Energy Systems

Dr Prodip Das holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Waterloo, where he specialised in hydrogen fuel cells under the supervision of Professor Xianguo Li. He also holds two MSc degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and the University of Alberta, and a BSc in Mechanical Engineering from BUET, where he graduated in 1998 with top honours, first place in his graduating class, record marks, and the Gold Medal in Mechanical Engineering.

Dr Das began his academic career at BUET, where he served as a Lecturer (1998–2001) and then as an Assistant Professor (2001–2007) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. He completed his PhD in 2010 and subsequently joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory as an NSERC Postdoctoral Fellow (2010–2013), working with Dr Adam Weber. His postdoctoral research focused on water management and water transport dynamics in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, as well as real-time defect detection using infrared thermography.

His research focuses on hydrogen energy, electrochemical energy conversion and storage, electric-vehicle technologies, and advanced thermofluid and multiphysics modelling. His work spans hydrogen fuel cells and water electrolyzers, lithium-ion batteries, battery safety, recycling and second-life applications, and advanced heat and mass transfer. A major focus of his current research is the modelling, design, and optimisation of PEM and AEM fuel cells and electrolyzers, with particular emphasis on transport phenomena, water and thermal management, hydrogen production, electrochemical performance, and degradation. He also investigates EV battery performance, ageing, safety, recycling, and reuse, including the repurposing of retired batteries for second-life energy-storage applications. His broader research interests include electrothermal characterisation, convective heat transfer, nanofluids, and nature-inspired thermal transport, which complement his work in energy conversion, storage, and thermal management.

Dr Das has made substantial contributions to the fields of hydrogen energy, fuel cells, electrolyzers, batteries, and sustainable energy technologies, with more than 140 scientific articles, seven book chapters, and eight edited books. He is the lead editor of Fuel Cells for Transportation: Fundamental Principles and Applications, a comprehensive reference work on fuel-cell technologies for transportation. His research has received more than 5,400 citations and an h-index of 35.

He has delivered more than 40 invited and keynote presentations and contributes to the international research community through editorial, advisory, peer-review, conference, and research-funding activities. His research and professional contributions have been recognised through awards, including the Dr V.G. Desa Gold Medal, the Dr Chandrashekar Memorial Award in Sustainable Energy, and the ASME Emerging Investigators in Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Award.

• PhD in Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, Canada, 2010 Dissertation: Transport Phenomena in Cathode Catalyst Layer of PEM Fuel Cells (Advisor: Prof Xianguo Li)
• MSc in Mechanical Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, 2003 Dissertation: Electrostatic Double Layer Interactions in Confined and Many-Body Geometries (Advisor: Prof Subir Bhattacharjee)
• MSc in Mechanical Engineering, BUET, Bangladesh, 2001 Thesis: Elastic-Plastic Behaviour of a Circular Rod under Combined Torque and Tension (Supervisor: Prof Abu Rayhan Md. Ali)
• BSc (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering, BUET, Bangladesh, 1998 Thesis: Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of a Solar Water Heater (Supervisor: Prof Md. Imtiaz Hossain)

Editorships 

• Associate Editor in Electrochemical Engineering, Frontiers in Chemical Engineering (2022–date)
• Associate Editor, Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage (2021–date)
• Associate Editor in Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers and Membrane Reactors, Frontiers in Energy Research (2020–2024)

Guest Editor

• Battery Management in Electric Vehicles: Current Status and Future Trends: 3rd Edition, Batteries (2026)
• Second-Life Applications and Recycling of Li-Ion Batteries, Batteries (2025–2026)
• Battery Management in Electric Vehicles: Current Status and Future Trends: 2nd Edition, Batteries (2024–2025)
• Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer in Green Energy Technologies, Frontiers in Thermal Engineering (2023–2024)
• AI for Energy Materials, Energy and AI (2023–2025)
• Multiphysics, Multiphase, and Multiscale Modeling and Characterization of Porous Media in Electrochemical Energy Systems, Frontiers in Energy Research (2023–2024)
• Battery Management in Electric Vehicles: Current Status and Future Trends, Batteries (2022–2023)
• Rising Stars in Energy Research: 2022, Frontiers in Energy Research (2022–2023)
• Advanced Energy Materials and Research, Energies (2020–2021) 

