Decarbonising the Industrial Clusters

Diane Kerr: Specialist Inspector – Mechanical Engineering, Health and Safety Executive

Diane is a Portfolio Holder in HSE, supporting their Chemicals, Explosives, and Microbiological Hazards Division (CEMHD) in the fast-paced changes instigated by the DESNZ funded Hydrogen for Heat Programme and wider Net Zero workstreams.  HSE’s Net Zero Programme aims to support innovation and the development of new systems and technology during the transition to Net Zero and involves working with DESNZ, industry, and key stakeholders to ensure that energy and carbon capture projects include appropriate consideration of the health and safety of workers and the public.

Diane is a chartered mechanical engineer with extensive experience in regulating the major hazards sector.  Prior to joining CEMHD, she worked in HSE’s Science and Research Centre, carrying out joint-industry projects and providing scientific support to HSE and other Government departments.

Matt Sims: Operations Manager, bp

Matt Sims is an Operations Manager at bp, supporting the identification and assessment of hydrogen opportunities globally. Matt is a chartered chemical engineer having worked for bp for over 24 years in various operational and engineering roles in upstream oil and gas production, midstream gas processing, and LNG. Matt started life as a Production Engineer in the offshore industry in the North Sea, before moving on to hold senior engineering and operations roles in countries as diverse as Egypt, Iraq, Mauritania , Senegal, Vietnam and the UK.

Matt is accountable for the development of the UK H2 organisation which will operate bp’s two proposed hydrogen projects on Teesside, H2Teesside and HyGreen. Matt lives in North Yorkshire and is very happy to be supporting a major UK investment close to home.

Dr William Joyce: Innovation Lead – Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge, UK Research and Innovation

Will is Innovation Lead for a £210 million UKRI programme, the Industrial Decarbonisation Challenge. This programme supports the at-scale decarbonisation of industrial clusters in the UK ' core technologies funded through this work include carbon capture and storage and low-carbon hydrogen. Our investments will deliver low carbon industrial clusters by 2030 and support the UK's goal of enabling the world's first Net Zero industrial cluster by 2040. Prior to this, Will founded an award-winning spin-out from Imperial College London. Will holds a PhD in Chemistry from Imperial, working with the Grantham Institute for Climate Change.

Dawid Hanak: Professor – Decarbonisation of Industrial Clusters, Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre

Prof. Dawid Hanak is the Professor of Decarbonisation of Industrial Clusters at the Net Zero Industry Innovation Centre, Teesside University. He leads transformational research to develop breakthrough technologies such as direct air capture, carbon capture, hydrogen production, and high-value chemicals and fuels synthesis. His expertise is in process design and development, third-party validation, techno-economic feasibility assessment, environmental impact assessment, and business model development. He has helped multiple organisations to demonstrate the feasibility of their innovative net zero processes, develop market strategies, and quantify their business emissions across all scopes. He also actively contributes towards developing harmonised guidelines for carbon capture, utilisation and storage assessment and holds a leadership position at the COST Action on Techno-Economic Assessment of Carbon Mitigation Technologies.

Jessica Pidgeon: Graduate Process Engineer, VPI Power

An integral member of the Humber Zero team, Jessica has a Master’s degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Bath and is responsible for supporting process design for the engineering phases of VPI’s carbon capture project – the largest retrofit of its kind worldwide. Jessica has been leading on the permitting process for the proposed plant and works closely with members of the Immingham CHP and Humber Zero engineering teams to identify synergies across both the operational and development sites. She is also a committee member of the Energy Institute’s Young Professionals Network in the Humber Region and works with several primary schools in the region to promote STEM as a career option.

Dominic Berry: Lead Mechanical Engineer, Net Zero Teesside; bp

Dominic is a chartered mechanical engineer who has spent nearly 20 years in the oil and gas industry, with experience in North Sea oil operations and more recently in the design and engineering of gas platforms and terminals in Azerbaijan and Egypt. Since joining the NZT & NEP projects in 2022 as lead engineer covering static mechanical equipment and piping, Dominic has been applying his oil and gas experience to carbon capture, while of course learning new skills particular to this emerging industry.

Don Smith: Chair; Hydrogen Committee, Energy Institute

Don started his engineering career as a Marine Engineering Officer on deep sea vessels following which, he joined the CEGB which was, at the time, conducting research into wind turbine arrays. There he researched how the siting of turbines within an array altered the flow field, impacting power production and fatigue loading.  After a spell at the Atomic Energy Authority, Don joined the UK HSE’s Offshore Safety Division, with specific responsibilities around metocean loading and the reliability of offshore structures. After a spell as Technical Manager at the International Association of Oil and Gas Producers, he joined Eni UK where he is the HSE Manager. Don is the current chair of the Energy Institute's Hydrogen Committee. Don has been a member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for over 30 years and recently was pleased to become a Fellow.

