Richard specializes in the design, analysis and manufacture of permanent magnet and electromechanical devices. He has over 13 years experience in research and development on a range of industrially led projects in most market sectors, including automotive, aerospace, and medical. He holds an excellent track record in innovation, with a number of granted patents on novel actuators and sensors, and has 40 publications in academic journals and leading conferences. He obtained his first degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Sheffield and received a PhD in 1999 for his research on reciprocating air compressor systems.

Following several years as a post-doctoral Research Associate, he was awarded a prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Research 5-year Fellowship, when his research was concerned primarily with electromagnetic actuators for ICE valve actuation systems. At the end of his fellowship he became a Lecturer in Electrical Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2005, before joining Magnomatics in 2007.

Stuart Calverley studied at Loughborough University where he obtained a first class degree in Mechanical Engineering. He received a PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Sheffield in 2001 for his thesis entitled “Design of a high speed switched reluctance machine for automotive turbogenerator applications”. He has worked on a wide range of projects including electromagnetic valve actuators for compression therapy devices in the healthcare sector and he designed and built the first prototype magnetic gear system prior to the formation of Magnomatics Ltd. Following a fixed term contract as a lecturer in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Sheffield, he was awarded an EPSRC/Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow which was centered around multi-physics modelling of highly embedded electrical machines for use in gas turbine applications. Stuart has led the development of the electromechanical design of the Company’s wind turbine generator.

David has over ten years experience in research and development in the field of electrical machines. David joined Magnomatics in 2008 from his post as Programme Manager of the Rolls–Royce UTC in Advanced Electrical Machines and Drives at the University of Sheffield, where he worked mainly in the aerospace and marine sectors, and was recently instrumental in the development and realisation of a prestigious new engine program. He has a first-rate track record in innovation, with approximately twenty publications in academic journals and leading conferences, a number of invited lectures, and a number of international patents granted in areas including heat transfer improvements in electrical machines, novel control strategies for switched reluctance machine power converters, and novel flux switching machine topologies. He has been involved in European and UK government funded projects and has been principal grant holder and manager of a number of industry funded projects. David obtained his first degree in Electrical Engineering from Sheffield and was awarded a PhD in 2003 for his research on high integrity electrical machines for aerospace.

Jan Rens studied at the KUL, Leuven, and the UCL, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium for the degree of MSc in electromechanical power engineering, which he obtained in 1999. He received his PhD degree in electrical engineering from the University of Sheffield in 2003 for research on linear actuation systems.

Subsequently Jan was Research Associate at Sheffield working on electromechanical valve actuators for internal combustion engines and the design of novel magnetic transmission systems. He joined Magnomatics in August 2007 and together with Dr Calverley, has been leading the development of the Company’s wind generator solution.

Before joining Magnomatics in October 2008 Sarah worked as a research associate in the Rolls-Royce University Technology Centre within Sheffield University’s Electrical and Electronic Engineering department. For five years Sarah worked on several projects in the area of advanced actuation specifically looking at high force high temperature devices.

In 1997 Sarah studied for a masters degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield. After completing this degree in 2000 Sarah studied for a PhD in experimental stress analysis using innovative techniques to measure three dimensional stress distributions; she graduated in 2004.