Editorial/Advisory Board Member

• Batteries (2022–date)
• Renewable and Sustainable Energy (2022–date)
• Challenges (2020–date)
• Energies (2019–2023)
• Inventions (2018–date)

• Thermodynamics 4
• Mechanical Engineering 3
• Energy Vectors (IDCORE)
• BEng Mechanical Engineering Project
• Sustainable Energy Systems Dissertation
• Mechanical Engineering MEng Individual Project
• Professional Issues for Mechanical Engineers

• Hydrogen energy systems, including proton-exchange membrane and anion-exchange membrane fuel cells and water electrolyzers, with a focus on transport phenomena, water and thermal management, and system performance.
• Multiphysics and multiphase modelling of fuel cells and electrolyzers, including high-fidelity physics-based models for understanding mass, heat, charge, and species transport.
• Hydrogen production and storage, including modelling and optimisation of water electrolysis, hydrogen transport, and emerging approaches to large-scale hydrogen storage.
• Lithium-ion batteries and electric vehicles, particularly battery thermal behaviour, ageing, performance, safety, and electrothermal characterisation.
• Battery safety, health, and environmental impacts, including the understanding and mitigation of battery fire hazards and other risks associated with electric-vehicle batteries.
• Recycling, reuse, and second-life applications of EV batteries, with particular interest in repurposing retired batteries for less demanding applications such as stationary and domestic energy storage.
• Advanced thermal management and heat transfer, including convective heat transfer, nanofluids, and nature-inspired thermal design for energy and electronic systems.

A common theme across these research areas is the development of fundamental understanding, advanced modelling and simulation tools, and innovative engineering solutions to improve the efficiency, reliability, safety, sustainability, and scalability of low-carbon energy-conversion and storage technologies.

• Fuel cells and water electrolyzers
• Multiphysics modelling
• Electric-vehicle batteries
• Battery safety and sustainability
• EV battery recycling and second life
• Advanced thermal management
• Clean-energy technology optimisation

Max Malyi is a renewable energy engineer and PhD Candidate at the Institute for Energy Systems, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh. His research is situated at the intersection of renewable energy, data science, and control engineering, with a primary focus on enhancing the reliability and operational lifetime of wind turbines.

His work involves developing data-driven, health-aware control strategies that balance power generation with component longevity, particularly for wind turbine electrical subsystems. This is achieved by applying advanced machine learning and natural language processing techniques to analyse large-scale operational data from SCADA systems and maintenance records. The insights from this analysis are then used to inform and validate physics-based aeroelastic simulations in environments like OpenFAST and Simulink.

Through an industrial studentship and active collaboration with industry partners, his research aims to deliver practical, cost-effective solutions that contribute to a more sustainable and resilient energy future.

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Engineering, The University of Edinburgh (2023–Present)
• Master of Engineering (MEng), Wind Power Systems, North China Electric Power University (2017–2020)
• Bachelor of Engineering (BEng), Renewable Energy Systems, Dnipro University of Technology (2013–2017)

As a Teaching Assistant at the School of Engineering, I have contributed to the following courses as a tutor, marker, and/or lab demonstrator:

• Wind Energy
• Python Programming Skills for Engineers
• Professional Development for Engineers
• Power Systems

• Health-aware and multi-objective control for wind turbines
• Reliability and lifetime extension of wind turbine electrical subsystems
• Operational data analysis using SCADA and maintenance records
• Applications of machine learning and large language models in renewable energy
• Predictive maintenance and anomaly detection for wind farms
• Physics-based modelling and digital twins for wind energy systems

My doctoral research is supported by a studentship agreement with one of the leading wind farm operators in Europe. I actively collaborate with industry to ensure my work addresses real-world challenges in wind farm operation and maintenance.

