About us

How we work

We work with industrial partners in a flexible way, depending on the maturity of the technology, the complexity of the challenge and the level of support required. Partners can access specialist facilities directly, work with our engineering teams on test and validation, or collaborate with us on longer-term research and industrialisation programmes.

Collaborative R&D and high-TRL programmes: Work with us on longer-term programmes that combine research, industrialisation, integration and validation, with structured technical delivery and clear project outputs.
Contracted testing and facility access: Access industrial-scale test environments for electrical machines, drives, propulsion systems and supporting technologies. Partners can bring their own hardware and teams, with Nottingham providing the infrastructure, safety systems and technical support required for the campaign.
Prototype manufacture and process development: Develop and validate prototype hardware, manufacturing processes, assembly methods and build routes before committing to larger-scale investment.
Engineering support and test delivery: Work with Nottingham teams to define test plans, instrumentation, operating conditions, data analysis and technical interpretation. We provide the evidence and data outputs needed to support design decisions, technical roadmaps and next-stage development.
Co-location and embedded collaboration: Use collaboration space, incubator units and on-site working arrangements to embed teams close to the facilities and technical expertise. Collaboration can be structured around partner confidentiality, commercial requirements and appropriate IP arrangements.

Our pathways

We focus on specific zero carbon pathways that can leverage our research strengths to scale and grow high TRL (technology-readiness-level) commercial products and services. Our established research pathways are electrification and hybrid propulsion systems. Alongside these are our emerging pathways including fusion and batteries.

In fusion we are partnering with national, regional and supply chain organisations to support the UK’s Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme, under development in West Burton, Nottinghamshire. These will leverage our facilities, research and training strengths in materials, manufacturing, magnetics, microwaves, power generation, robotics and other areas that align with fusion's demanding safety and performance requirements. In addition, we are maintaining critical public engagement pathways.

In batteries we lead in the development of molecular additives for Li-S batteries as a part of the Faraday Institution's LiSTAR project. We are exploring markets for Li-S and Li-Air technology, helping to deliver on the UK Modern Industrial Strategy and supporting the ecosystem for UK technology production.