The IOM3 Energy Materials Group (EMG) is a cross-cutting group that provides a focus on the ever present materials issues in low carbon energy supply, whether it be materials supply or synthesis. This covers a wide range of topics including high temperature turbines for more efficient power generation, new generation of nuclear power stations, wind turbines, marine energy and solar photovoltaics. The EMG has an increasing and pivotal role with energy storage, including high efficiency batteries and the transition to electric vehicles that includes interest in magnetic materials and fuel cells. The UK low carbon energy agenda recognises the growing importance of hydrogen as an energy vector where the EMG has interest in electrolysers and hydrogen storage. The role of the EMG is to highlight the fundamental role of materials for low carbon energy.
Latest energy news & resources
Meet the Energy Materials Group Leadership Team
Reza Sanaee, PhD CEng FHEA FIMMM
As we undergo a paradigm shift in conventional energy generation and exploitation into a much more diverse range of sustainable sources, it is vital to keep a clear vision for future of energy industry in UK and beyond. This is further critical taking into account that transition into net zero emission energy industry is a timely journey covering challenges not only in technical terms but also in management, social responsibility, biodiversity, risk and economical value chain. I would welcome a multidisciplinary collaboration in efficiently achieving such sustainable energy industry through implementing a comprehensive strategic outlook. I intend to employ my over 17 years of experience and academic education in expediting this process, leveraging existing infrastructure and know-how and adopting best practice across all energy sectors focused primarily in UK but looking further afield for best lessons-learned scenarios.
Fiona Robinson
Dr Fiona Robinson FIMMM is Chair of the Energy Materials Group (EMG), Vice Chair of WIM3, and the 2025 recipient of the T B Marsden Professional Medal. Fiona is Principal Metallurgist at ENODA Ltd, bringing over 30 years’ experience in electrical steels, metals and materials R&D, and materials processing technologies to their Materials team. Fiona has industrial, research, academic and consulting experience of non-oriented and grain oriented electrical steels, process and product development, data analytics and problem solving.
Fiona has a degree in Metallurgy and Materials Science from Imperial College, a PhD from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Liverpool, and a specialist Technology Management MBA from the Open University. Fiona is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).
Dan Scotson
Dr Dan Scotson is a researcher at the University of Manchester applying novel machine learning techniques to analysing ceramic coatings. Dan's PhD in materials science investigated the failure of Environmental Barrier Coatings (EBCs) where these coatings are destined for more efficient, next-generation gas turbine engines, with Dan’s work focusing on the evolution of microstructure, residual stress and mechanical properties in high-temperature (>1200 ⁰C) steam environments.
Dan now works to combine materials science and computer science to better understand and predict ceramics' behaviour in demanding environments, such as those found in aeroengines.
Dan is also a keen promoter of STEM subjects through outreach activities as a Discover Materials Ambassador. His ‘Porosity in Materials’ project promotes the study of ceramics and the effect of porosity on mechanical properties. Dan also delivered this project as part of undergraduate materials science and engineering teaching, where Dan was awarded the Student Union's Graduate Teaching Assistant of the Year (2024/2025) prize at The University of Manchester.
Elizabeth Driscoll
Dr Elizabeth (Lizzie) Driscoll is a research fellow within the Energy Materials Group chaired by Prof. Emma Kendrick at the University of Birmingham, UK and working on the Faraday Institution’s ReLiB project. Lizzie obtained a PhD in Chemistry in 2022 from the University of Birmingham on the topic of “Novel Electrode Materials and Educational Resources for Li-/Na-ion Batteries”, where her work focused on the synthesis of novel sodium metal polyanion cathode systems, as well as high power niobium anode systems. Prior to this work, Lizzie’s research was in the form of energy generation, having interned with Oxford PV Ltd and completing a Masters in greener alternatives for photovoltaic materials.
Her work over the past 2 years has focused on the physical and chemical processing in the recycling of Li-ion batteries – with consideration towards reclaiming lithium, and now more recently understanding processing effects associated with the direct recycling of LiFePO4. As of May 2023, Lizzie is also working part-time on an Industrial Fellowship with Prof. Peter Slater with Echion Technologies.
Lizzie has won awards for the delivery of battery education and outreach, notably her ‘Battery Jenga’, which has been recognised by the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Faraday Institution. Her outreach work has been featured in the National Geographic, Discover magazine and The American Ceramic Society. Her most recent accolade is the award of the M. Zouhair Atassi thesis prize in September 2023.