Recent Work:

• Malyi, M., Shek, J., McDonald, A., & Biscaya, A. (2026). Wind Turbine Maintenance Log Labelling Framework: LLM-Driven Data Correction and Enrichment via Semantic Extraction of Reliability Intelligence. Preprint arXiv:2605.31281.
• Malyi, M., Shek, J., & Biscaya, A. (2025). Exploratory Semantic Reliability Analysis of Wind Turbine Maintenance Logs Using Large Language Models. IET Renewable Power Generation, 20, no. 1: e70327. https://doi.org/10.1049/rpg2.70327
• Malyi, M., Shek, J., McDonald, A., & Biscaya, A. (2025). A Comparative Benchmark of Large Language Models for Labelling Wind Turbine Maintenance Logs. IET Renewable Power Generation, 20, no. 1: e70212. https://doi.org/10.1049/rpg2.70212.
• Malyi, M., Shek, J., McDonald, A. (2025). Wind Turbine Reliability Analysis Using SCADA and Maintenance Data. In Solar and Wind Beyond Limits for Technology, Policy, and Practice – 5th Annual Solar and Wind Power Conference. pp. 185–192. Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/978-3-032-08953-3_18.

As a Senior Lecturer in Ocean Observation, I bridge the gap between space-borne technology and coastal resilience. My work leverages multi- and hyperspectral satellite imagery, in-situ data, and machine learning to decode the complex processes shaping our coastal environments. Beyond observation, I am dedicated to the Data for Good movement—applying satellite insights to drive down the costs of marine renewable energy and address the urgent intersection of climate change and social equity.

Research and impact

Pioneering coastal intelligence research

I lead the Coastal and Environmental Remote Sensing Group (CEReS) at the School of Engineering. Our mission is to redefine the role of engineering in a changing world by leveraging high-resolution remote sensing as a vehicle for equity. By bridging the gap between space-borne data and ground-level resilience, we advance the state-of-the-art in coastal oceanography and marine renewables. We operate on the principle that engineering is not neutral; we use satellite-derived intelligence to drive climate justice and ensure a just transition for the communities most affected by climate change.

Transforming engineering with climate justice

I am the Principal Investigator and Director of the Failure Modes of Engineering (FeME) Network Plus, a £2.2 million EPSRC-funded initiative (2025-2028). This project represents a shift in engineering paradigms, focusing on solutions for climate change and biodiversity loss through the lens of climate justice. We specifically investigate how engineering failures impact women, children, and underrepresented communities.

Get involved. We are actively seeking collaborators passionate about climate justice and engineering resilience: get in touch.

Strategic leadership

My current professional leadership roles focus on training the next generation of environmental scientists and engineers:

• SENSE CDT: Deputy Director for Training at the UK Space Agency and NERC Centre for Satellite Data in Environmental Science, SENSE.
• IDCORE CDT: Co-Investigator and Management Team member for the EPSRC and NERC Centre for Doctoral Training in Offshore Renewable Energy IDCORE.
• External leadership:
  • External Examiner for BEng/MEng Civil Engineering and MEng Civil Engineering with Architectural Design degree programmes at the University of Southampton (2025 - present).
  • Visiting Professor at Politecnico di Torino (Italy) (2025 - present).
  • Ocean Observation Expert, OceanEye (2025 - present).

My journey

My career has evolved from foundational civil and environmental engineering toward pioneering ocean innovations that are data-driven and grounded in climate justice:

Foundations (2008-2014)

My story began in Spain at Universidad de Granada, where I earned an MEng in Civil & Environmental Engineering (Ingeniería Superior de Caminos, Canales y Puertos) (2008-2013) and an MSc in Environmental Hydraulics (2013-2014), specialising in aero-hydrodynamics and coastal structures.

Industrial research and PhD (2014-2017)

In 2014, I joined HR Wallingford (Oxford) as a Researcher, applying computational fluid dynamics to analyse storm impacts on breakwaters and wave energy converters. Supported by a prestigious Talentia Fellowship, I completed a joint PhD between the University of Edinburgh and Universidad de Granada (2015-2017). 

