IDCORE student case studies

This page brings together a series of individual case studies of the students in recent IDCORE cohorts. It draws on interviews with each of the students but also with a wide cross-section of their academic and industrial sponsors.

You can also download our 2019/2020 Cohort and 2021 Cohort case studies in PDF format.

IDCORE Research Engineer, Ota Dvorak

Ota grew up in Prague, and graduated with an MEng in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh in 2022.  His project is focussed on evaluating the impact of government policy on floating offshore wind markets.  He is also a qualified sailing instructor.

Leigh standing at the back of boat at sea

Achieving a good work-life balance is an important part of being an effective engineer and leader.  IDCORE encourages and supports all its researchers to find this balance, and for Leigh this is about having the space to participate in synchronised ice-skating – she is part of a team that competes at a high level and she has been encouraged to keep this going both by IDCORE and her project sponsor, Quoceant.

IDCORE Research Engineer, Fred Gibbs

‘Being part of IDCORE has been almost too good to be true.  The first year of the programme was one of the best years of my life, and now, working for QED Naval, I am in a place I want to be, doing what I want to do.  The work is challenging but the project is really well defined and I know that the outcome will make a difference to the company and potentially the tidal sector.'

IDCORE Research Engineer - Ben Thomas

‘I'm really impressed with how Ben has been driving things forward since he has been with us – this is delivering direct benefits to Orbital.  We see engagement with programmes like IDCORE as a great way of maintaining links with the cutting-edge academic research that underpins our technology development.'  Tim Baker, Technical Director, Orbital Marine Power

headshot of Simon McLaughlin weating hard hat and high viz vest, looking towards camera

"Getting to the point I’m at now with my project hasn’t been straight forward – I had a few false starts along the way and working in a small organisation with limited resources isn’t easy. However, I have finished up with a really interesting project that has the potential to make a significant difference to my sponsors’ business, and the support from IDCORE has been immense throughout.”

photo of Hannah Mitchell with loch and mountains in background

Hannah already had an established career in the renewables sector when she joined IDCORE, having spent more than two and a half years working for a wind turbine certification company in Germany. Her previous work had involved turbine type and project certification, along with lifetime extension work for onshore turbines and structural assessment of wind turbine components both onshore and offshore, as part of which she had become fully trained in safety procedures for offshore operations.

Nian Liu profile photo

Nian wasn’t looking for a career in renewables, it found her. During the COVID pandemic she had been reflecting on her options with the careers service at her university who suggested an EngD as a good compromise between pursuing a research post and seeking a role in industry. It was in looking for an EngD in a suitable location that suited her skill set that she discovered IDCORE.

photo of Bryn Townley with loch and mountains in background

Bryn first started to explore renewable energy during his first degree, an MEng in Mechanical Engineering at Swansea University. There is interest in the potential development of a tidal lagoon in the Swansea Bay area, and this meant that Bryn was able to study modules on both lagoon and tidal energy, as well as computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as part of his first degree. Coming to IDCORE allowed him to continue to pursue these interests to a deeper level but within the commercial context provided by an EngD.

Ailsa McMillan profile photo

After graduating, Ailsa had planned to take a year out to go travelling, but the COVID pandemic put an end to those plans. Instead, she spent the year working in a distillery alongside a group of engineers who were commissioning an anaerobic digestor. It was this, combined with her passion for mitigating climate change, and her experience on a final year undergraduate project on solar cells, that developed her interest in the renewables sector.

Tara Alkubaisi profile

IDCORE has always offered sponsoring companies the opportunity to bring their own staff into the programme, but Tara is the first example of this happening. After graduating from a five-year integrated Masters programme in Mechanical Engineering at Heriot Watt University, during which she was sponsored by Scottish Power Energy Networks (SPEN), Tara secured a graduate role with the company. She then persuaded them to support her through an EngD. It was the industrially focussed nature of the IDCORE programme (and the case studies of previous cohorts) that persuaded both Tara and SPEN that they would derive value from this process.

photo of Ione Smith with sea and mountains in background

Ione came to IDCORE thinking that she would like to work on a sustainability project in offshore wind. However, as happens for many participants in the programme, her ideas changed during the first year as she started to learn more about the sector as a whole. She is now working at FastBlade investigating the potential for manufacturing tidal turbine blades from recyclable materials.

photo of Tom Summers with sea and mountains in the background

Immediately prior to joining IDCORE Tom had spent four years teaching science and maths in the South Wales Valleys. He had gone there after graduating from an aerospace engineering degree at the University of Bristol in 2016. Although he enjoyed life as a teacher, he didn’t feel that it was making the best use of his engineering skills. He could see the potential for making a difference in the energy sector in an industry like offshore renewables.

Demitri Moros profile

After graduating in 2018 from a degree in Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Cambridge, Demitri joined a strategy consultancy in London. However, this work didn’t allow him to pursue his interest in sustainable energy and he started to look for ways into the renewables industry.

Katie Smith at FloWave

Katie has been sponsored by the FloWave Ocean Energy Research Facility (FloWave), a wave and current simulation tank which is a part of the University of Edinburgh. FloWave offers hydrodynamic testing services that support the development of offshore renewable energy technologies. Her project combines aspects of both numerical modelling and tank testing.

Photograph of Calum Dunnett from waist up wearing check shirt with grass and trees in background

Calum is working with Sustainable Marine, a tidal energy firm with a demonstration installation in Grand Passage, Nova Scotia, Canada. Headquartered in Edinburgh, it was convenient for Calum to stay close to the university and work within a small team with greater visibility. The project outline was appealing as it was flexible and offered the opportunity to develop his interest in electrical engineering.

