Professor Emile Smith Greenhalgh, Imperial College London

Professor Greenhalgh will develop structural power composites, which are mechanically load-bearing materials that have the capacity to store and deliver electrical energy. These multifunctional composites are a completely new way of using structural materials, heralding an emerging technology which will revolutionise sectors such as aerospace, automotive, portable electronics, and infrastructure. Ultimately, if successful, such ‘massless energy’ could consign conventional (monofunctional) batteries to history.