- Lead Engineer CAE, Durability and Heat Transfer
Projects / Skills
Extensive project work from concept definition to SOP in technical leading position (powertrain, combustion engine, battery and transmission development programs)
• Several innovations in different product areas (e.g. DHT and electric drive patents)
• As Team Manager responsible for:
- • Vehicle development
• Complete Vehicle Functions & Systems, Vehicle Driving Functions & Systems, Thermal Management & HVAC - • ADAS/AD & E/E
• System Design, Targets KPI Development, SW & Controls Development, Integration, Verification, Validation, Homologation Support, System Design, - • Powertrain and powertrain element development – ICE, electrified Transmission, E-Drive, Battery, Fuel Cell
• Powertrain Functions & Systems, Design, Simulation, SW, Verification/Validation & Reliability, Calibration, Testbeds
Prof. Emma Kendrick
Professor of Energy Materials, University of Birmingham
Prof. Emma Kendrick
Professor of Energy Materials, University of Birmingham
Professor Emma Kendrick, CChem FIMMM FRSC FIMMM is Professor of Energy Materials, in the School of Metallurgy and Materials at the University of Birmingham, co-director of the Centre for Energy Storage (BCES) and group lead of the energy materials group (EMG). Prior to UoB, she spent two years as Reader in WMG, University of Warwick. Before academia, she led innovations in the battery industry, latterly as Chief Technologist in Energy Storage at SHARP Laboratories of Europe Ltd (SLE) and prior to that for two lithium-ion battery SMEs, Fife Batteries Ltd and Surion Energy Ltd. Prof Kendrick holds a PhD from Keele University, obtained as part of a postgraduate transfer partnership (PTP) scheme with CERAM Research, a MSc in new materials from the University of Aberdeen and a BSc in chemistry from the University of Manchester. She has been recognised for her research in sustainable batteries and her continued support to the research community through several awards; 2021 Faraday Institution (FI) Researcher Development Champion, Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) 2021 Environment, Sustainability and Energy Division Mid-Career Award, and the 2019 Hothersall Memorial Award for outstanding services to Metal Finishing.
Rob Gray
Technical Director, Red Bull Advanced Technologies
Rob Gray
Technical Director, Red Bull Advanced Technologies
Rob took over leading the team at Red Bull Advanced Technologies in late 2020. Prior to this he spent 18 years in the Formula 1 side of the company starting as a Structures Analyst and ending up as Chief Designer. During that time he was fortunate to work on a diverse range of projects including the instant shift gearbox and the first F1 hybrid powertrain – the KERS.
Danielle Lane
Director of Offshore Development UK & Ireland @ RWE
Danielle Lane
Director of Offshore Development UK & Ireland @ RWE
Danielle is Executive Vice President and Director of Offshore Development UK & Ireland for RWE. She joined RWE in January 2022 from Vattenfall where she worked from 2018 as Director of Asset Value & Partnering and Director of Offshore Market Development on the offshore leadership team. She was also Vattenfall’s UK Country Manager.
Danielle previously worked for Ørsted where she headed their UK regulatory and public affairs team, leading engagement with UK Government for the first CFDs awarded to UK offshore wind projects. Prior to Ørsted, Danielle worked at The Crown Estate where she had responsibility for design and implementation of the Round 3 offshore wind leasing tender and Centrica where she was Project Manager for the Round 2 offshore wind farms.
Danielle was educated at Imperial College and the University of Bath and holds an MBA from Open University.
Tony Harper
Challenge Director: Faraday Battery Challenge, UK Research & Innovation
Tony Harper
Challenge Director: Faraday Battery Challenge, UK Research & Innovation
Tony Harper is The Challenge Director for the Faraday Battery Challenge at UKRI (UK Research and Innovation). In this capacity, he is responsible for the UK Government’s £610m investment in Scientific Research, Business-led Innovation and national scale-up infrastructure for Battery Technology.
Tony was previously Director of Engineering Research for Jaguar Land Rover.
Tony joined Jaguar as a Graduate Engineer in 1986 with an honours degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College London. He spent his early career developing the first Airbag-based passive safety systems and developing a number of sports car concepts including the first and second generation Jaguar XK8. In the early 1990's, Tony led Jaguar’s development and use of pioneering Knowledge Based Engineering systems automating sophisticated rule-based Design tasks, something that today is referred to as Artificial Intelligence. In 1999, Tony was appointed as head of Jaguar’s Vehicle Engineering team responsible for Vehicle Concept Design, Aerodynamics and Computer Aided Engineering in particular overseeing the early development of the first all-aluminium Jaguar XJ. After a period of secondment to Ford’s International Operations, Tony joined Jaguar Land Rover’s combined Product Development Operations in 2006 to head up the Research and Advanced Engineering group. In this capacity, Tony was responsible for the identification, development and de-risking of all new technology into JLR products for over 10 years.
Tony is a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering, Chartered Engineer, fellow of the IMechE