Board of Trustees

Professor Sir Steven Cowley, a theoretical physicist and international authority on fusion energy, joins the Faraday Institution Board of Trustees as Chair in May 2024. He retains his positions of director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and professor of astrophysical sciences at Princeton University, roles in which he has served since 2018.

PPPL is one of 10 national science laboratories funded by the US Department of Energy’s Office of Science. As director of PPPL, Professor Cowley is responsible for managing all aspects of the laboratory, including its performance in science, engineering, operations, project management and strategic planning. He leads PPPL’s scientific and technical programmes in fusion energy science and technology and provides leadership to the U.S. and world fusion energy efforts.

Professor Cowley previously served as president of Corpus Christi College and professor of physics at the University of Oxford.

From 2008 to 2016, he was chief executive officer of the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) and head of the Culham Centre for Fusion Energy, which included oversight of the Joint European Torus (JET) and Mega Amp Spherical Tokamak (MAST) fusion facilities. During his tenure, Steven provided the vision and strategy for and led the fusion research programme for the UK, overseeing more than 1,000 employees and contractors. In parallel, he strengthened relations with other fusion programs in Europe and around the world, and served in key advisory roles for the UK, US and European governments.

Professor Cowley has held numerous advisory roles including membership of the UK Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology. He is a fellow of the Royal Society and the Royal Academy of Engineering and received a knighthood in 2018 for services to science and the development of nuclear fusion.

Steven holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Oxford and a PhD in astrophysical sciences from Princeton.

Robin Brundle is an accomplished business leader and an expert in the lithium-ion battery circular economy. As Executive Chairman of Technology Minerals PLC, he played a pivotal role in its listing on the London Stock Exchange in November 2021, making it the first UK-listed company to have established a circular economy for battery metals within a single group. He is also the co-founder and a director of Recyclus Group, a cutting-edge Greentech firm that is leading the industrial-scale recycling of Li-ion batteries in the UK.

Robin is a trusted contributor to government policy, serving on critical minerals and battery strategy committees in both Houses of Parliament. His expertise spans the automotive, motorsport and green energy sectors, in all of which he has driven transformational projects.

Robin led a $1 billion investment opportunity from Asia into the UK automotive industry, promoting an EV technology joint venture. His track record also includes spearheading UK tech transfers from an innovative space programme to the F1, defence and aerospace sectors and overseeing business turnarounds, notably for Aston Martin Racing and Lola Group Ltd. He was also at the forefront of steering the financial and cultural turnaround of an NHS hospital.

Dame Lynn Gladden is the Shell Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, and a Fellow of Trinity College and was the Executive Chair of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) from October 2018 to June 2023.

She is internationally recognised for her work on advancing magnetic resonance imaging techniques, originally developed for use in the medical environment, and using them in engineering research to gain a greater understanding of the physical and chemical phenomena that determine the performance of chemical processes and their resulting products.

In addition to her own research, Dame Lynn has held a number of research oversight roles in the UK and abroad, including Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research at Cambridge from 2010 to 2016. She is currently Chair of Judges for the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering

Hanno Kirner joined Dyson as Chief Executive Officer in February 2024.

Previously, Hanno was Executive Director, Tata Group Synergy Programmes, where he lead Tata Group activities in exploring opportunities in the battery space and was a member of the Jaguar Land Rover executive management board.

Hanno has been in financial and strategic management roles for the last 15 years, in roles as a CFO and with a focus on mobility and electrification strategies as well as the luxury automotive sector.

Previously Hanno was Executive Director, Corporate and Strategy, where his direct responsibilities included leadership of Corporate Strategy, Product Strategy, Global Financial Services, IT, Royal & Diplomatic Affairs and the Special Operations division.

Prior to joining Jaguar Land Rover in 2016, he has held board positions as Chief Financial Officer for the Land and Sea Division at Rolls Royce plc, Chief Financial Officer at Aston Martin Lagonda as well as Director of Finance and IT at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars.

Throughout his career, Hanno has had at heart to always take a logical and progressive approach to challenges and to create a motivational environment for his teams.

Hanno holds a degree as 'Diplom-Kaufmann' in Business Administration obtained at Freie Universitaet Berlin. He enjoys cycling, playing golf, and has a passion for classic cars.

Rachel O’Reilly MBE is a Professor of Chemistry and Pro-vice Chancellor for Research at the University of Birmingham. Previously she was Head of the School of Chemistry, having moved to Birmingham in 2018. She was a faculty member at the University of Warwick from 2008 to 2018 and has held fellowships from the EPSRC, the Royal Society and the ERC.

