element14 releases Episode 5 of its interview series, “Top Tech Voices”, featuring Colin Herron, CBE, who will dispel myths that continue to shroud the emergence of electrification, and the adoption of EVs in particular.
Herron is a visiting professor at Newcastle University and Managing Director of Zero Carbon Futures, a company dedicated to developing new low carbon technologies to power the future.
He works with Newcastle University on “Newcastle City Futures”, a revolutionary electricity storage system and other solutions for storing energy from renewable sources, shaving peak energy demand and providing other grid service.
He will appear in a podcast episode titled “The Race to Electrify: EVs and Infrastructure & Power Management: Optimizing for Battery Life and Energy Efficiency”.
element14 President, Rebeca Obregon, said, “Colin’s knowledge about electrification is vast, and he’s not known for pulling his punches when a point needs to be made. His discussion will be entertaining, thought provoking and, in a word, electrifying. This is among the most important and timely discussions we have ever hosted.”
Herron’s expertise is highly sought. After seventeen years with Nissan as an engineer focussed on manufacturing methodology, Herron moved to what was then called the Regional Development Agency. In 2011, he created “Zero Carbon Futures (ZCF)”, eventually moving the company into Newcastle University in 2020. He holds a masters degree in Manufacturing Management and Technology with the Open University in 2000, and earned a PhD from Newcastle University in 2006.
Now a specialist in EV trends who advises large cities and local authorities and a frequent guest speaker, Herron leads the North East office of the Faraday Institution and Battery Alliance. He is currently focussed on developing low carbon vehicle technology and closely monitors all activity in North East England with regard to battery gigaplants and regional battery research groups that deal with the scale up of battery manufacture as well as modelling the EV charging infrastructure requirements of cities and local authorities.
Hosted by award-winning Engineering Strategist, Georgia Lewis Anderson, this episode enables listeners to hear from Herron about:
- How is the infrastructure for electric vehicles evolving, and what challenges remain
- What advancements in battery technology he is currently most excited about
- Best practices for engineers to optimize battery life in their designs
- The current challenges in recycling old batteries, and how they can be addressed
- His views on the market for energy-efficient designs evolving in the coming years
- The future of energy-efficient designs in a rapidly changing technological landscape
- The role of energy efficiency in addressing global energy challenges.
"We are so grateful to Colin for agreeing to share his expertise with our customers,” said Obregon. “I have no doubt that listeners to this episode will come away with a great many more insights – and perhaps altered perceptions – than they had beforehand.”
The fifth episode of Top Tech Voices can be viewed by clicking this link. Up-to-date information about previous episodes in the Top Tech Voices series, further dates, times and topics can also be found via the link.
