Our Team

Professor Martin Freer will join the Faraday Institution as CEO in September 2024.

Professor Freer is a nuclear physicist. Since 2015 he has served as the Director of the Birmingham Energy Institute (BEI) at the University of Birmingham, a pan-discipline research centre with research activities from hydrogen, energy storage and battery technologies, through to nuclear energy, which is focused on creating technology and guiding policy that will shape future energy solutions. He has also served as Director of the Energy Research Accelerator (which comprises eight internationally renowned Midlands universities that are part of the Midlands Innovation partnership, together with the British Geological Survey) delivering a £200m programme to accelerate university research into regional, national and international impact linked to 1,400 researchers.

Previously, Martin was Director of the Birmingham Centre for Nuclear Education and Research, which he established in 2010. He oversaw the development of the BEI and helped establish Energy Capital (a regional energy partnership for the West Midlands that brings the public and private sectors together to deliver place-based energy solutions). He also co-led the establishment of the joint University of Birmingham–Fraunhofer Germany research platform, the development of the Birmingham Energy Innovation Hub, and the co-development of Tyseley Energy Park in Birmingham.

In 2015 Professor Freer co-led the BEI Commission “Doing Cold Smarter” chaired by Lord Teverson. From 2012 he led or co led a number of Birmingham Policy Commission reports including “Future of Nuclear Energy in the UK” and “Pathways for Local Heat Delivery” and he has championed the establishment of a National Centre for the Decarbonisation of Heat. Professor Freer also co-led the Policy Commission with Sir David King, which saw the creation of Energy Innovation Zone in the West Midlands.

His main research area is the study of the structure of light nuclei, using nuclear reactions. He received the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Prize, Humboldt Foundation, in 2004 and the Rutherford Medal from the Institute of Physics in 2010.

Matt Howard is Interim CEO and Chief Strategy Officer for the Faraday Institution. He is responsible for working with the Executive Team to drive the organisation’s overall strategic direction. He oversees a portfolio that includes developing and stewarding new strategic partnerships, international and government relations and relationships that build the Faraday Institution’s impact, visibility, value, thought leadership and longevity.

Matt is a thirty-year veteran in communications and engagement, specialising in research communications for some of the world’s leading universities and scientific institutions, including the University of Chicago, University of Michigan and Columbia University among others.

For a decade, he served as the Chief Communications Officer and director of the communications, education and public affairs division for the US Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, where he was responsible for communicating the distinctive scientific culture and the ground-breaking impacts of one of the largest science and engineering research laboratories in the US. In this capacity, he was responsible for communications strategy, brand and visual identity, media relations, crisis communications, internal communications, educational programmes and community engagement.

He holds an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, a master’s degree from Miami University, and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Rochester.

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Prior to joining the Faraday Institution, Susan was Chief Financial Officer of Velocys, the AIM-listed renewable fuels company, a position she held for 10 years through the company’s transformational years from early stage start-up to the point of having a commercial plant in operation. Prior to that, she was at the BOC Group (now Linde Group) where she held various senior-level financial management and business development positions in the UK and in Japan. Susan helped to set up and then, from 2003 to 2006, served as Vice President and CFO of Japan Air Gases (JAG), a joint venture between The BOC Group and Air Liquide.

Susan has an honours degree in economics from the University of Cambridge and is a chartered accountant (FCA) having originally trained with Arthur Andersen in London.

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Professor Sir Peter Bruce FRS is a founder and Chief Scientist of the Faraday Institution. He is also leading the research project on solid state batteries and a member of the senior leadership team of the solid-state battery commercialisation initiative. He is the Wolfson Professor of Materials at the University of Oxford as well as Physical Secretary and Vice-President of the Royal Society. In this year’s Birthday Honours List, Peter received a knighthood for his services to science and innovation.

Peter’s research interests embrace materials chemistry and electrochemistry, especially lithium and sodium batteries. Recent efforts have focused on the synthesis and understanding of new anionic redox cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries, , the challenges of the lithium-air battery and understanding the processes taking place in solid-state batteries.

His research has been recognised by a number of awards and fellowships, including from the Royal Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, the German Chemical Society and The Electrochemical Society. In June 2022 he received the RSC’s Longstaff prize for pioneering research on the chemistry of materials with applications in renewable energy. He was elected to the Royal Society (UK Academy of Sciences) in 2007 and the Royal Society of Edinburgh (Scottish Academy of Sciences) in 1994. He has appeared on the Thomson Reuters/Clarivate list of highly cited researchers since 2015.

