Group lead
Dr Ruihuan Ge
Dr Ruihuan Ge is a research fellow in the School of Chemical Engineering, working on additive manufactured energy storage devices and topology optimisation. He obtained double bachelor degree in Energy Engineering and Economics from Shandong University, China, and MSc in Energy Engineering from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, followed by a PhD in 3D printing and powder technology (Creating Tuneable Agglomerates via 3D Printing) from Monash University. Ruihuan has published his research outcomes in several international journals including AIChE Journal, Powder Technology and Energy. His research interests include but not limited to: additive manufacturing, powder technology and optimisation algorithm development.
Gabriele Humbert
Gabriele received his BSc and MSc (cum laude) in Energy and Nuclear Engineering from Politecnico di Torino in 2017, with a thesis on nanofluids for solar applications. After an experience in an Energy company, he joined MODES in January 2019. His research focusses on topology optimization for energy technologies, Gabriele aims to design fit for purpose component geometries and to develop and test innovative devices with optimal and smarter performances.
Andrea Vecchi
Andrea received BSc and MSc degrees in Energy and Nuclear Engineering from Politecnico di Torino. After a brief industrial experience, he joined the MODES group in October 2018. His current research focusses on thermo-mechanical energy storage. Through numerical modelling and system-level simulations, Andrea aims at highlighting the possibilities for future integration of large-scale energy storage in low-carbon grids and overcoming current technological bottlenecks.
Robin Fisher
Robin received BSc and MSc degrees in Process Engineering from ENSIACET, Toulouse, with a specialisation in Energy Technologies. After an internship with CMI Environment on the topic of thermal energy storage of waste heat in the steel-making processes, Robin joined the Birmingham Center for Energy Storage group in January 2018 to carry out a PhD in seasonal thermal energy storage for domestic applications. The topic of his research involves thermochemical energy storage through composite “salt-in-matrix” type materials. By conducting both experiments at the material level and simulation of reactor systems, Robin aims through his work to help bridge the gap between these scales, and to improve the understanding of the behaviour of thermochemical heat storage reactors.
Dr Giovanni Manente
Dr. Giovanni Manente is a Research Fellow in the School of Chemical Engineering, working on the EU H2020 SO WHAT project about industrial waste heat recovery and valorization since June 2019. He holds a PhD in Energetics, a MS in Mechanical Engineering and a BS in Energy Engineering, from the University of Padua (Italy). During the PhD his research was focused on power cycles for utilization of low-to-medium temperature heat sources. In this frame, Giovanni spent a one-year internship at the ENEL Thermal Research center in Pisa (Italy) and seven months at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston (USA) working on the design and optimization of geothermal organic Rankine cycles (ORCs). As a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Padua, Giovanni was Principal Investigator on research projects about low-emission geothermal power plants and integrated solar combined cycles, and worked on the design of axial-flow and radial-inflow turbines for ORCs. He has been lecturer in the course “Power Plant Technology” for the BS in Energy Engineering at the University of Padua for eight consecutive years (2011-2019).