Academic growth and innovation (2017-2021) 

As a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Policy and Innovation Group, I led work packages for two European Horizon 2020 projects totalling €26 million, optimising marine energy farms through advanced numerical modeling (2017–2018). In 2018, I was awarded a Chancellor’s Fellowship in Data-Driven Innovation, focusing on the untapped potential of satellite applications for the blue economy. 

Expanding the vision (2022-present)

In 2022, I took a year of maternity leave to welcome my daughter to the world. I believe in the importance of visible career breaks and am an advocate for work-life balance in academia. I returned to my post in 2023 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer, where I continue to push the boundaries of how we observe and protect our oceans and coasts under a changing climate.

• PgCert (Postgraduate Certificate) in Academic Practice, PgCAP. University of Edinburgh, 2021 - 2022.
• PhD Energy Systems & Dynamics of Biogeochemical Flows. University of Edinburgh and University of Granada (Spain), 2015 - 2017.
• MSc Environmental Hydraulics. Universities of Granada, Malaga and Cordoba (Spain), 2013 - 2014.
• MEng Civil & Environmental Engineering (Ingenieria de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, 5 year degree). University of Granada (Spain), 2008 - 2013.

• CEng MICE, Chartered Engineer, Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.
• FHEA, Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.
• The Women's Engineering Society (WES), Member.
• Commercial Drone Pilot: A2 Certificate of Competency (A2CofC), and General Visual Line of Sights Certificate (GVC).
• Turing Fellow, The Alan Turing Institute, former member.
• MASTS (Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland). Former member of the Marine Energy Forum Steering Group.
• IMarEST (Institute for Marine Engineering, Science & Technology). Former student member.

At undergraduate level:

• Coastal Engineering (Course Organiser), 10 SCQF credits.
• Interdisciplinary Group Design Project (Course Organiser and Potable Water Supply Lead), 20 SCQF credits.

Past courses I have taught:

• At undergraduate level: Programming Skills for Engineers 2, 10 SCQF credits (2020-2022)
• At postgraduate level: SENSE CDT, Python code carpentry and Google Earth Engine workshop (40 taught hours) (2020-2024).

CEReS: Coastal and Environmental Remote Sensing Group

CEReS is an interdisciplinary research group where we translate high-resolution environmental data into resilient engineering strategies that prioritise both technical excellence and social equity. By bridging the gap between space-borne observations and ground-level engineering, we work to secure the future of our coastal environments and the communities that depend on them. Our research is operationalised across four pillars:

• Marine Renewable Energy: Democratising the blue economy by reducing costs and technical barriers to clean energy.
• Satellite Oceanography: Using globally accesible, low-cost data for resource-constrained regions to monitor environmental shifts.
• Coastal Engineering: Understanding resilient infrastructure and coastlines that protect communities.
• Engineering and Climate Justice: Investigating how engineering failure modes disproportionately impact underrepresented groups and developing systemic solutions for recovery.

Current members

Professional services staff 

1. Johanna Holtan, FeME Project Manager (2025-present).
2. Jordan McInally, FeME Events Organiser (2025-present), based at University of Glasgow.

Postdoctoral researchers

1. Dr Ashrika Sharma, Postdoctoral Research Associate in Human-Centred Engineering for Climate Resilience (2026-present).

PhD candidates

1. Anneke Sperling, PhD, SENSE CDT. Topic: Do ocean currents stick together? 2023 - present. Co-supervised with National Oceanography Centre (Dr Alejandra Sanchez-Franks).
2. Liam McAlister, EngD, IDCORE CDT. Topic: Offshore wind structures design sensitivity to metocean site conditions. 2024 - present. Co-supervised with University of Strathclyde, University of Exeter and SSE Renewables (Dr Alyona Naberezhnykh).
3. Nishant Gaur, PhD. Topic: Hydro-climatological extremes in the context of climate change. 2024-present. Co-supervised with Prof. Lindsay Beevers.
4. Jasmine Relf, PhD, E4 CDT. Topic: Towards a resilient coast. Developing a continuous coastal resilience indicator for monitoring and adaptation in a changing climate. 2025-present. Co-supervised with JBA Consulting (Dr Demetra Cristaudo).