Andrew Russell on graduation day, headshot with green hedge in background

Andrew came to IDCORE from an MEng in Chemical Engineering at Newcastle University, during which he had undertaken a placement year at Siemens Gamesa Renewable Energy. This gave him an insight into renewable energy that made him realise he wanted to pursue a career in the sector. IDCORE is now providing him with the knowledge and experience required to match his ambitions.

Ben sitting at a desk with computer looking back over his shoulder, smiling

Ben’s project is with Xodus, a global energy consultancy with its head office in Aberdeen. Xodus have been expanding into the renewables space for the last seven years, especially in relation to floating wind. They were offering an open-ended project and the opportunity to work in multiple locations where they have offices, including Edinburgh, Glasgow, and London. It gave Ben the opportunity to enter the space in his interest area of materials science and data analytics without requiring a heavy engineering background.

Ajit Pillai headshot

Ajit, a former IDCORE student, is now a Senior Lecturer in Autonomous Systems and Robotics at the University of Exeter. He teaches on modules provided as part of the IDCORE training and is currently on the supervision teams for five different IDCORE projects.

Alyona Naberezhnykh headshot with sea mountains and blue sky in the background

Alyona came to IDCORE to pursue an interest in offshore renewables, after having spent a period in banking following the completion of a Civil Engineering degree. She was attracted to IDCORE by the nature of the EngD qualification and the training it offered, alongside the opportunity to undertake an industry-based research project.

Callum Turnbull profile

Prior to joining IDCORE Callum had spent eight years as a physics teacher. He had known he wanted to go back into academia in a research post and had assumed this would be in astro-physics the subject in which he did his first degree. However, he was inspired by the children he was teaching to explore opportunities in energy and its role in addressing climate change. He came across IDCORE whilst exploring low carbon research options centred around renewables.

Anita Nunes Leite headshot taken within Flowave Ocean Research Facility

Anita came to IDCORE from a job as an energy and waste manager in the NHS. She grew up in Portugal where she originally trained as an Environmental Engineer before moving to Suffolk on an international internship scheme participating in renewables projects for Suffolk Council, before taking up the management post at Suffolk NHS Trust. These experiences developed her interest in renewable energy and drove her to seek out PhD opportunities.

Portrait photo of Tegan Foster

Tegan had worked in industry for many years, initially working on aircraft before finding herself at Jaguar Land Rover focused on power systems and electric vehicles. Alongside this she undertook a part time MSc, conducting a final project on modelling power losses in electric drive units, which brought her interest in modelling and research to life. The pandemic proved a good opportunity to leave the automotive industry and consider a path that she was more enthusiastic about - energy and renewables. IDCORE presented an opportunity to apply the skills she had developed by contributing to the offshore renewables industry.

Nicholas Kell side portrait aboard a boat out at sea

The IDCORE training is very broad creating a breadth of knowledge that has been invaluable to Nicholas when working with his project sponsor, EDF, who have been strong supporters of IDCORE since it was first set up. They have sponsored students in most cohorts, and a number of times they have sponsored more than one from their R&D centres in London and in Chatou, France.

Nadia Avanessova selfie with fellow IDCORE students and the sea in the background

Nadia recently completed an MSc in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Edinburgh and was seeking to develop her knowledge further with a PhD. IDCORE was appealing as it created a bridge between industrial experience and academic research in the rewarding, rapidly expanding area of offshore renewables.

Mujahid Elobeid portrait photo with countryside and mountains in the background

Mujahid has a background in Mechanical Engineering, which led to an MSc in thermo-fluids for the petrochemical industry. Following this, he worked as a research engineer at the Centre for Engineering Research, a research institute in Saudi Arabia, focusing on industry-academia projects involving multiphase flows in the oil and gas industry. He was attracted to IDCORE as part of a personal response to the climate crisis, seeking to apply his experience to something new and meaningful. He saw the interaction with industry offered by IDCORE as holding the potential to realise his dream of becoming a research engineer in the burgeoning renewable energy sector.

Luke Evans portrait photo wearing coat and baseball cap, life jacket on a boat with waves and sea in the background

EMEC have had such good experiences with IDCORE students that they agreed to sponsor two students in 2020 despite having only one project specified. Consequently, Luke spent the first part of his project working with EMEC and his academic supervisors to define the work needed.

Lubica Slabon profile photo

Lubica developed her passion for the geosciences while working with the British Geological Survey. She subsequently completed an MSc in Reservoir Evaluation and Management at Heriot Watt and wanted to continue studying in this area. She came across the IDCORE programme at the right time, viewing it as an opportunity to go deeper, building her field of expertise by applying her skills to offshore renewables. In this way she could produce research directly applicable to the industry.

Portrai photo of Jan Dillenburger-Keenan

Jan studied an integrated Masters in aeronautical engineering at the University of Southampton. He wanted to apply this in a renewables focused role but found the sector difficult to access. He was leaning away from an academic, desk-based PhD when he came across IDCORE, which enables you to gain an EngD alongside three years of industry experience.

Macauley Versey profile photograph

Mac is working at the ‘sharp end’ of device development in the offshore renewable energy sector. He is sponsored by Mocean, where he is exploring a ‘hybridisation’ concept for their wave energy converter (WEC). This involves the installation of photo-voltaic (PV) panels on the WEC to reduce the need for diesel back-up in off-grid and micro-grid locations, the likely early market for Mocean’s products.

photo of Susana Torres with sea and mountains in background

Susana fell in love with Scotland when she was sent to Aberdeen to undertake an MSc in safety and reliability in the oil and gas industry by her then sponsors, the National Hydrocarbon Agency (ANH) of Colombia and the Lloyd’s Register Foundation. Her time on this course also made her start to reflect on the implications of climate change and the role she could play in addressing it.