Background
Liam gained a MEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering in 2019 after a 5-year degree from the University of Loughborough. He is currently undertaking his PhD with Dr Edward Long, Professor Colin Garner, Professor Graham Hargrave and sponsor Ricardo plc.
Having spent a placement year out working as a Technical Officer in the UK’s first Centre of Excellence for Low Carbon and Fuel Cell Technologies, Cenex, Liam gained an interest for low emission vehicle research. Upon returning to University, he began his undergraduate work with Ricardo as a project researcher on electric vehicle (EV) battery cooling with composite phase change material (PCM).
Following his graduation, as of January 2020, Liam has taken the opportunity to work on a full time PhD with Ricardo.
Key Awards
- IMechE Project Prize - Best Part C Year Individual Project on the Mechanical Engineering Degree, 2018 - 'Thermal Management of Batteries'
Title of thesis: Thermal Management of High Load Electrical Components for The Transport Environment
In recent years the electric vehicle (EV) transition has seen batteries increasingly being used as part of the current generation of car powertrains. With predictions from the UK Automotive Council that mass-market battery technology is deemed to become the mainstream by the early 2020s, battery systems are forecast to be the industries’ future. Despite this, battery cells only work correctly over narrow temperature ranges.
The main aim of Liam’s research is to discover, through modelling and experimentation, how battery temperatures and other temperature critical component in the vehicle, like the electric motor and passenger cabin, can be controlled using a new approach.