Maria Manidaki: Technical Director – Decarbonisation, Mott MacDonald

Maria is a Chartered Engineer with 20 years of industry experience specialising in asset management, infrastructure investment planning and decarbonisation. Her primary sector of experience has been water and more recently she has been working on decarbonisation approaches and strategies across transport and other infrastructure sectors. Maria has been the lead co-author of PAS 2080, where systems thinking has been at the heart of the guidance to promote accelerated decarbonisation. She has also been a co-author of the UK HM Treasury Infrastructure Carbon Review. Has significant experience working with infrastructure asset owners and their supply chain to help define their carbon management strategies and embed carbon management into infrastructure delivery programmes of work. Member of the Green Construction Board and involved in various Industry Forums to help shape the infrastructure decarbonisation agenda, including the ICE Carbon CAB. Visiting Lecturer on Sustainability and Low Carbon Practices at Cranfield University and a Member of the Industrial Advisory Panel. Member of the UK Water Net Zero Expert Panel.

Prem Mahi: Technical Excellence Director – Energy, Mott MacDonald

Dr Prem Mahi is Mott MacDonald’s Technical Excellence Director for the energy sector. He has 35 years of experience in all aspects of energy transformation, power generation, transmission and distribution, and oil and gas. Current activities include technical excellence, business development, strategy, and innovation in the energy sector. Prem also has vast experience in project development, merger and acquisitions, and due diligence, and is currently driving Mott MacDonald’s work in hydrogen, carbon capture utilisation and storage, low carbon fuels, and other net zero technologies. He has worked on global projects in thermal power, renewable power, transmission lines, and biomass and waste sectors. Prem is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Metal, Mining, and Metallurgy.

Ed Gilford: Hydrogen Development Engineer, National Gas

Ed Gilford is a Hydrogen Development Engineer at National Gas working on the Project Union Programme utilising his engineering and analytical capability to develop the UK’s hydrogen transmission infrastructure of the future. Project Union aims to create a hydrogen backbone capable of transporting 100% hydrogen and connecting hydrogen production and storage with end users through a mix of repurposed and new build assets. Ed holds a MEng in Mechanical Engineering with previous career experience in consultancy and construction and is now leading on the pre-FEED for the East Midlands and Northeast (East Coast Hydrogen) regions of Project Union.

John Egan: Project Director, Progressive Energy

Following 25 years’ experience in the chemical industry, John joined Progressive Energy in 2019 as North West Regional Lead in Cheshire.  Since then, John has led on various low carbon hydrogen related elements of the HyNet project.  He is now leading the Peak Cluster project which will deploy CCS to decarbonise the cement and lime production sector in Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

A Chartered Chemical Engineer, until joining Progressive Energy he was Operations Director for the Specialty Carbons business of Cabot Corporation, a US blue chip, leading manufacturing operations in the US, China and the Netherlands.  Prior to that he was Global Energy Technical Director for Cabot.

John is also a Director of Cheshire Heritage and Sustainability Enterprises, a Community Interest Company seeking to repurpose the former hydro-electric generating station building on the River Dee in Chester as a sustainability education facility.

Mark Eldridge: Director of Hydrogen, Element Materials Technology

Dr Mark Eldridge is the Director of Hydrogen for Element Materials Technology and is responsible for leading the Hydrogen Initiatives across the group. Prior to joining Element, Mark worked as a Consultant, led the UK Energy Business as Divisional Director for Kiwa, and their Global Hydrogen Strategy and supported the A350 and A400M programmes at GKN Aerospace. Mark holds a PhD in Welding Metallurgy and has worked closely within the materials testing industry for over 20 years, in various Technical, Operations, Senior Leadership Roles in multiple market sectors, starting out life as a Metallurgist in the Steel Industry. Enabling the Hydrogen Economy and supporting the Energy Transition through materials science expertise are his primary drivers.

Simon Rees: Director; Digital Engineer, Element Materials Technology

Simon Rees is the Managing Director of Element Digital Engineering, the engineering services arm of Element Material Technology, a global business with over 9000 experts in 270 locations worldwide.  He did his PhD in fluid dynamics at Leeds University before joining the mathematical modelling group at Pilkington Glass.  In 1998 he made the move to consultancy and has been involved in driving technologically challenging projects to a successful conclusion in the energy, aerospace, offshore, and process industry sectors ever since.  He is a Fellow of the IMechE and a member of the Process Industries Board, an Industrial Board Member of the Leeds University Centre for Industrial Fluid Dynamics, a Member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

Mark Francis: Project Engineer, VPI Power

Mark has over 25 years’ experience in the energy sector with a variety of Tier 1 EPC contractors and consultancies (including Fluor, KBR, Petrofac and Xodus). His experience covers the full project lifecycle from feasibility and conceptual studies,through to front end and detailed engineering, commissioning and start-up. He has managed and led variousonshore/offshore, greenfield/brownfield oil and gas, and power generation projects, where reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, and minimising carbon intensity were key drivers. He joined VPI in 2021 as part of the Project delivery team.