Ian joined the Faraday Institution after six years in central government where he worked on designing and implementing innovation programmes in the energy sector. He was responsible for the government’s energy innovation programme in the Department of Energy and Climate Change and continued in the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy as Head of Disruptive Energy Technologies and Green Finance Innovation.

Ian is an engineer who graduated from University of Cambridge with an M.Eng. in Manufacturing Engineering in 1993 and is now an experienced technical manager who has worked with small, medium and large corporates, academia and government. His early career was spent working on Gas Turbine engines with the Ministry of Defence before moving to project management at QinetiQ where he was responsible for research programme management and delivery of the large test programmes. He left QinetiQ to join Meggitt Defence Systems that developed and operated new technical products. As UK General Manager Ian set up and ran a new R&D and manufacturing facility.

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Stephen Gifford joined the Faraday Institution in March 2019. His focus is on making the organisation the go-to place for insights into the technological, economic and social benefits of batteries and electrical energy storage. He is developing techno-economic models of supply, demand and cost, covering both global and the UK markets.

Stephen has around 30 years of economics experience, including as the Chief Economist at Grant Thornton, the Director of Economics at the CBI and as a senior economist at KPMG, Oxford Economics, Civil Aviation Authority and the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. Stephen is currently also a Non-Executive Director of the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership and member of the Regulatory Policy Committee.

Stephen brings particular skills and expertise in economic policy, transport economics, infrastructure, market assessment and the role of the public sector. He has a first-class degree in Economics from the University of Liverpool and a MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics from the London School of Economics.

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Since 2021, Nick has served as the Commercialisation Director of the Faraday Institution.

Prior to this, 2015 Nick set up the Energy Systems Catapult on behalf of UK Government. He was an Executive Director there for 5 years, helping to build it into a £20m, 200 staff organisation. His achievements included enabling the Catapult to leverage and acquire the Energy Technologies Institute’s 10-year legacy including its Strategic Analysis capabilities and the Smart Systems and Heat Programme and also supporting the origination of the Industrial Strategy PFER programme.

In 2008 Nick co-founded and was CEO of PowerOasis Ltd, a spin-out from Motorola. PowerOasis developed energy solutions for telecoms networks in parts of the works where the electricity grid is unreliable or unavailable. Nick built the company into a micro multinational with business in Asia, Africa, Europe and the US before exiting after securing a large round of venture capital investment to further grow the company.

In 2002 Nick co-founded and was MD of SETsquared, the leading global technology accelerator that works with the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff, Exeter, Southampton and Surrey. SETsquared has supported over 4,000 entrepreneurs and helped raise over £1.8bn of venture investment.

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James Gaade joined the Faraday Institution as Research Programme Director in April 2021, focusing on research portfolio delivery and working with the Expert Panel, industry and the wider team on the organisation’s research priorities and direction.

James has led an independent consultancy, working with clients across electrified propulsion systems in research and technology delivery. He previously worked for Jaguar Land Rover for 20 years on vehicle propulsion systems in various leadership roles in product engineering, research and technology and commercially in product marketing, with his last role as the Head of Powertrain Research and Technology.

James is a Chartered Engineer, Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and a member of the Department for Transport Science Advisory Council that provides strategic level scientific advice and challenge to the DfT. He graduated from De Montfort University with a B.Eng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering and from Loughborough University with an MSc in Automotive Systems Engineering.

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Emily Baird joined the Faraday Institution in December 2022 as Events Manager, leading the delivery of the Faraday Institution’s Conference and annual events calendar.

Emily has 10 years’ event management experience. Before this role she oversaw the scientific and technical events portfolio at Diamond Light Source, the UK’s national synchrotron, delivering up to 40 in-person and online events per year including international conferences, workshops, training courses and networking events. Prior to that, she was a Senior Events Manager for The Sunday Times Fast Track, which organised awards dinners for Founders and CEOs of UK private companies, and has also managed events for a not-for-profit life sciences membership organisation.

Emily holds a degree in English Literature, Communications and Culture from Keele University.

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Andrew joined the Faraday Institution in July 2023 as the International R&D Partnerships Manager. His focus is on leading the Ayrton Challenge on Energy Storage which will convene, coordinate and collaborate with other government programmes. The challenge aims to create and commercialise innovative battery technologies and associated business models for fossil fuel generator displacement and mobility applications in developing countries, to expand and accelerate the clean energy transition. This includes leading the delivery of an RD&D programme to reduce the cost and improve the performance of battery energy storage system technologies for use in these regions.