Stuart Irvine
Professor Stuart Irvine is an emeritus professor at Swansea University having previously been Director of the Centre for Solar Energy Research (CSER) in Materials Science and Engineering. He is one of the pioneers for deposition of II-VI compound semiconductors by Metal-organic Chemical Vapour Deposition (MOCVD) for application to thin film solar cells and advanced thin film materials for the photonics industry. His career started out researching new methods for producing thermal imaging materials which is now a production process in the UK for very high performance thermal imagers. He pioneered early research for in situ monitoring of MOCVD which led to a spin-out company. In the past 20 years, Prof. Irvine has led major UK projects on solar PV research and consulted for First Solar Inc. This research has led to the publication of over 200 journal and conference publications and more than 10 patents. He has also published books on Solar PV and MOCVD. Professor Irvine received his B.Sc degree in Physics from Loughborough University, Ph.D in Physical Metallurgy and Science of Materials, and D.Sc in Physics, both from the University of Birmingham. Stuart was director of the £9.3M SPARC II WEFO project to build research capacity in solar PV technology. Professor Irvine is past chair of the Institute of Materials Minerals and Mining (IOM3) Energy Materials Group (EMG) that has a broad view over the application of materials in energy generation and the challenges faced with both renewable energy generation and large power generation.
Martin Lamb
Martin joined the electricity supply industry in 1985 where he provided recommendations on materials behaviour for use in integrity assessments & carried out root cause analyses to understand & resolve plant problems. Eventually, Martin specialized in nuclear pressure vessel safety where he saw the strong positive influence of the ONR (NII), which he joined in 2009 to work on structural integrity & graphite core safety. Martin has led ONR's Hinkley Point C structural integrity team & now works on early engagement with requesting parties, advanced nuclear technologies & generic design assessment (GDA).
Martin's early career was at Rolls-Royce where he worked on the manufacture of gas turbine disks. Martin was awarded his PhD for research on laser welding by Imperial College and his BSc in Metallurgy and Materials Science by the University of Nottingham.
Neil Witten
Neil Witten has been with Innovate UK since September 2020 where his role is Innovation Lead for Advanced Materials within the Materials and Manufacturing sector team.
Neil is a materials engineer with a strong polymer and polymer composites background. Prior to joining Innovate UK, Neil spent his entire career in senior technical leadership roles in the polymer and materials manufacturing industries with ICI plc, Cookson Group plc, Zotefoams plc, De La Rue plc and Hallite Seals International (part of Michelin S.A.).
Neil is passionate about materials, advanced or otherwise, and more specifically the role that materials research, development and commercialisation plays supporting all sectors - thereby fundamentally underpinning industrial and societal development.
Neil has a PhD in thermoplastic composites processing from the University of Newcastle-Upon-Tyne and an MBA from Kingston University Business School. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining, a member of the Society of Plastics Engineers (SPE) and a Chartered Engineer.
His LinkedIn profile is available at http://linkedin/in/drneilwitten please feel free to connect with him.
Alex Rettie
Alex Rettie is an Associate Professor in Chemical Engineering at UCL. His research focuses on the discovery, synthesis and characterisation of materials for energy conversion and storage. He is the UK’s alternate delegate to the IEA on Hydrogen and holds the EPSRC New Investigator (2022) and STFC Futures Early Career (2019) awards. He obtained his Ph.D. (Chemical Engineering) from the University of Texas at Austin in 2015 under the supervision of Prof. C. B. Mullins, where he studied metal oxides for (photo)electrochemical water splitting. Before coming to UCL, he was a post-doctoral researcher at Argonne National Laboratory (Materials Science Division; 2015-2018) with Prof. M. G. Kanatzidis working on the discovery synthesis of new superionic and two-dimensional materials. He received undergraduate training in Chemical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, UK.
Egidius Prayoga
I started my career in the EDF Energy Science and Engineering Nuclear Graduate Scheme. I then spent 15 years with Hinkley Point C and EDF Energy Nuclear Services in the technical functions covering structural integrity and safety case roles. I was responsible for developing the design, manufacturing and installation safety case for High Integrity Components, aiding the closure of the HPC Generic Design Assessment in the Structural Integrity Area. As a welding metallurgist, I oversaw the production and installation of the primary circuit components at the manufacturers and on site at HPC. Very recently, I have moved from EDF Nuclear Services to Sizewell C Independent Nuclear Assurance function, where I am currently looking at design replication and safety case reviews for Sizewell C.
Outside of work, Titot tries to test his understanding of fracture toughness on my body by engaging in downhill mountain biking and the odd motorcycle track day. True to being a metallurgist, he is quite partial to the occasional metal gig.
