Professor Magda Titirici has been named RAEng Chair of Sustainable Energy Materials for Emerging Technologies.

Intelligent and resilient ocean engineering, new kinds of batteries and more precise x-ray scans are among the disruptive innovations being developed by the Royal Academy of Engineering’s latest Chairs in Emerging Technologies announced today.

Professor Magda Titirici of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Imperial College London has been named Chair of Sustainable Energy Materials for Emerging Technologies. She will receive over £2.7 million in funding over ten years.

I am delighted and honoured that the RAEng has given me this tremendous opportunity. Professor Magda Titirici Department of Chemical Engineering

Her work will develop sustainable future energy technologies, particularly new kinds of batteries to replace Lithium, and clean and low-cost production of Hydrogen from biomass or plastic waste and its use in fuel cells free from precious metals.

These technologies will enable greater use of renewable energy in the future, from grid-balancing for intermittent energy supply to producing customized compostable electronics.

Professor Titirici said: “Creating sustainable energy storage and conversion solutions to help our society transition to zero emissions is one of the biggest challenges of our time. I am delighted and honoured that the RAEng has given me this tremendous opportunity to fully focus on such a research programme for the next ten years that I hope will translate some my discoveries from the lab into the real world.”

The Academy has made awards totalling over £22 million in research funding through its Chairs in Emerging Technologies programme, providing long-term support to nine world-leading engineers across the UK to advance emerging technologies.

The innovations being developed by the Chairs in Emerging Technologies have the potential to considerably benefit society and the UK economy, and enable the nation to remain at the global forefront of engineering innovation. The areas of research funded reflect the UK’s wider technological priorities, with many of the projects directly aligned to the government’s Industrial Strategy and designed to tackle some of the biggest industrial and societal challenges of our time.

The ten-year support provided to the Chairs will enable them to progress their pioneering ideas from basic science through to full deployment and commercialisation.

Professor Sir Jim McDonald FREng FRSE, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “Engineering is critical to the research and innovation process, enabling the generation of tangible economic benefits for the nation. Emerging technologies offer enormous opportunities for the UK, both economically and socially.

The quality and vision of those receiving the awards are testament to the outstanding research talent in the UK. It is essential that we support both the innovations and the pioneering individuals who will transform their ideas into fully commercialised technologies with important and widespread applications.”