Past members

Professional services staff 

Pascale Watkins, FeME Administrative Support (2025-2026), based at University of Glasgow.

Postdoctoral researchers 

1. Dr Simone Zen, Postdoctoral Research Associate. Topics:
   1. Assessment of the Omo river and delta using satellite data. 2019 - 2021.
   2. Supergen ORE Hub funded project Satellite Climate Observation for Offshore Renewable Energy Cost Reduction (SCORE). 2020 - 2021.
2. Dr Segio Lopez-Dubon, Postdoctoral Marie Curie Fellow. Topic: Data-Driven Structural Testing for Tidal Energy. 2020 - 2025.

PhD candidates

1. Dr Madjid Hadjal, PhD, Data Lab industrial. Topic: Automated classification of ocean colour remote sensing for environmental monitoring and legislative compliance. 2018 - 2022. Co-supervisor, student based in University of Strathclyde (main supervisor Dr David McKee) in collaboration with Marine Scotland.
2. Dr Emma McAllister, PhD. Topic: High-resolution satellite remote sensing of the coastal morphology. 2019 - 2024. Co-supervised with BGS (Dr Alessandro Novellino and Dr Andres Payo-Garcia) and Cefas (Dr Tony Dolphin).
3. Dr Solomon White, PhD, SENSE CDT. Topic: High-resolution multispectral estimation of sea surface salinity and temperature. 2020 - 2024. Co-supervised with Cefas (Dr Tiago Silva).
4. Dr Penny Clarke, PhD, SENSE CDT. Topic: Using remote sensing tools to study ocean health and whale strandings. 2021 - 2025. Co-supervised with British Antarctic Survey (Dr Jennifer Jackson).
5. Ed Holt, PhD, SENSE CDT. Topic: Investigating the potential for catastrophic collapse of Greenland's lake-terminating glacier margins. 2021 - 2025. Co-supervised with School of Geosciences (Prof. Peter Nienow).
6. Dr Joe Marsh-Rossney, PhD (School of Physics and Astronomy), guest team member 2018-2021.

Undergraduate and Master's students

1. Charlie Bancroft, BEng Civil and Environmental Engineering. Topic: A spatio-temporal optimisation framework for continuous operation of collocated offshore wind data centres in the North Sea. 2025-2026.
2. Rory Elliott, MEng Civil and Environmental Engineering. Topic: Blown off course: optimisation of offshore wind LCOE in the era of Net-Zero pragmatism. 2025-2026.
3. Valentina Gonzalez, MEng Civil and Environmental Engineering. Topic: Offshore solar resource assessment in the North Sea using remote sensing. 2024-2025.
4. Samantha Waugh, MEng Civil and Environmental Engineering. Topic: Levelised Cost of Energy uncertainty estimation - A case study for offshore wind. 2024-2025.
5. Melissa Cabrera Alfaro, MSc Geographical Information Science (School of Geosciences). Topic: The role of fishing refuge areas in the absorption of CO2. 2023-2024.
6. Katie McWilliams, MEng Civil and Environmental Engineering. Topic: Sea Surface Salinity From Satellite Data, Machine Learning And Numerical Models. 2021 - 2022.
7. Clementine Frere, MEng Civil and Environmental Engineering. Topic: Feasibility Study Of Coastsnap In The Edinburgh Shores. 2020-2021.
8. Hubert Gurs, MEng Structural Engineering with Architecture. Topic: Feasibility Study Of Coastsnap In The Edinburgh Shores. 2020-2021.
9. Nick Heaney, MEng Civil and Environmental Engineering. Topic: Coastsnap Assessment For Adaptation To Python. 2020-2021.
10. Marcin Filinger, BEng Civil and Environmental Engineering. Topic: Flood risk assessment in Scotland using satellite data and numerical models. 2019-2020. Awarded Environmental Engineering thesis award.
11. Simone Speltoni, Visiting student, MSc thesis. Topic: Modelling the interaction between marine energy converters and the coast (Collaboration with the University of Trento, Italy). Awarded best MSc thesis. 2019.

www.VOILAb.eng.ed.ac.uk

Ignazio Maria Viola is Professor of Fluid Mechanics and Bioinspired Engineering at the School of Engineering of the University of Edinburgh; Professor of Naval Architecture at the Department of Industrial Engineering at the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna; and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Department of Energy and Power Engineering as well as the School of Aerospace Engineering of Tsinghua University. He is a Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (SNAME) and Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects (RINA).