Tony Fry B.Eng C.SCI FIMMM
As a Principal Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Tony works closely with Government bodies and Industry to help deliver the UK's National Measurement System. Tony is focused on the materials metrology and development of test mehtods for the evaluation of life-time performance and durability of advanced engineered materials such as metal alloys, ceramics and their composites and coatings.
Having worked at NPL for over 27 years Tony has led a wide range of Government and grant funded projects working on areas such as the development of high temperature test procedures for steam oxidation and the mechanisms of exfoliation, developing best practice for the measurement of residual stresses. More recently Tony has been developing measurement approaches to increase confidence in additively manufactured (AM) materials to assist in the development and validation of new and existing standards for application to AM materials.
Tony holds a B.Eng. degree in Materials Science and Engineering and is a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and Visiting Professor in the Centre for Engineering Materials at the University of Surrey. Tony has published over 140 papers and NPL reports. He is a member of the IOM3 Energy Materials Group, convenor of ISO/TC156/WG13 committee on high temperature testing of metal and alloys and committee member of ASTM F42, ISO/TC159/WG14 (Tribology), CEN/TC138/WG10 (Residual Stress Measurement by XRD) and BSI WEE/46/-/18 Committee for Stress Management.
Dr. Cem Selcuk BSc-Hons, PhD, CEng, CEnv, FWeldI, FIMMM
Dr. Cem Selcuk has a foundation in metallurgy, materials engineering and materials design and specialism in powder metallurgy. He is an experienced entrepreneurial business developer, founder/consultant and an innovator. Cem is an active professional member of EPMA, APMI, IOM3 (FIMMM) and The Welding Institute (FWeldI) where he has been the global ambassador.
Cem has been chairman for the Particulate Engineering Committee (PEC) and board member of the Materials Science and Technology Division IOM3 and also sits as vice-chair on the Defence, Safety and Security Group Leadership Group of the IOM3 as well as the Energy Materials Group Leadership Team of IOM3. He is also a member of the overarching IOM3 Technology Communities Board (TCB) that connects the technical communities.
Cem Selcuk is a freeman of the City of London and is also a liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Founders, supporting Foundry industry developments, education and research. Cem speaks three languages; Turkish, English and French
Corey Hamelin
Corey is currently the Group Lead for Applied Materials Technology at the UK Atomic Energy Authority. His focus is on capturing the through-life performance of engineering materials when deployed in fusion plant. He has experience in both experiment and numerical work focused on structural integrity of safety-critical components. Previously, he worked as part of the Assessment Technology Group at EDF Energy advancing the R66 Materials Property Handbook used to support the UK Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactor fleet. He also sits on the Steering Committee for the international fusion materials database being developed by the Clean Air Task Force and the Nuclear Energy Agency.
Alex Dickinson-Lomas
Alex Dickinson-Lomas is a materials engineer working on characterisation of advanced structural steels for fusion energy applications at the UK Atomic Energy Authority. Her research interests are primarily focussed on using electron microscopy to investigate radiation effects on the microstructural evolution of materials and using ion irradiation techniques to emulate high neutron flux environments.
Alex completed her PhD in 2025 at the University of Birmingham, investigating irradiation effects on solute segregation and precipitation in low alloy steels for nuclear fission applications using transmission electron microscopy, atom probe tomography and small angle neutron scattering. Alex holds an honorary assistant professor position at the School of Metallurgy and Materials in Birmingham and will be providing guest lectures across programmes on fusion energy and materials between 2025 and 2028. She is also involved in outreach initiatives within UKAEA and externally, such as Discover Materials.
Stefano Mori
Dr Stefano Mori is a Lecturer in Energy and Materials in the Centre for Energy Engineering at Cranfield University specialising in Material Science and Engineering, Physics and Chemistry. Stefano obtained his PhD at Università degli studi di Roma "Torvergata", in Material Engineering, working on the development of a self-healing coating for corrosion protection of alloys in water environment.
Currently is working on materials' degradation in extreme environments, including gas turbines, solid fuel power plant, recycling plants, concentrated solar power. The interest spans from laboratory experiments (bench scale to demonstrator) to development of empirical model, thermodynamic models and application of causal discovery and machine learning algorithm to the understanding of corrosion.
Stefano is a Fellow of the Higher Education Association, a Member of the Institute of Materials, Mineral and Mining and Deputy Director for the MSc course in Advanced Mechanical Engineering. He is currently supervising 2 PhD students as primary supervisor on the topics Development of coatings to protect gas turbine blades materials from degradation and Development of Advanced Additive Manufacturing for Blades in High Efficiency and Low Emission Gas Turbines.
