Academic staff

https://christopherjness.github.io/

I am a Reader in Chemical Engineering, investigating various aspects of soft matter including suspension rheology and granular materials. I am available for industrial consulting projects in any area related to suspension rheology (see my publication list here) and I am also recruiting PhD students.

• 2023-present: Reader in Chemical Engineering
• 2019-2025: Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow, University of Edinburgh
• 2016-2019: Maudslay-Butler Research Fellow - Pembroke College, University of Cambridge
• 2012-2016: PhD Engineering - University of Edinburgh
• 2007-2011: BA, MEng Chemical Engineering - Clare College, University of Cambridge

• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
• Associate Member of IChemE
• Associate Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry
• Associate Member of EPSRC Peer Review College
• Member of the Americal Physical Society
• Member of UKRI Early Career Forum (2021-2022)
• Member of RSC Formulation Science and Technology Committee
• Member of EPSRC Early Career Forum in Engineering (2018-2021)

• Chemical Engineering Design 4 (CHEE10010)
• Chemical Engineering Study Project 4 (CHEE10009)
• Chemical Engineering Research Project 5 (CHEE11017)

Rheology, soft matter, granular matter, particle-based simulation

I am available for consulting projects in the fields of suspension rheology (colloids, granular suspensions) and gelation. I have experience of modelling fundamental flows that elucidate the relationships between formulation (particle shape, size, surface details) and processing and also in modelling processes such as wet milling and extrusion.

I am currently recruiting PhD students and may have funding available.

Please get in touch by email for further information.

Amer is a mechanical engineer with interests primarily in the area of fracture mechanics. He is particularly interested in deformation and damage mechanics of complex materials. The focus of his work is on the understanding of micromechanics of fracture to inform the macroscopic behaviour of materials. He has previously worked on the mechanics of deformation and damage in coal- which is one of the facinating materials to work with as the mechanical behaviour is influenced by the adsorption and advection taking place in the pore spaces and cracks (cleats) at multiple length and time scales. His recent work has been on micromechanics of geomaterials where he developed experimental techniques to acquire information on micromechanics through direct imaging conducted at X-ray and neutron beamlines.

Amer's current focus is to enhance the current understanding of micromechanics of deformation and damage of composite materials for improved design and damage prediction.

PhD Earth Science and Engineering, University of London for work undertaken at Imperial College

MS Ocean Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India

CEng, MIMechE

• Micromechanics of deformation and damage
• X-ray and neutron imaging of materials under in-situ stress
• Image processing, segmentation and pattern recognition
• Design of test facilities for material testing, especially for beamline imaging

Amer is interested to hear from potential PhD students interested in working in the area of micromechanics of composites. An advert for a potential position will be released shortly.

We are always open to new collaborations and students. If you have any enquiries please email rhiannon.grant@ed.ac.uk

Dr Grant is happy to speak at public event and is particularly committed to encouraging women and girls in STEM. If you'd like her to speak at your school, workplace or event please send an email!

We maintain strict commitments to the reduction, refinement and replacement of animal models throughout our work.

Istvan Gyongy received the M.Eng. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Oxford, UK, in 2003 and 2008, respectively. Following a period in industry, where he worked on processors for smartphones and a cloud-connected activity tracking system for dairy farms, he joined the University of Edinburgh. His initial research at the University was on hydrodynamic modelling relating to the development of FloWave, the combined wave and current test facility. His research is now focused on the development of single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) cameras and their application in a range of domains including LIDAR and the life sciences.

I am a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering within the Institute for Energy Systems (IES) at the University of Edinburgh. My background is in energy storage, marine energy testing facility design, and turbomachinery.

My current main interest is energy storage, which will be a key component in the low carbon sustainable energy systems of the future. Energy storage is currently the missing link between energy use and the temporal variation in the power supplied by renewable generation. I am currently working to resolve some of the key challenges related to energy storage, recovery and engineering at ultra-high temperatures. Storage at such temperatures would unlock energy densities superior to mechanical and comparable to electro-chemical methods, whilst not being limited by location or cycle degradation, or the need to use rare construction materials.

