Speakers

Dr Karl-Friedrich Ziegahn (Chair)

Karl-Friedrich Zieghan is chairman of the energy working group (AKE) of the Deutsche Physikalische Gesellschaft (DPG), member of the council of DPG and the advisory committee on science communication and is a  KIT Distinguished Senior Fellow. He formerly served in an executive position as member of the Board of Directors of Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Head of Division “Natural and Build Environment”, responsible for faculties (schools) on Civil Engineering, Geosciences, Environment Sciences and Architecture as well as for the Helmholtz research programs “Renewable Energies” (RE), “Energy Efficiency” (EMR) and “Atmospheric and Climate Research” (ATMO). From 1980 to 2006 Dr Zieghan researched within the Fraunhofer Society and has a strong background in environmental engineering, energy and automotive technologies and materials science. He holds a diploma in physics and achieved a Doktor-Ingenieur, both at the former Technical University of Karlsruhe.

Dr Santanu Ray, Ceres Power (Co-chair)

Dr. Santanu Ray is a Principal Scientist at the Energy Materials Team at Ceres Power Limited. Ceres Power is a fuel cell technology and engineering company whose aim is to bring cleaner and cheaper energy to businesses, homes, and vehicles. As an expert in microscopy, materials analysis and spectroscopy, Dr Ray works within the Characterisation Team and multiple cross functional teams in the company to advance innovation, development and improvement of metal supported solid oxide cells (SOC). He has more than twenty years of Material Science and Surface Analysis research experience in academia, Government, and industry sectors. He leads multiple projects on improving the efficiency of fuel cell and interface chemistry. He received his doctorate in Applied Science (Minerals and Material) from the University of South Australia.

Christina Roth,  Universität Bayreuth 

Christina is a trained Materials Scientist who graduated from Technische Universität Darmstadt, Germany, in 1998. She obtained her Ph.D. degree in the group of Prof. Hartmut Fueß in 2002 in the field of fuel cells. In 2003 she joined the team of Prof. Richard Nichols in Liverpool with a Feodor-Lynen fellowship. Christina was awarded a German junior professorship at TU Darmstadt in 2004, before she became a full professor in Applied Physical Chemistry at the Freie Universität Berlin in 2012. Since 2019, she is chair holder at the engineering science faculty of the Universität Bayreuth, where she specializes in electrochemical process engineering. Her research interests are in the areas of fuel cells, redox flow batteries, lithium ion batteries and CO2 electro-reduction with a focus on operando spectroscopy and structuring of 3D porous electrodes.

Nick Lawrence, Ceres Power

Nick is an Oxford educated Mechanical Engineer with over 25 years’ experience developing technologies across the automotive and energy sectors.  Having lead projects developing both high-speed racing and fuel-efficient internal combustion engines, he joined an energy storage start-up as Chief Engineer to develop a novel long-duration thermal energy storage system.  He then joined Ceres Power as Head of Mechanical Engineering where he grew and developed the Mechanical Engineering team over a period of rapid expansion.  Nick now leads all R&D activities for novel stacks and systems, including a partnership with RFC Power on developing a novel Hydrogen Manganese flow battery energy storage system.

Dr Achim Schaadt, Fraunhofer Institute of Solar and Energy systems