Prior to joining the Faraday Institution, Andrew enjoyed a near 27-year career at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), the UK’s national measurement institute. There he held a number of technical and managerial roles, most recently as the Group Leader for the Electrochemistry Group. Here he led a group of 20 scientists and engineers who apply world-leading measurement techniques to help improve the performance, safety and lifetime of materials and devices important for the energy transition, including batteries, fuel cells and electrolysers. In 2019 he was seconded to both the Faraday Institution and the Global Battery Alliance.

A physicist, who holds a BSc (Hons) degree in Applied Physics from the University of Portsmouth, Andrew’s technical expertise is in spectrometry, specifically the measurement of the transmittance, reflectance, and colour of materials.

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Laura is a Market Analysis and Commercialisation Manager, working closely with the Commercialisation Team and Project Managers to support commercial opportunities for energy storage research.

Responsibilities include assessing market potential of technologies and projects, identifying pathways to market for Faraday Institution research and supporting commercialisation opportunities.

Prior to joining the Faraday Institution, Laura worked in corporate social responsibility at Genel Energy plc, in corporate finance at JP Morgan and managed projects for private offices.

Laura has an undergraduate and Masters in Materials Engineering from University of Oxford.

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Louise Gould is a marketing and communications professional who has centred her career around technology-based organisations. She joined the Faraday Institution after 5 years as Marketing Communications Manager at the renewable fuels company Velocys. There she was responsible for all marketing, communications and brand activities for this pre-profit, publicly-listed company as it endeavoured to commercialise its proprietary technology by developing biorefineries in the UK and US to convert waste sources of carbon into sustainable fuels. Her role included formulation of communications strategy with C-suite executives, as well as the operational delivery of projects across messaging development, stakeholder management, PR, annual reporting, events, naming and branding, social media strategy and website development.

Prior to joining Velocys she served as Marketing Manager for an equipment manufacturer serving the print industry. She was also Product Manager for one of Oxford Instruments’ range of low temperature sample environments used for spectroscopic techniques that sold into research institutions worldwide. She started her career as a scientific consultant and project manager at AEA Technology, who was also based at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus.

Louise graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in Natural Sciences (Chemistry) and holds an MSc in the Chemistry of Advanced Materials from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).

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Dominic Grantley-Smith joined the Faraday Institution in October 2022 as the Training Manager and leads in the delivery of the PhD training and the Faraday Undergraduate Summer Experience (FUSE) internship programmes. Dominic’s aim is to support the diversity and dynamic pool of talent going into the battery sector.  

Dominic is passionate about sustainability and believes to solve the climate crisis we need to reduce barriers and provide opportunities for everyone wanting a STEM career. Dominic believes batteries and energy storage will play a key part in getting to net zero.  

Before this role, Dominic led a botanic garden education team internationally, through public engagement and online training. He designed behaviour change activities to make the public more environmentally friendly. His work led him to speak at COP 26 and many global educational conferences. Before that Dominic worked in science communication in the museum sector and holds a degree in biology.  

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Alison joins the Faraday Institution from Navitas, a leading global education provider where she helped to set up the European shared services centre and ran the General ledger team. Prior to that she had finance roles in an international paints and coatings company.

Alison has a BA (Hons) in Accounting and Finance from Leeds Metropolitan University and is currently in the process of completing her accountancy qualification with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Nick joined the Faraday Institution as Research Project Manager in December 2023. Collaborating closely with Research Programme Director James Gaade and fellow Project Managers, Nick oversees our diverse research projects. Nick has a broad background of working in industrially-led R&D in the automotive industry, spanning traction energy storage systems and electrochemistry application.

Nick’s previous role at Jaguar Land Rover included working in the successful HMV Catapult collaboration with University of Warwick and Tata Motors, involving many of the academic and industrial partners who are active in the Faraday Institution’s portfolio. He has extensive experience of complex collaborative projects and intellectual property management.

Nick’s focus at the Faraday Institution is managing projects within the Ayrton Challenge on Energy Storage, in addition to the NEXGENNA and SafeBatt projects.

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Petra joined the Faraday Institution in November 2023 as the Digital and Social Media Coordinator, maintaining and growing an online presence for The Faraday Institution.

Her academic journey has laid a strong foundation for her passion for science communication. Embarking on her first full-time role, Petra brings a wealth of relevant experience from her various roles at university: as a STEM and digital ambassador, an events assistant, a publicist for a university society, and a science writer for her student paper.

Petra graduated from the University of Leeds in the summer of 2023 with an integrated master’s in biology.