My other interests include improving our ability to generate sea-representative conditions within experimental facilities. To this end I have pioneered the “isolating inlet” and the “water-wave filter”: the isolating inlet allows waves and currents to be combined at greater speeds than ever before whilst maintaining realistic turbulence levels; the water-wave filter is the first useful tuneable passive filter known in fluid dynamics and can be used to remove the high frequency reflected waves that cannot be absorbed by a force-feedback wave-maker, consequently improving test realism and accuracy. Both discoveries have allowed step changes in test tank capabilities and are enabling technologies for fully 3D combined current and wave test tanks like FloWave. My current research in this area is focused on combining wind, wave and current flows accurately within experimental test facilities.

My doctoral work involved “Computational investigations into offtake flows with application to gas turbine bearing chambers” and was undertaken with Rolls-Royce at their University technology centre at Nottingham University.

I have worked extensively in industrial environments and have extensive design and project management experience in the aerospace sector. Having created numerical design tools for Rolls-Royce and worked on the bearing chamber cooling and lubrication system development within the Trent 1000 and BR725 engine programs. Earlier in my career I was employed as a project manager within the Rolls-Royce supply chain. I began my profession in engineering as a technical apprentice in press tool design. I am proud to have been awarded Chartered Engineer status and elected a member of the ImechE in recognition of my work in industry and academia.

• 2010, (PhD), ‘Computational investigations into offtake flows with application to gas turbine bearing chambers’, University of Nottingham, funded by Rolls-Royce
• 2006, Meng with distinction, Aerospace Systems Engineering, University of the West of England, Bristol.

• Chartered Engineer and member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers (ImechE).

• Conceptual design for mechanical engineers 3.
• Mechanical engineering design 3.
• Mechanical design principles 3.
• Engineering design 1

Postdoctoral research associates

Dr James Young

“Materials for ultra–high temperature in energy storage and energy recovery”

Thermal energy storage has been limited, until now, to temperatures around 800 K. If this storage temperature can be raised without incurring unacceptable thermal losses, energy density and conversion efficiency to electricity could reach a point where grid-scale thermal storage becomes technically and economically attractive. At ultra-high temperatures (1800 K) radiative losses dominate. Although these emissions can be reduced, there is a limit beyond which energy losses can only be recovered through a heat pump. For a heat pump to survive these challenging temperatures, new materials and approaches are required to produce the critical components such as compressors, turbines and heat exchangers. To achieve high efficiency, compressors and turbines have highly stressed blades operating at elevated temperatures. For heat exchangers to achieve maximum surface area and therefore energy transfer within a compact volume, they must have a thin-walled honeycomb structure. The most important failure modes that must be considered at ultra-high temperatures include creep, oxidation, thermal shock, and fracture. These have been investigated in this project along with microstructural changes, wear and erosion, vibration, fouling and fatigue.https://www.eng.ed.ac.uk/about/people/mr-james-young

PhD students

Thibaut Desguers

“Ultra-high temperature heat transfer analysis and thermal insulation design”

With the advent of ultra-high temperature technologies (e.g. thermal energy storage), novel insulation designs are needed to prevent energy losses which can occur through convection, conduction or radiation. While a vacuum is an efficient solution against the former two, the latter proves more challenging. Within this framework, my work focuses on the theoretical, numerical and experimental modelling and analysis of mixed ultra-high temperature heat transfers in non-grey, semi-transparent and evacuated composite structures with temperature-dependent thermal conductivities. Specific geometries are studied that would provide both efficient high-temperature thermal insulation and sufficient mechanical support to sustain their surrounding structures

Aldo Eyres

“Modelling and optimisation of gas-solid heat exchangers”.

A modified Brayton cycle is employed to extract energy from the UHTS system. This cycle has been modified such that its source of heat is the high temperature core instead of a typical combustion chamber. Gas-solid heat exchangers are used to transfer heat from the solid core to the working fluid in the cycle. In order to optimise these heat exchangers, I am producing a numerical design tool that will predict the heat transfer rates and working fluid pressure losses for a specified heat exchanger design.

