Newcastle University

Background

I studied chemical engineering in Germany before joining the biomedical engineering department at the University of Surrey. In 2007 I started working in the policy team at the Royal Society of Chemistry where I was responsible for policy in the areas energy, environment and sustainability. It was here that I first became interested in the design of battery technologies for electric cars and alternative fuels for transport.
In 2008 I started working as principal policy advisor at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, where I was responsible for transport and manufacturing policy. As part of my role there I facilitated the transport sessions of cross-government events on engineering, infrastructure and climate change adaptation, authored a report on the unintended consequences of transport and coordinated a number of transport related consultation responses to the Department for Transport, EU Commission, Royal Academy of Engineering and House of Commons Transport Select Committee. I also helped organise a parliamentary round table on road pricing as well as a debate on alternative fuels in transport.
In 2010 I decided to move back into research and joined TORG as senior research associate where I hope to combine my knowledge of the policy landscape with my research skills to support ongoing research and to develop new research opportunities for the transport group.

Qualifications

Euro Dipl. Ing. Chemieingenieurswesen, Europa-Fachhochschule Fresenius, Idstein, Germany

Previous Positions

Principal Policy Advisor, Institution of Engineering and Technology (2008 – 2010)
Science and Technology Executive, Royal Society of Chemistry (2007 – 2008)

Memberships

Member of the IET
Member of the IET’s Transport Sector Panel

Honours and Awards

3 year PhD fellowship from EPSRC (2004 – 2007)
9 months fellowship from dstl (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory) (2004)
6 months Leonardo Project Scholarship, from the European Union (2002)

Research Interests

Exploring the application of innovative technologies to transport
Behaviour: the use of technology and/or modelling to facilitate behavioural change
Policy delivery: development of technology to match policy requirements and informing policy makers how to exploit the availability of new technology
Accessibility: the application of technology to transport to enhance inclusive mobility.

Current Work

SWITCH-EV - Demonstrating and evaluating electric vehicles in the north east of England with a specially developed and integrated data logging system.

OASIS - Utilising ICT and other key technologies in order to provide holistic services to older people to support their physical and psychological independence, stimulate their social or psychological engagement and foster their emotional well being. In doing so, OASIS thus addresses key areas of their activities encompassing: independent living and socialising, autonomous mobility, and flexible work-ability.

SIDE - Addressing four fields where digital technologies and the building of a truly inclusive digital economy could deliver major social benefits including Inclusive Transport Services, which focuses on elderly drivers, traveller information systems and pedestrian navigation.

Esteem Indicators

Awarded the best paper prize at the Road Transport Information and Control Conference (RTIC), London (2010).
Facilitated the two transport sessions of a cross-government study on engineering, infrastructure and climate change adaptation (2009 and 2010).
Runner-up in New Scientist Magazine writing competition, communicating science to the general public. Article title: “How cancer cells learned dancing” (2005).
Second place in an oral presentation competition at the American Institute of Chemical Engineers Western Regional Conference at University of California, Riverside, USA (2003).

• Suresh V, Blythe PT, Hill G, Huebner Y, Robinson A. Effects of Electric Vehicle Deployment on Energy Demand and CO2 Emission. Newcastle upon Tyne: School of Computing Science, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, 2012. School of Computing Science Technical Report Series 1328.
• Robinson AP, Blythe PT, Bell MC, Hübner Y, Hill GA. Analysis of Electric Vehicle Driver Charging Behaviour and Use of Charging Infrastructure. In: 18th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems. 2012, Vienna, Austria.
• Neaimeh M, Higgins C, Hill GA, Hübner Y, Blythe PT. Investigating the Effects of Topology on the Driving Efficiency of Electric Vehicles to Better Inform Smart Navigation. In: Road Traffic Information and Control (RTIC). 2012, London: The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
• Hübner Y, Blythe PT, Hill GA, Neaimeh M, Higgins C. ITS for Electric Vehicles – An Electromobility Roadmap. In: Road Traffic Information and Control (RTIC). 2012, London: Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).
• Hill G, Blythe PT, Hubner Y, Neaimeh M, Higgins C, Suresh V. Monitoring and Predicting Charging Behaviour for Electric Vehicles. In: IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV). 2012, Alcala de Henares, Spain: IEEE.
• Huebner Y, Blythe PT. On the Rebound: How can we meet our carbon targets in the light of rebound effects. IET Intelligent Transport Systems 2012. In Press.
• Blythe PT, Hill G, Huebner Y, Suresh V, Austin J, Grey L, Wardle J. The North East of Enbland Electric Vehicle and Infrastructure Trials. In: Electric Vehicle Symposium (EVS26). 2012, Los Angeles, USA.
• Higgins CA, Hübner Y, Hill G, Neaimeh M, Blythe PT. The use of ITS in understanding EV public charging behaviour to inform future smart charging infrastructure. In: 18th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems. 2012, Vienna, Austria.
• Hübner Y, Blythe PT, Hill G, Neaime M, Higgins C. Use of ITS to overcome barriers to the introduction of electric vehicles in the North East of England. In: 18th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems. 2012, Vienna, Austria.
• Robinson A, Blythe PT, Hill G, Huebner Y, Carroll S. Impact of Traffic Flows on Electric Vehicles. In: Hybrid Electric Vehicle Conference. 2011, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.