Noticeboard – July 2020

Press coverage referencing the Faraday Institution and its research programmes, and details of what else is going on around the UK’s battery research community.

Intercalation station

Enterprising engineering science PhD researcher at the University of Oxford, Andrew Wang @ndrewwang, who works on the Multi—scale Modelling Project, has started a monthly battery newsletter, The Intercalation Station, with Nicholas Yiu. Well worth a read. Register for diary of battery seminars.

Press coverage

News coverage of the Faraday Institution and its researchers from April to July includes:

• Energy Engineering, Battery Technology Supplement, April, Planning ahead (page 29)
• University of Cambridge news release, 6 April, AI techniques used to improve battery health and safety
• Financial Times, 4 May, North America set for first plant supplying cobalt for electric cars
• The Engineer, 6 May, Powering up a British battery boom
• LBC Radio, 12 May, a short piece by Paul Shearing on battery degradation and Li-S
• Environment Journal, 14 May, The politics of making an electric vehicle battery
• The Guardian, 20 May UK’s first car battery ‘gigafactory’ to be built by two startups
• The Engineer, 21 May, Battery startups unveil plans to build UK’s first gigafactory
• Automotive News Europe, 22 May, UK companies plan $4.9 billion investment in battery plants
• Why and How? (the Primary Science Teaching Trust (PSTT) newsletter) Summer 2020, Short article about the Fully Charged Battery Box.
• The Times, 30 May, Electric car scientists use nuclear tech to chase the 10-minute charge
• BESTMag, Spring 2020, Is solvent recycling of lead acid batteries a matter of finding the right solution?
• BBC World Service, 16 June, How batteries are powering ahead (interview with Paul Shearing)
• Physics.org, 16 June, Using Jenga to explain lithium-ion batteries
• Chem Europe, 16 June, Using a game of physical skill to explain lithium-ion batteries
• AVID Technology podcast, June, An interview with Greg Offer regarding battery modelling and thermal management research being carried out at Imperial
• Nature, 23 June, Cool metric for lithium-ion batteries could spur progress
• Ingenia, Magazine of the Royal Academy of Engineering, June 2020, Replacing the batteries
• Grist, 6 July, Million-mile’ batteries are coming. Are they a revolution?
• Business Live, 8 July, Hunt for lithium could become 21st Century's 'gold rush'
• ACS Chemical and Engineering News, 13 July, Can Europe be a contender in electric-vehicle batteries?
• Global Banking and Finance Review, 18 July, Igniting investment into the UK automotive industry
• Armenian Reporter, 25 July, New lithium-sulfur battery could charge your phone for five days
• BBC Future, 27 July, How the world’s smelliest fruit could power your phone

Experimental Design Awards

The STFC Global Challenge Network in Batteries and Electrochemical Energy Devices has launched this year’s Experimental Design Awards (for up to £8,000 for research consumables). Case studies of previous awardees can be found here. Deadline for applications is 25 September 2020. For more information, T&Cs and to apply here.

The Engineer’s "Collaborate to Innovate" Awards

The Engineer’s "Collaborate to Innovate" awards are now open. Could you put forward your project for nomination, for example in one of the categories for automotive, aerospace, energy and environment, manufacturing technology or young innovator?

Collaborate to Innovate was established over 5 years ago to uncover and celebrate great examples of engineering collaboration, both between different businesses and between academia and business. The organisers are looking for projects that are both innovative, collaborative and which are likely to have (or are already having) a significant impact in their intended application area.

The deadline for entries is Friday 18^th September. Shortlisted and winning entries are covered extensively in The Engineer. For more details click here.

Launching soon: £9M grant competitions to demonstrate clean technologies in Brazil

Up to £9 million of grants will be awarded to a number of demonstration projects in solar and storage, smart grids and bioenergy sectors. The first competition will be launched on 17^th August 2020 for projects to be delivered in early 2021. 

The first funding opportunity will involve the installation of photovoltaic panels, batteries and smart monitoring systems to provide energy to low income families in a community in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area. The project involves strong community engagement and will be executed in association with a utility company. Check back here for the latest updates.

Resources available on faraday.community

Besides being an access point for videos from Masterclasses, our on-line networking tool remains a valuable repository of information and other opportunities available to all Faraday Institution researchers. Project brand guidelines. Career development plans. Researcher handbook. Code of conduct.

Vacancies

Please continue to send advertisements for vacancies (including PhD studentships) on Faraday Institution projects to Louise Gould, who will help publicise via our channels. Current vacancies.