51³Ô¹ÏÍø

Professor Nigel Brandon has been awarded the 2014 Francis Bacon Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.

Prof Nigel Brandon OBE FREng from the Department of Earth Science and Engineering has been awarded the 2014 Francis Bacon Medal from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers to recognise his contribution to fuel cell science, engineering and technology.

Prof Nigel Brandon holds the BG Chair in Sustainable Gas at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø, is Director of the Sustainable Gas Institute, and Director of the EPSRC SUPERGEN . He is an electrochemical engineer whose research interests focus on electrochemical power sources, in particular solid oxide fuel cells. While at Rolls Royce he was involved in developing the Integrated Planar SOFC (1992-1998), and he is a founder of the UK fuel cell company , acting as CEO, CTO and then Chief Scientist (2001-2009). He leads the fuel cell and battery engineering research group at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø (1998 to present). He was awarded the Royal Academy of Engineering Silver Medal in 2007 for his contribution to fuel cell engineering leading to commercial exploitation, and the OBE in 2011 for his contribution to UK-China science. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Energy Institute and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.

Francis Bacon Medal

The Francis Bacon Medal Award is given in honor of Francis Thomas Bacon, the British engineer who developed the first practical hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells, which convert air and fuel directly into electricity through electrochemical processes. A graduate of Eton College and of Trinity College, Cambridge (B.A., 1925; M.A., 1946), Bacon became intrigued with fuel cells while working for the electrical company C.A. Parsons & Co. Ltd. in Newcastle-on-Tyne (1925-40). The Francis Bacon Medal recipient must have demonstrated fundamental and applied scientific and engineering contributions to the field of fuel cell science and technology as evidenced by academic and/or industrial publications, patents, documented technology improvements and/or successful commercial products. He/she also must have contributed to the technical community via education and outreach and provided leadership in national and international technical societies, conferred fellowships, service to educational institutions (primary and higher learning), formal or informal teaching, and/or success in technology or knowledge transfer. The recipient must have achieved international recognition through the development of technical and educational collaborations between institutions of learning, research laboratories and industry.