UKERC HQ staff

UKERC HQ is based at Imperial College London, the Environmental Change Institute at the University of Oxford, and Edinburgh University.

John Loughhead, FREng FCGI OBE, Executive Director

Before joining UKERC, John was Corporate Vice-President of Technology and Intellectual Property at Alstom's head office in Paris.
He is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College, London, where he also spent five years in computational fluid dynamics research. His professional career has been predominantly in industrial research and development for the electronics and electrical power industries, including advanced, high power industrial gas turbines, new energy conversion systems, spacecraft thermal management, electrical and materials development for electricity generation and transmission equipment, and electronic control systems.
For several years he has been extensively involved in national and European public sector technology programmes, as a member of various advisory committees and chair of policy reviews in the area of future energy systems. He is the UK member of the European Energy Research Alliance, a member of the European Advisory Group on Energy, and Advisor to the European Commission Directorate-General Research, Assessor for the Technology Strategy Board, Non-Executive Director of the Ministry of Defence Research & Development Board, and a member of the UK’s Energy Research Partnership. He was also Co-Chair of the Implementation Panel of the EC Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Platform, which produced the future plan for European fuel cell commercialisation, and is currently Co-Chair of the Implementation Committee of the International Partnership for the Hydrogen Economy. He was previously a member of EPSRC Council.
John is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Fellow and Past-President (2008) of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the City & Guilds of London Institute, and the Royal Society of Arts. He is Honorary Professor of Cardiff University, Honorary Fellow of Queen Mary University of London, and a Freeman of the City of London.

Professor Jim Watson, Research Director

Jim Watson is Professor of Energy Policy at SPRU, University of Sussex, and joined UKERC as Research Director in February 2013. He was previously Director of the Sussex Energy Group at the University of Sussex from Dec 2008 to Jan 2013.
Jim trained as an engineer at Imperial College London and has a PhD in science and technology policy from Sussex. He has 20 years’ research experience on a range of energy, climate change and innovation policy issues. His most recent research has focused on the uncertainties facing carbon capture and storage technologies, low carbon innovation in China, community energy in the UK, and the governance implications of sustainable infrastructure systems.
He frequently advises UK government departments and other organisations. He was a lead expert with the UK Foresight project on Sustainable Energy Management and the Built Environment (2007-08), and has been a Specialist Adviser with House of Commons Committees on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2006-09) and Energy and Climate Change (2010-11). Jim has extensive international experience, including over ten years working on energy scenarios and energy innovation policies in China and India. In 2008, he spent three months as a Visiting Scholar at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
Jim is a council member of the British Institute for Energy Economics, and was its chair in 2011. He is also a member of DECC and Defra’s social science expert panel.

Dr Mike Weston, Senior Knowledge Exchange Manager

Dr Mike Weston is UKERC’s Knowledge Exchange Manager, where he presently has responsibly for facilitating the successful engagement between UKERC researchers and the broader academic, industry and policy communities. He was previously Head of the Energy Research Group at the University of the Highlands and Islands which required the co-ordination, development and promotion of research assets across a large geographic region.

Before this he held the post of Technology Manager for ITI Energy an innovative Scottish Government project tasked with accelerating innovation within the energy sector through targeted investment informed by rigorous technology and market assessment. His personal research interests in energy storage and the inter-operability of energy systems stem from his PhD work in Solid Oxide Fuel Cells at Imperial College and his early career at DERA/QinetiQ.

Nicola Combe, Knowledge Exchange Associate

Nicola Combe is Knowledge Exchange Associate at UKERC and is supporting the delivery of a number of UKERC networking activities, including the NERN newsletter. She has just completed an EngD in Environmental Technology with Brunel University and Buro Happold.
Nicola’s doctorate focussed on reducing demand side domestic energy consumption through inclusive interface design and she has a strong research interest in user behaviour relating to energy consumption. She is also a member of the CIBSE Young Energy Performance Steering Committee.

Dr Mark Winskel, Research Co-ordinator

Dr Mark Winskel is Research Co-ordinator of the UK Energy Research Centre, and a Senior Research Fellow in the Institute for Energy Systems, University of Edinburgh. As part of UKERC’s Research Co-ordination team, Mark works closely with Jim Skea and Xinxin Wang on supporting cross-disciplinary research across the UKERC research programme.
His own research addresses innovation in energy supply technologies. As part of the Energy 2050 project, Mark led a team of UKERC researchers who analysed technology acceleration for low carbon energy supply technologies. Along with Jim Skea and Paul Ekins, Mark is co-editor of the forthcoming Earthscan book based on UKERC research: ‘Energy 2050: Making the Transition to a Secure Low Carbon Energy System’.
Mark has held a number of research grant funding awards, and has acted as an advisor for organisations such as the Carbon Trust and the International Energy Agency. He has an multi-disciplinary education and research experience across the physical, environmental and social sciences, and his PhD addressed technological change in the UK electricity supply sector associated with privatisation.

Ioanna Ketsopoulou, Research Assistant

Ioanna joined the UKERC as a Research Assistant and is part of the Research Coordination team.
Ioanna has a background in civil engineering and holds a postgraduate degree in Sustainable Building Technology from the University of Nottingham. She specializes in low carbon buildings, energy efficient renovation of the existing building stock and microgeneration technologies. Previous experience includes various energy and sustainability consultancy roles in industry.

Dr Xinxin Wang, Research Associate

Dr Xinxin Wang is Research Associate at the UK Energy Research Centre. She joined UKERC in late 2006. Previously, she finished her PhD studies in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at Imperial College London.
In UKERC Phase I, Xinxin was in charge of the UKERC’s web based Research Landscape and Roadmaps, and participated in the UKERC 2050 project. In UKERC Phase II, she is a member of the Research Co-ordination team.

Lindsay Wright, UKERC Head of Communications

Lindsay Wright joined UKERC in November 2011, after 9 years as Communications Manager at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Previous roles include that of Senior Media Officer at the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, and PR Manager at the Sainsbury Centre for Mental Health.

Lindsay has a first degree in English and Drama from Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Communications Management from London Metropolitan University.

Ilaria Longo, PA/Office Administrator

Ilaria Longo joined our team in February 2010 as an Administrative assistant supporting UKERC and the Energy Research Partnership team. She is now John Loughead and Jim Skea's PA/Office Administrator at UKERC.
In the past she worked as an Italian teacher for foreign students and has a background in academic administration and event organisation for the Arts industry. Ilaria has a degree in Translation, a Masters in Teaching and Promotion of the Italian Language and Culture as well as a Diploma in Events Management.