Farnell podcast looks at the 'The Race to Electrify'
Farnell has released 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 in the UK 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 new type of 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 the podcast episode titled 'The Race to Electrify: EVs and Infrastructure & Power Management: Optimising for Battery Life and Energy Efficiency'.
Farnell 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 optimise 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.
The fifth episode of Top Tech Voices can be viewed by clicking this link.