She got her first degree and MSci from the University of Cambridge and went on to complete her PhD at Imperial College London in 2003. Her group undertakes research in the area of catalysis, responsive polymers and materials, nanostructure characterisation and DNA nanomaterials. She has published over 250 papers and has received a number of awards. In 2020 she was awarded the RSC Corday-Morgan Prize and in 2022 she was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Jorge is the Chief Executive Officer of VPI. He joined the company in November 2022.

Previously Jorge was Chief Executive at Xynteo, a purpose-driven advisory firm that helps the world’s largest organisations uncover planet-positive ways to grow. Before that, he held several leadership roles at Centrica, most latterly the Managing Director of Centrica Business Solutions, which focused on developing a decentralized, flexible, and low-carbon energy system. Jorge has also worked at McKinsey & Company, Procter & Gamble, and PDVSA, Venezuela’s national oil company.

He is also on the Advisory Board of the UK government’s Energy Digitalisation Taskforce, which is focused on modernising the energy system to help reach net zero.

Born in Venezuela, Jorge holds a MSc and PhD in Chemical Engineering and was a Research Fellow at the University of Oxford. More...

Mark Newman is founder and CEO of Electric Revolution Ventures, and is a renowned expert, advisor and investor in batteries, semiconductors and electric vehicles. Mark was the top ranked analyst and lead author of Bernstein's all time most read research globally, "Electric Revolution" and "Battery Bible" and is a frequent speaker and commentator on these topics.

Mark was seed investor and formerly Chief Commercial Officer and Head of Strategy at fast-charge battery pioneers, Nyobolt. He is an active investor in several other start-ups and advisor to Ivanhoe Capital Acquisition and SES.ai, which recently combined and listed on the NYSE. Mark also advises other investors including Oxford Science Enterprises.

Mark previously spent over a decade as Managing Director and Senior Analyst covering technology at Bernstein, where he spearheaded the Electric Revolution thematic research covering batteries, semiconductors and the electric vehicle value chain. Prior to Bernstein, Mark worked at Samsung in Korea, where he led several strategic initiatives, venture investments and acquisitions. He also worked at Applied Materials in California, supporting the world's leading semiconductor manufacturing companies in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Mark holds a Master's in Chemical Engineering from University College London, and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Dr Isobel Sheldon OBE is the CEO of Western CAM. She was formerly Chief Strategy Officer of Britishvolt, responsible for overall business, manufacturing, technology and customer strategy. She previously served as Business Development Director at the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre. She has 20 years of experience in battery design and development, technology and industry, and is a globally renowned automotive battery specialist. Isobel has worked with many of the world's major automotive businesses and suppliers, including Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus, Nissan, Ricardo and Johnson Matthey Battery Systems, helping them advance their battery system solutions.

Venkat Srinivasan is the Director of the Argonne Collaborative Center for Energy Storage Science (ACCESS) and a Senior Scientist at Argonne National Laboratory. As Director of ACCESS, he develops the strategy and execution plan for the energy storage activities at Argonne, linking the lab’s capabilities and facilities to solve the numerous cross- cutting challenges that impede commercialisation of energy storage materials, devices, and systems. Previously, Venkat also served as the Deputy Director of the Joint Center for Energy Storage Research (JCESR), a $25 million-a-year programme aimed at developing a fundamental understanding of the challenges in beyond Li-ion batteries.

Venkat’s research interest is in developing meso- and macro-scale models for battery materials and combining them with experimental characterisation to help design new materials, electrodes, and devices. Prior to joining Argonne National Lab, Venkat was a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. Venkat joined the scientific staff at LBNL in 2003 after postdoctoral studies at LBNL and Pennsylvania State University. He received his PhD from the University of South Carolina.

Dr Esther Taylor is an Engineering Director with over 30 years’ experience in the automotive and energy sectors. As Head of Research at Thatcham Research she leads a team of automotive risk intelligence experts, dedicated to understanding the opportunities and risks of new vehicle technology, and identifying the best strategies for its safe, secure and sustainable adoption.

Previously she’s held senior engineering and product leadership roles including, Global Head of Product Testing & Engineering at BP, Engineering and Product Director at Aggreko, Engineering Director at Indra Renewable Technologies, and Non-executive Director of the Institute of the Motor Industry.

She holds a PhD in Structural Dynamics and an MEng degree in Engineering Acoustics and Vibration, both from the University of Southampton.

Sir Oliver served as the Member of Parliament for West Dorset from 1997 to 2019. From 2010, he was the Minister for Government Policy in David Cameron's coalition government and coordinated the push to make the UK a world leader in electric vehicles. He continued to serve as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Cabinet Minister in overall charge of the Cabinet Office until July 2016. He was educated at the University of Cambridge, Princeton University, and London Business School. In a varied career, Sir Oliver has been a research fellow at the University of Cambridge, a civil servant, and a bank director.