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Vicki has over 25 years’ experience working in the administrative, HR and office management fields. Most recently Vicki held the position of Office Manager at Oxford Biotrans, a University of Oxford spin-out company developing and commercialising enzymatic process technologies that yield high-value chemical compounds. Prior to that she was at Velocys plc, an AIM-listed renewable fuels company for 11 years, where she was the Office & HR Manager. Vicki holds an advanced diploma in business studies and also a certificate in Human Resource Management. She is an associate member of The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

Jonathan joined the Faraday Institution in May 2022 as a Business Intelligence Manager. He works closely with the Commercialisation Director to help identify and develop commercialisation opportunities and owns the TSCAN process. TSCAN is the Faraday Institution’s methodology to prioritise and direct the activities of its internal commercialisation team to the research areas that are likely to have the most substantive impact on the UK economy.

Prior to joining the Faraday Institution, he worked in Dyson’s battery research programme and was responsible for process development and industrialising lab-based research activities into manufacturing-scale concepts. Prior to that, he worked on novel technologies for Dyson’s personal care products and was also seconded to the office of the CEO. Jonathan has also worked for IBM and has experience in a law firm.

In 2018, Jonathan obtained a 1^st Class Meng in Material Science and Engineering from Imperial College London. His Master’s project focused on characterising the degradation of garnet-type solid state batteries.

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Laura Male joined the Faraday Institution in June 2023 as Grants and Contracts Administrator.

Bringing with her experience in customer service, coordination, and administration roles in a wide variety of industries, she was most recently the Stakeholder Engagement and Visits Coordinator at Diamond Light Source for nearly 7 years. There, (in close collaboration with cross-campus counterparts) she was responsible for the logistics, planning and delivery for all high-level stakeholder, funding agency and VIP visits to the facility.

Prior to this Laura worked for Harley-Davidson Motorcycles as their Senior International Business Administrator where she coordinated the contracts document library and was responsible for collecting, collating, and delivering month end reporting for their portfolio of finance, insurance and warranty products in the Europe, Middle East, and Africa region.

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John-Joseph Marie joined the Faraday Institution in August 2022 as an Energy Storage Analyst. His passions include the development of energy storage technologies, materials science, and sustainable development. He works closely with the Chief Economist, carrying out research for Insights and other Faraday Institution Reports. He also collaborates with the commercialisation team on TSCANs.

Prior to joining the Faraday Institution, he completed his PhD at the University of Oxford under the supervision of Prof. Sir Peter Bruce, FRS. His research was focused on the development of next generation cathode materials for Li-ion and Na-ion batteries.

John-Joseph graduated with Honours from the University of Southampton with a First-Class MChem degree in 2018. His Master’s project focused on the development of nickel-based catalysts for alkaline electrolysers, with applications in green hydrogen generation.

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Nicole has over 20 years’ experience and has worked in a wide range of roles in administration, customer service and finance. Nicole joined after 7 years working within the medical service industry as a Finance & Administration Assistant. Prior to that she held a managing role at a printing company, where she gained experience in business management.

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Will Richardson joined the Faraday Institution as Research Project Manager in September 2022. He works closely with the Research Programme Director James Gaade, and other two Project Managers, who collectively are responsible for managing the Faraday Institution’s portfolio of research projects. Will supports the team with his previous experience in the UK battery industry in materials selection and cell design.

Prior to joining the Faraday Institution, Will worked at Nexeon developing and testing silicon anodes for use in high-energy pouch and cylindrical cells. He was responsible at Dyson for cathode materials selection and pouch cell testing for high-power applications. In 2017, Will developed improved production and characterisation methods for the microfabrication of solid-state batteries at Ilika Technologies. He completed his PhD in electrochemistry at the University of Southampton.

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Sylwia Waluś joined the Faraday Institution as Research Project Manager in June 2021. She works closely with the Head of Program Management and is responsible for managing the portfolio of the main Faraday Institution research projects as well as supporting the team with her scientific background in battery technologies.

In the past she has been involved in various next-generation battery projects, both commercially and government funded. In particular, lithium-sulfur technology is her field of expertise, in which she has been very active for almost 9 years.

Prior to joining the Faraday Institution, Sylwia spent over 5 years with OXIS Energy, working on science and engineering of Li-S technology as a Senior Scientist and further as a Product Manager. She has also spent 1 year with Jaguar Land Rover as a Project Engineer, sharing her responsibilities between the research team on establishing a solid-state batteries project and advanced engineering on evaluation of commercial Li-ion cells.

Before moving to the UK, Sylwia obtained her PhD in Li-S batteries at CEA and Université Grenoble Alpes in France. She obtained her MSc degree through a European programme, part of the Alistore-ERI consortium, dedicated to Materials for Energy Storage and Conversion (MESC), during which she was a student in various European universities: Marseille, Cordoba, Uppsala and Warsaw. She obtained her BSc degree in Chemical Technology at Warsaw University of Technology in Poland, where she is originally from.

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