THE TEAM

Prof. Allan Walton is the Head of the Magnetic Materials Group (MMG), and a Professor of Critical and Magnetic Materials at the University of Birmingham. He is also the co-director of the Birmingham Centre for Strategic Elements and Critical Materials at UoB. He runs a portfolio of research in excess of £8 million and he has published over 100 articles on hydrogen processing of metals or on processing and recycling of rare earth magnets. He has developed 7 patent applications on processing of magnetic materials and he is a director of HyProMag Ltd.

Dr Richard Sheridan is a Lecturer in Magnetic Materials at the University of Birmingham with over 10 years experience in magnet processing and recycling. His PhD was on recycling of NdFeB magnets using hydrogen. He runs the pilot strip casting facility at UoB for making rare earth alloys for magnet manufacture and has joint studentships with LCM using this facility. He works closely with the aerospace sector where he has joint postdocs and PhD students.

Dr Lydia Pickering is a Senior Research Fellow in the MMG at UoB and has over 10 years’ experience in hydrogen related research including the use of hydrogen for recycling NdFeB and the development of solid-state hydrogen storage materials. Lydia holds a BSc and PhD in Materials Science from UoB and has been involved with several multidisciplinary UK (EPSRC) EU (Horizon 2020) and South African (Department for Science & Technology) programmes. She previously worked in South Africa developing novel alloys for hydrogen storage.

David Kennedy is a metallurgist with over 30 years experience in the rare earth supply chain. He previously founded and owned LCM and was also formerly a director of Great Western Minerals who ran a rare earth mine in South Africa. David has extensive experience in separation of REEs and alloy processing. David is an Honorary Research Fellow in the MMG at UoB and he is a director of HyProMag Ltd.

Nick Mann is a materials scientist who gained his BEng at the University of Birmingham and has a history of non-ferrous production control and management roles beginning in 1996. He has experience of processing reclaimed metallic scrap into value added end products as well as a variety of connections through Europe in metals processing. Nick is the project manager for SCREAM and has managed two other Innovate UK projects – RaRE with an end date of March 2023 and REAP with an end date of July 2021.

Sean Worrall is Senior Product Manager at GKN Automotive. As part of product management, he has worked to embed life cycle analysis and engineering for sustainability into GKN’s strategy, and created new collaborative projects to develop the next generation of products that will have ESG parameters at the heart of the design process. Sean has a Beng(hons) degree in manufacturing systems engineering from Brunel University. Before joining GKN in 2011, Sean worked for ThyssenKrupp developing manufacturing process for safety critical systems.

Rick has more than 30 years’ experience in complex system development in the automotive industry. With an electronics and software background, he joined the GKN team in 2009 after 20 years in Formula 1 and World Rally Championship. Whilst at GKN he has overseen Inverter design and development, double-clutch gear-shifting for EVs, rig testing of eDrives, hybrid vehicle simulation and authored the Williams flywheel energy storage system Safety Case. Rick was the lead engineer for Software and Vehicle Integration on the recent successful APC ACeDrive project, delivering an 800V eDrive and Jaguar I-PACE demonstrator vehicle.

Rob Chaddock is a Strategic Development Manager for EMR. Rob has a thirty-year career in the waste and recycling industry, half of which has been with EMR. Rob has largely been focussed on positioning the business and industry to deal with future opportunities and challenges, created by legislation, technology and market development. Rob is currently working on a range of projects including preparing to recycle the vehicles of the future, returning the new materials they will contain to the value chain, building new recycling capacity and capabilities in the UK and maximising the recycling rates of metals, plastics and other materials from complex post-consumer goods.

Dr Joseph Eke is a Research and Development Manager at EMR. Joseph Holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering with experience in process development within the recycling industry, diverse energy and manufacturing environments and waste management. Joseph will be leading the EMR technical team on developing novel separation techniques to create a supply of recovered NdFeB magnets suitable for chemical processing. He has excellent knowledge of process developments, material handling and safety protocols.

William Dawes, CEO, Mkango Resources is a graduate of Bristol University (BSc Geology) and Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London (MSc Mineral Exploration with distinction). He has 25 years’ experience in the resource sector, including over 10 years’ experience in rare earths, encompassing mineral exploration and processing, business development, mining finance, mergers and acquisitions.

Roberto Magalotti is Director of Acoustic Research at B&W Group. He has 25 years of experience in the electroacoustics industry, focusing mainly on modelling, measurement and simulation of the nonlinear behaviour of loudspeaker drivers, optimization of magnetic assemblies and application of Finite Elements Analysis to loudspeaker design. In his previous role as Head of Research at B&C Speakers (Italy) he has been the main contact for the EU project SUSMAGPRO. He teaches courses on loudspeaker technology at Le Mans Université (France) and Politecnico di Milano (Italy).

