Michael’s guest for Episode 121 of Cleaning Up is Rob Miller, Professor of Aerothermal Engineering at the University of Cambridge and Director of the Whittle Laboratory. The Whittle Laboratory is conducting world-leading research in pursuit of making net-zero aviation a reality. 

With the aviation sector looking set to be one of the hardest to abate in the net-zero transition, Michael wanted to know whether electrification or hydrogen represents the best chance to keep the world flying in sustainable fashion. Also on the agenda were the complexities of producing - and defining - sustainable airline fuel, and the scale of the risk posed by aircraft contrails. 

Relevant Guest & Topic Links 

The Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA) is helping map pathways to net zero aviation: https://whittle.eng.cam.ac.uk/aviation-impact-accelerator/ 

Explore the AIA’s Resource to Climate Comparison Evaluator (RECCE): https://recce.aiatools.org/ 

Read about the plans for the new Whittle Laboratory: https://whittle.eng.cam.ac.uk/new-whittle-laboratory/ 

King Charles toured the Whittle Laboratory in 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjoY4y_qZAk

Guest Bio

Rob Miller is professor of aerothermal technology and director of the Whittle Laboratory at the University of Cambridge. He is also director of the Rolls-Royce Whittle University Technology Centre in Cambridge. Rob is a member of the UK Department for Transport’s Science Advisory Council, the FlyZero Design Advisory Group, and a fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. In 2014 he set up and led the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Gas Turbine Aerodynamics. He led the team that pioneered rapid technology development, the process of reducing research and development times in aerospace from years to months or weeks. In 2020 he set up the Aviation Impact Accelerator (AIA), an international expert group aiming to build an interactive whole-system simulator to accelerate the journey to climate-neutral aviation.

Rob’s honours include the Royal Academy of Engineering President's Special Awards for Pandemic Service, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Thomas Hawksley Gold Medal, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Air Breathing Propulsion Award, the American Society of Engineers IGTI Best Paper Award (2019, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2005) and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers highest honour in the field, The Gas Turbine Award, four times (2019. 2015, 2014, 2010).