Haris Hussain

"Feasibility study of integration of UHTS with electrical grids "

This project aims to develop a numerical time-domain energy system model for optimization of ultra-high temperature thermal energy storage operated within national electrical grids. The performance evaluation is based on various relevant elements such as heat and electricity demand profiles, share of renewable energies in the system, charging/discharging cycle behavior, UHTS plant sizing and layout, operational reliability and cost competitiveness. This will lead to a deeper understanding of all relevant parameters, variables and constraints which contribute to optimum operation and design of ultra-high temperature thermal storage system at grid level.

Tarek Abdelsalam

“Ultra-High Temperature Thermal Energy Storage for Concentrated Solar Power”

This project investigates the potential of integrating a novel Ultra-High Temperature (>1500 K) thermal energy Storage (UHTS) system with concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies. This involves tackling technical challenges that restrain current CSP technologies from operating at temperatures higher than 1000 K. This integration will not only improve the economic feasibility of UHTS through sharing infrastructure and storing heat directly at point of generation but should also enable CSP power cycles to operate at a much higher temperature, which can have substantial thermodynamic benefits (theoretically estimated to enhance the thermal efficiency of power generation by 50%).

Sebastian Hudson

“Integration of an Ultra-High Temperature Energy Storage System into Conventional thermal Power Generation Sites.”

Description: This project investigates implementation of an Ultra-High Temperature Thermal Energy Store (UHTS) at existing power generation sites. The store may be discharged through the heating of an air stream which may provide an alternate heat source to power a turbine, reducing the fuel requirement. The benefits are to be quantified by the effect on the flue gas composition, investigated with the use of Computation Fluid Dynamics and validated with experimental data. The required alterations to existing turbines to allow the system to successfully operate are also to be outlined and designed.

James Ferguson

As second supervisor:

William Jamieson “Materials & Manufacturing Optimisation for Curved Wave Energy Device”

Sam Thompson

Recruiting: Now accepting PhD and visiting researcher applications.

Focus: Energy & AI data centers, large-scale energy system modelling (PyPSA-GB), and IBR smart grids.

Chancellor's Fellow in Energy Systems Integration

Dr Wei Sun is a Chancellor's Fellow in Energy Systems Integration within the School of Engineering. His research focuses on the planning and operation of low-carbon energy systems with high renewable penetration, utilising applied data science and advanced optimisation techniques. Dr Sun holds a Visiting Research Fellowship at UCL.

Dr Sun has extensive experience in energy modelling at different scales. He previously worked on building a multi-scale energy system integration architecture for the National Centre for Energy Systems Integration (CESI) and served as a lead researcher on the Hydrogen’s Value in the Energy System (HYVE) project. He has also contributed to the RESTLESS and ARIES energy resilience projects.

Current Focus 1: Decarbonising AI & Data Centres

 Dr Sun’s recent work addresses the critical energy challenges posed by the rapid growth of Artificial Intelligence. He focuses on quantifying the flexibility of data centres and optimising their integration into the power grid to support net-zero targets.

• Spatial Flexibility: Scheduling computing loads across geographically distributed centres.
• Temporal Flexibility: Optimising job timing to match renewable generation.
• Supply Configuration: Integrating on-site storage and renewables.

 Dr Sun recently organised the  International Workshop on Managing Global Energy Demand of AI Data Centres (Imperial College London, 2025).

Invited talks for IEEE PES International Meeting (PESIM) 2026, Assessing Data Center Flexibility in Low-carbon Power System: Current Capabilities and Future Prospects

Selected Recent Publications

• Grid Frequency Stability Support Potential of Data Center: A Quantitative Assessment of Flexibility in IEEE Transactions on Industry Applications (In press, 2026)
• Multi-Objective Low-Carbon Scheduling Method for Data Centers Based on Ensemble Reinforcement Learning in IEEE Transactions on Smart Grid (2025) link

Open PhD Opportunity

Topic: Improve the Energy Sustainability of AI Data Centers in Future Energy System

Current Focus 2: Open Energy Modelling & PyPSA-GB

Teaming up with Dr Andrew Lyden, Dr Sun works on PyPSA-GB, an open-source model of the Great Britain power system. Moving away from "black box" commercial tools, the team advocates for transparent, reproducible energy modelling. Their research utilises high-fidelity simulations to stress-test grid resilience against extreme weather, analyse security of supply risks in Scotland, and optimise flexibility assets to minimise renewable curtailment.

