This year’s SCI’s Materials Early Career Committee’s annual conference marked ten years since the formation of the group. And the title of this year’s event: From Molecules to Mobility – the Future of Sustainable Fuels, felt particularly fitting.
When the committee organised its first conference, the plan had been to hold a barbecue in what was then SCI’s brand-new Science Garden — only for the British weather to quite literally rain on their parade. Ten years on, and concerns about the weather have changed somewhat: with climate change placing ever greater pressure on governments, businesses and researchers to decarbonise energy and transport, could sustainable fuels provide part of the solution?
From science to scale-up
Dr Nick van Dijk, CEO of Oort Energy, kicked off the conference at SCI’s Belgrave Square headquarters with an energy and enthusiasm that set the tone for the day. Alongside introducing Oort Energy and its hydrogen technologies, Nick gave delegates a refreshingly practical view of what it takes to implement renewable-energy infrastructure at scale. From capex and opex to the realities of commercial deployment, the talk gave a room full of early career scientists — many of whom may become the next generation of scientific innovators and business leaders — an insight into considerations that are rarely discussed in an academic laboratory.
“As someone who’s starting their journey into research, I found it genuinely useful to hear from people who have combined their scientific expertise with business instinct and successfully identified real markets for their work,” said first-year chemistry student Niyathi Srinivasan. “It gave me a new view on my education as both building technical expertise and building towards something that can have value outside of a lab — a perspective that I don’t get much exposure to in a typical academic setting.”
Following a session showcasing outstanding research from PhD students at the University of Salford, the University of Nottingham and Imperial College London, Dr Katie Chong from the Energy Systems Catapult explored the role of biomass in future energy systems — including both where it can make a meaningful contribution and where other technologies may be more appropriate.
Dr Jane Jin, Chief Innovation Officer at OXCCU, then gave delegates a whirlwind tour through the growth of the company and the challenge of taking a new technology across the notorious start-up “Valley of Death”. Drawing on OXCCU’s experience of scaling its technology and securing Series B investment, Jane discussed where scientific start-ups commonly succeed and how researchers can begin thinking about commercialisation from an early stage.
For Buse Sonmez, a fourth-year MSci Chemistry student, the discussion around techno-economic analysis was a particular highlight. “As a student, I have very rarely considered how what I was doing in the lab can be implemented in the ‘real world’,” she said. “Especially when working in sustainable chemistry, I believe this is a crucial step in ensuring that research is actually applicable.
“Although many green technologies can be sustainable at laboratory scale, many more factors need to be considered when scaling them up. It was particularly interesting to hear the business point of view and the different factors considered in techno-economic analyses.”
Patents, policy and the route to impact
After lunch — and a poster session showcasing more work from early career researchers — Amelie Foster of Appleyard Lees presented insights from the latest Green Technology Report, examining trends in intellectual property across sustainable technologies. Carbon capture emerged as one of the strongest areas of patent growth from 2019 onwards, prompting lively discussion about what patent data can tell us about the development, maturity and commercial direction of emerging technologies.
The presence of patent professionals also created some unexpected networking opportunities for the student delegates. “I made connections with PhD students and, most surprisingly, patent attorneys from a variety of firms,” Niyathi said. “I hadn’t considered patent law as a career path before, but after speaking to people at the event I realised that the overlap with technical work — and the breadth of technologies they encounter — might be something I’m interested in.”
Buse had a similar experience. “I met people doing all sorts of jobs, from researchers to patent lawyers to business owners. I particularly didn’t expect to connect with a patent lawyer, and I learned a lot about working in patent law and the qualifications needed to enter the profession.”
It was a useful reminder that supporting early career researchers is not simply about developing better scientists, but also about exposing them to the wide range of careers in which scientific training can have an impact.
Beyond the technology
The first of two panel discussions brought Jane and Katie together with Professor Andrew Beale of University College London, Director and co-founder of Methanox Ltd and co-founder of Finden Ltd. Chaired by Dr Cameron Price of Zero Petroleum, the discussion explored the future of carbon-based sustainable fuels and eventually broadened into a much bigger question: how can scientists contribute to tackling climate change beyond simply developing new technology?
Policy, personal consumption, public engagement and the role of scientists in communicating evidence all featured in a thought-provoking discussion. Buse highlighted this mixture of perspectives as one of the strengths of the event.
“The mix of hearing from business leaders, early career researchers and panel discussions involving both groups was highly valuable because it allowed everybody’s voices to be heard,” she said. “I was also very pleased to hear so much about how policy influences whether research can be scaled up and applied in the real world.”
The second panel turned its attention to hydrogen. Nick van Dijk was joined by Dr Yubiao Niu, CTO and co-founder of Nium, and Dr Graham Smith of the National Physical Laboratory for a discussion that ranged from the technical and commercial challenges of hydrogen deployment to some surprisingly philosophical territory. “What is the point of a business?” Nick asked the audience at one stage — a question that neatly captured one of the wider themes running throughout the conference: that successful innovation requires scientists to think beyond whether a technology simply works.
The session closed with an astute question from PhD student, and new chair of the materials ECR group Melisha Barboza: how important is public acceptance when introducing and scaling hydrogen technologies? The panel’s answer was clear — extremely important. Suggestions ranged from better public engagement to simple interventions such as signage and information boards at installation sites, helping communities understand what new infrastructure does and why it is there.
What comes next?
The discussions also prompted delegates to identify areas that could be explored at future events. Niyathi highlighted the rapidly growing role of artificial intelligence and machine learning in research and development. “There wasn’t a lot of discussion about the use of AI and machine learning in accelerating the prototyping process,” she noted. “Given the evolving focus on AI, it would have been great to hear more about proprietary or niche models targeted at specific parts of the R&D pipeline.”
The conference was finally brought to a close by Professor Beale, who highlighted the importance of central research facilities in helping businesses move from early-stage research towards commercial scale-up, as well as the opportunities available to climate-tech companies within the Harwell Campus energy ecosystem. Access to world-leading infrastructure and expertise — including facilities at the Research Complex at Harwell — has played a role in the development of companies including Finden and Methanox, while the wider Harwell ecosystem has supported the emergence of businesses from across the physical sciences.
For an event organised by an Early Career committee, it was perhaps fitting that the final message was ultimately about creating pathways: from fundamental science to commercial technology, from academia to industry, and from early career researcher to future scientific leader. That aim was certainly recognised by those attending. “It was the first event I joined with SCI and I definitely plan on being involved in many more,” Buse said. “The Materials Committee did a fantastic job in bringing early career researchers and business owners together.”
For Niyathi, the experience was similarly positive: “I really enjoyed learning from the speakers at this event, and I’d definitely be open to being involved in more events like this.” Ten years after a rain-soaked barbecue helped launch the group’s annual conference programme, From Molecules to Mobility demonstrated how far the Early Career Materials community has come — and why providing spaces where young scientists can meet researchers, entrepreneurs, policymakers and professionals from across the wider materials ecosystem remains so valuable. This event also marked the end of my time as committee chair - and beginning of a new direction for both the SCI materials and early career materials groups.
About the SCI’s Materials Early Careers Committee
SCI’s Materials Early Careers Committee aims to engage early career scientists in the materials sectors across chemistry and chemical engineering. It has a broad range of interests including catalysis, energy materials, polymers and materials analysis. The group brings together early career researchers in industry and academia, fostering networks and relationships to develop fruitful partnerships and collaborations among its members and researchers in the wider materials community, and in particular, researchers with a wish to transfer materials technologies into industry. The Materials Early Career Committee is always looking for new members, so if you would like to join us and grow our own community then please get in touch.
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