Neil Morris, CEO of the Faraday Institution, outlines the initiatives launched in early 2019 and describes what is in store for delegates at the 12-month review meeting on 20-21 February.
It’s only early February and the Faraday Institution has launched a number of important initiatives in 2019. It already feels like the year is well underway. Read on for news of the call for round 2 project proposals, a call for the development of characterisation techniques, 2019 PhD studentships, entrepreneur fellowships, outreach events, international collaboration and more.
With the projects now one year old, a key theme for 2019 will be increasing the clock speed of our research projects. Our performance metrics in 2018 were around hiring researchers and the value of the equipment purchased and in place. In 2019, performance metrics need to be around project delivery and impact. I’d like our researchers to feel a sense of urgency. Countries and companies all over the world are racing towards the prizes associated with electrification. UK plc needs to be a winner in this race and is looking to the Faraday Institution and other parts of the Faraday Battery Challenge to deliver. We need to set a bar for the aspirations of our research, set it high, and push to achieve our goals in a timescale that may feel uncomfortable to some. I’ll talk more about that on the 20th February at the 12-month review.
We greatly appreciate the feedback we received after the 8-month project review and have been building that into our planning to produce what we hope is another highly enjoyable and informative event next week, packed with networking opportunities.
We are pleased that the majority of PhD students working on Faraday Institution projects will attend the event. Our aim is to start to integrate the affiliated PhD students into the already strong community of Faraday Institution cluster students and allow them to connect with the wider community beyond their projects and groups. I’m sure the presence of the PhD students will add a vibrancy to the meeting that our summer interns brought to proceedings in November.
Attendees at the event will learn about progress made recently by each of the projects. There will be a chance to ask questions about recently launched Faraday Institution initiatives (for example, the call for proposals for round 2 projects and the characterisation call) and commissioned studies (a study investigating the UK electric vehicle and battery production potential to 2040). Bill David from ISIS and Andrew Dent from Diamond will be amongst the speakers on a panel discussing working and collaborating with central facilities.
For those people who didn’t attend the November meeting we’ll also be sharing the set of values we’ve developed for the Faraday Institution community in a break-out session. We’ll be encouraging you to think about what actions you, your department and your project team could make to align further with our values and ways of working. Do come prepared to share your ideas.
Central to the programme will be four panel sessions where attendees will be able to hear a range of perspectives from industry participants regarding the technical and business challenges associated with commercial battery development. Confirmed speakers include James Cookson of Johnson Matthey, Wasim Sarwar of Williams Advanced Engineering and Richard Clark of Morgan. I’m delighted to announce that Peter Littlewood, Chairman of the Faraday Institution, has kindly agreed to be our speaker after the conference dinner.
We’re pleased to include these different perspectives in the programme. We hope that you find them interesting, and of value to your professional development.
I look forward to talking with many of you in Windsor.
Some notices about the event from the team, particularly regarding arrangements for the 19th February:
- We need to notify the hotel of final numbers for rooms and meals today. If you haven’t already done so, please can all invited attendees register for the event.
- A buffet lunch and dinner will be provided for delegates who arrive for project meetings on the 19th February. Delegates should proceed to the hotel restaurant between 12 noon – 2 pm and 7 – 9.30 pm. Any alcoholic drinks can be purchased from the bar.
- Thanks to the Multi-scale Modelling Project that is once again organising a pub-style quiz. It will start at around 8.30 pm on the 19th February in Hanover Suite of the conference hotel. Please go along if you are available and take the opportunity to get to know members of other project teams in an informal setting.
- On the 19th February we invite all PDRAs to a social event from 6-7 pm in the Hanover Lounge. See you there.
- You can find directions to the conference hotel here.
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