He publishes in Nature, Nature Communications, eLife, Renewable Energy, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, Ocean Engineering, etc. For his publications, he was awarded two RINA Medals of Distinction and one Medal of Exceptional Merit, a Gold Rating for the Best Journal Article by the International Marine Energy Journal, as well as the Covid-19 Hero Medal of the School of Engineering of the University of Edinburgh for his significant contribution to solving Covid-19 challenges.

He contributed to securing grants for about £20m, about half of which as Principal Investigator. Between his major research projects, he leads the ERC Consolidator Grant fellowship ‘Dandidrone: Dandelion-Inspired Drones for Swarm Sensing,’ and the ARIA grant ‘SEED: Self-degrading Environmental Exploration Drones.’ He led the EPSRC project ‘Morphing Blades: New-Concept Turbine Blades for Unsteady Load Mitigation,’ resulting in two patents and an ongoing collaboration with the tyre manufacturer Michelin. He was the Edinburgh co-lead of two Centres for Doctoral Training in Wind & Marine Energy Systems & Structure, and he is the Director of Responsible Research and Innovation of the latter.

He is the Functional Vice President Alt. of Knowledge Management of SNAME, and a member of several executive committees, including the Group on Energy Research and Applications of the American Physical Society, the UK Fluids Network, and the UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems Network. He is Associate Editor of the Journal of Ocean Engineering and Marine Energy (published by Springer) and a member of the Executive Committee of two conference series: the ECCOMAS International Conferences on Computational Methods in Marine Engineering (MARINE), and the symposiums in Innovation in High-Performance Sailing Yachts (Innov'Sail). He was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Sailing Technology between 2016 and 2025 (published by SNAME), and Associate Editor of the Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering between 2023 and 2025 (published by ASME).

Curriculum Vitae

Research Group: VOILAb

05/2008, PhD in Mechanical Systems EngineeringDepartment of Mechanical Engineering, Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy Thesis: Numerical and Experimental Aerodynamics of Yacht SailsSupervisor: Prof. Fabio Fossati 

04/2001, Laurea (5-year integrated Master’s degree, pre-Bologna system) in Naval EngineeringDepartment of Naval Engineering, University of Genoa, Genoa, Italy 

PROFESSIONAL TITLES

CEng, Chartered Engineer Registered by the Engineering Council (UK), no. 584133 (2010)

Dott. ing., Italian State Examination to practice as ‘Ingegnere’ (engineer) (2001)

EUR ING, European Federation of National Engineering Associations, no. 31153 (2010)

FRINA, Fellow of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, no. 00174260 (2010)

FSNAME, Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, no. 2003765 (2025)

PROFESSIONAL SOCIETIES MEMBERSHIPS

‘Albo degli Ingegneri di Milano,’ Member of the Professional Body of Engineers, no. A22092 (2001)

AIAA, Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, no. 488312 (2020)

APS, Member of the American Physical Society, Division of Fluid Dynamics, no. 61177987 (2014)

ASME, Member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineering, no. 000103762573 (2013)

PIANC, Member of the Permanent International Association of Navigation Congresses (2002)

RINA, Member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects, no. 00300035 (2009)

SNAME, Member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, no. 2003765 (2010)

• Fluid Mechanics
• Marine Energy
• Naval Architecture

Aerodynamics and hydrodynamics, including

• Aerodynamics of small fliers
• Aerosol aerodynamics
• Biomechanics of flying and swimming
• Hydrodynamics of marine vessels
• Sail Aerodynamics
• Wind and Tidal Energy

• Research group: VOILAb
• Research Explorer (paper repository)
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Edinburgh Fluid Dynamics Group