Antoine Adam is Senior Transducer Engineer at B&W Group. He joined Bowers & Wilkins in 2017, after graduating from the IMDEA (International Master’s Degree in Electroacoustics) at Le Mans University (France) and a stint at Gibson Innovation (Belgium). He has been instrumental in setting up loudspeaker production and QC procedures at the B&W factory in Zhuhai (China) and recently focused on research and design of transducer drivers for the Formation and 800 series range of products.

Dr Rob Arnold is a metallurgist with a strong knowledge of analytical techniques. He holds an MEng in Nuclear Engineering and a PhD in magnetostrictive materials, both from the University of Birmingham. He has experience of large collaborative research projects and since joining HyProMag has been heavily involved in the Innovate UK projects RaRE and REAP. He now specialises in physical & chemical characterisation, process optimisation, and systems engineering.

Abeshaa Mahendran is a metallurgist who gained her MEng in Material Science and Engineering at the University of Birmingham. Abeshaa has good knowledge of extracting magnets from end of life applications and recycling into new magnets.

Nielson Beddoe, Senior Chemical Engineer, Mkango Resources. Nielson is a graduate of Swansea University, (MEng Chemical Engineering) and has 7 years of experience within the Chemical Industry. During this time, he has held several positions both within chemical plant operations and process engineering design. His key focus within Mkango is to provide project management and technical leadership for rare earths /mineral processing projects, separation, purification and the development of recycling technologies.

Dr. David Sellick is a Senior Sustainability Engineer for Electrification within Jaguar Land Rover’s Product Sustainability team. He leads the embedding of sustainability aspects within the commodities of electrified powertrains and is Jaguar Land Rover’s lead in the SCREAM project. A chemist who holds qualifications from Cardiff University (MChem and Ph.D. in heterogeneous catalysis) and the University of Warwick (PGCE), his previous experience is wide-ranging, encompassing catalyst development, vehicle emissions after treatment research, vehicle interior air quality engineering and teaching.

Dean Shepherd is a Product Sustainability Manager (Technical & Programme Strategy) within Jaguar Land Rover’s Product Engineering function. He has over 12 years’ experience within the team and has worked across various roles in the team covering vehicle programmes, core commodities and now focusing on sustainability technical development across Life Cycle Assessment, Provenance, End of Life Vehicles and Circularity. Before joining Jaguar Land Rover, Dean studied BEng Mechanical Engineering and MSc in Advanced Manufacturing & Management at Loughborough University.

Oliver Hawkins is a Product Sustainability Manager at Jaguar Land Rover. He has worked in Product Sustainability for over 6 years and has been involved with multiple decarbonisation projects, with a particular focus on steel and aluminium. He now coordinates key engagement with the engineering and supply chain community and seeks to now empower the experts in the team to deliver decarbonisation projects across all products to achieve carbon net zero emissions by 2039.

Ian Stone is a Project Manager at GKN Automotive. Ian has over 35 years experience in automotive engineering, working predominantly in ICE control system design, development and application for both the OEM and motorsport sectors. Joining GKN 3 years ago, with previous experience of managing a successful government funded EV technology project, Ian has since delivered APC and DER funded projects for GKN Innovation Centre.

George Alsop is a Senior Design & Development Engineer at GKN Automotive. George has over 8 years experience working in the automotive and aerospace sectors and has designed a wide range of different products including airliner wing assembly tooling, rocket motor development, UAVs and 2.5 years of automotive EDU R&D at the GKN Innovation Centre.

Alexander Thompson is lead Innovation Project Manager within EMR’s Business Development Department. Alex brings key knowledge and experience of innovative methods within the recycling industry, focused on recovery of critical raw materials for the UK. As Project Manager, Alex is able to support the technical team on processing methods to ensure the success of SCREAM.

Amrit Jandu is a certified Project Manager and is part of the EMR’s Business Innovation Development Department. Amrit supports all projects funded by the government ensuring that the projects are delivered within scope, budget and time.

Ismael Rodriguez Foronda is currently a placement student studying Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering at the University of Birmingham. Whilst at EMR, he is focusing on the robotic pilot plant for the extraction neodymium from speakers for further processing downstream by other partners. He is also supporting on the extraction of Electric Drive Units from electric and hybrid cars led by Joseph Eke.

Jake Hansle is Process Chemist at Mkango Resources Limited. Jake has 5+ years of laboratory experience in sample preparation and chemical analysis, ranging from trace metal analysis to total composition, using techniques such as ICP-OES and XRF. Jake will be supporting Mkango by applying laboratory experience and analytical understanding to complete bench scale test work focused on the chemical processing of rare earth metals.

Dr Hessam Alavi is an acoustic development engineer at B&W Group automotive partnership. He has 13 years of experience in the automotive, consumer electronics and robotic industries, focusing on sound and vibration, signal processing and control applications. Hessam is a member of the Institute of Acoustics, the Acoustical Society of America, and the Audio Engineering Society.

Felicity Downing is a Sustainability Engineer within Jaguar Land Rover’s Product Sustainability team and has recently joined the company. Felicity studied Environmental Geography at the University of York and subsequently worked as a geologist at a Geo-environmental and Geotechnical specialist managing a wide range of projects.