Key Output

• PyPSA-GB GitHub Repository – Open-source code for the GB transmission network model.
• Electricity System Security of Supply in Scotland (Report for ClimateXChange/Scottish Government, 2023)
• PyPSA-GB: An Open-Source Model of Great Britain’s Power System (Foundational Paper)

• PhD Electrical Power Engineering, University of Edinburgh, 2015

• Chartered Engineer (CEng)
• Member of the Institution of Engineering & Technology (IET)
• Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)

• Hydropower Interdisciplinary Group Design Project [MEng]
• Electrical Engineering Fundamentals of Renewable Energy [MSc]
• MSc Sustainable Energy Systems - Dissertation supervision
• MSc Advanced Power Engineering - Dissertation supervision

• Network Integration of DER
• Electricity Network Modelling
• Gas/Hydrogen Network Modelling
• Climate Change Impacts on Renewable Energy
• Optimisation Modelling
• Statistic analysis
• Data Science applications in Power Systems

I lead the Emerging Sustainable Technologies Laboratory at The University of Edinburgh. The ESTech Lab forges the future generation of sustainable energy and separation technologies.The ESTech Lab invented unanticipated solutions for negative emission separation technologies (low grade heat-powered CO2 capture&concentration from the air and hydrothermal carbonisation) along with other emerging heat-powered devices for water and cooling in data centres.The ESTech Lab methods span from Thermodynamics to prototyping and testing, where Thermodynamics is used as an ignition to the design.In its inventions, the Lab often exploits nanoporous solids or ionic nano-interfaces because they make possible a number of processes otherwise nonviable, often unlocking unimaginable opportunities for sustainable living.

• Post-graduate certificate for Academic Practice (PgCAP). The University of Edinburgh, Moray House School of Education and Sport, Edinburgh (UK). Master-level programme to support academic staff to effectively engage with their teaching responsibilities, enabling my current Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. 8/12/2020
• PhD in Energy, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona (Italy), 2009
• MSc in Mechanical Engineering, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona (Italy), 2004

• 01/03/2023-2025    Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellow in Energy Efficient Data Centres.
• Member of Scottish Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre and UK Carbon Capture Research Centre
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. The Higher Education Academy (https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/) is the UK leading institution for accreditation of teaching in higher education

• Member of the Senatus Academicus (Senate) of The University of Edinburgh

  Editorial board member of: 

• Carbon Neutrality (Springer Nature) since 2021. The journal is an initiative of the China-UK Low Carbon College at Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
• Energy & Environment (SAGE) since 2018.

• The Innovation Energy (Innovation Press) since 2025. 

  Guest-Editor of Special Issues:

• 2023/24 of Carbon Neutrality (Springer Nature) jointly with Dr. Shuanshi Fan, Dr Jia Li, Dr. Zhenyuan Yin, Dr. Tao Ren, Dr. Lei Hou on Decarbonization and CCUS

• 2020/21 of Energy (Elsevier) jointly with Prof. Ruzhu Wang (Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Energy) of the Special Issue on Solutions for Ultra-Low Temperature Heat Recovery and Utilization

  Associate Editor of: 

• Frontiers in Thermal Engineering - Advancements in Cooling and Heating (Frontiers) since 2021

   

• Chair of the 10^th Heat Powered Cycle Conference in 2023 (148 delegates from 20 countries)
• Member of the International Scientific Board of Heat Powered Cycle Conference series since 2017
• Member of the organizing committee of:
  • Thermodynamics 2017
  • The 33^rd European Symposium of Applied Thermodynamics (ESAT) 2024
• Member of the International Scientific Board of International Symposium on Innovative Materials for Processes in Energy Systems (IMPRES) in 2016

• Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics 2 CHEE08019 (current)
• Engineering Thermodynamics 2 SCEE08006 (past)
• Chemical Engineering 1 Laboratory CHEE08001 (past)
• Engineering Mathematics 2 SCEE08010 (past)
• Chemical Engineering Design: Synthesis and Economics 4 CHEE10005 (past)
• Chemical Engineering Design 4 CHEE10010 (past)
• Chemical Engineering Study Project 4 CHEE10009 (current)
• Chemical Engineering Design Project 4 CHEE10002 (current)
• Chemical Engineering Research Project 5 CHEE11017 (current)
• Chemical Engineering Industrial Project 5 CHEE11014 (current)

• Ultralow grade heat
• Heat-powered adsorption water purification technologies
• Heat-powered adsorption cooling
• Data Centre Cooling
• Cooling/Water nexus in Data Centres
• Heat-powered adsorption direct air capture

Low grade heat, thermal energy storage, adsorption heating and cooling, adsorption desalination, solar thermal energy, temperature swing adsorption, heat transformers, thermodynamics, heat transfer, ionic liquids, ionogels.

Currently open positions in my group:

Open PhD projects:

Structured Ionic Liquid for Vapor Sorption

https://twitter.com/themispr

Themis holds the Regius Chair of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh and is Director of the Centre for Electronics Frontiers. His work focuses on developing metal-oxide Resistive Random-Access Memory technologies and related applications and is leading an interdisciplinary team comprising 30 researchers with expertise ranging from materials process development to electron devices and circuits and systems for embedded applications. He holds a Royal Academy of Engineering Chair in Emerging Technologies and a Royal Society Industry Fellowship. He is an Adjunct Professor at UTS Australia, visiting Professor at the Department of Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics at Tsinghua University, and Honorary Fellow at Imperial College London. He is Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the British Computer Society, the IET and the Institute of Physics and is also Senior Member of the IEEE. He served as the Director of the Lloyds Register Foundation International Consortium for Nanotechnology and Co-Director of the UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Machine Intelligence for Nano- Electronic Devices and Systems (MINDS). In 2015, he established ArC Instruments Ltd that delivers high-performance testing infrastructure for automating characterisation of novel nanodevices in over 21 countries and in 2019 he founded SoneT.ai that is building new power-efficient AI hardware solutions. His contributions in memristive technologies and applications have brought this emerging technology one step closer to the electronics industry for which he was recognised as a 2021 Blavatnik Award UK Honoree in Physical Sciences and Engineering.

www.timm-krueger.de

I am Professor of Fluid and Suspension Dynamics. My research focuses on the modelling and simulation of complex fluids on microfluidic scales, for example suspensions of deformable particles or red blood cells. I am teaching Chemical Engineering in the second year. I am the Co-Chair of the University's Research Cultures Forum.

• PhD in Physics, Bochum University, Germany, 2011
• Diploma in Physics, Heidelberg University, Germany, 2007

• Institute of Physics
• Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine
• German Physical Society

Chemistry and Processes 2

• Modelling and simulation of complex fluids
• Microfluidics, suspensions and emulsions
• Blood flow in complex geometries and blood cell separation
• Inertial microfluidics
• Lattice-Boltzmann method
• Immersed-boundary method

I lead a research group focused on developing and applying signal processing algorithms to biomedical data. Our main aim is to reveal the subtle changes that major diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's and epilepsy) cause in the brain activity and how this changes in different conditions and mental states.

In October 2013, I joined the Institute for Digital Communications, School of Engineering, as a Chancellor's Fellow in biomedical signal processing. I was tenured in August 2016 and promoted to Senior Lecturer in August 2020.

Previously, I held a post-doctoral position at the School of Computing and Mathematics of Plymouth University.

My training includes an MEng in telecommunications engineering from the University of Valladolid (Spain) in 2005 and a PhD in biomedical signal processing from the same university in 2010.

• 2010 - PhD in Telecommunications Engineering - University of Valladolid (Spain)
• 2005 - MEng in Telecommunications Engineering (First) - University of Valladolid (Spain)

• Senior Member of the IEEE
• Fellow of the Higher Education Academy

• Programme Director of the MSc in Signal Processing and Communications
• Course organiser of Image Processing
• Teacher in Engineering Software 3
• Tutor in Engineering Mathematics 2A
• Supervision of final year projects and MSc theses

• Biomedical signal processing
• Brain connectivity
• Graph theory
• Machine learning
• Nonlinear analysis