Advancing the Hydrogen Future: Insights from the Royce Hydrogen Conference 2025

Yesterday, our CTO James Jordan and Principal Scientist Santanu Ray attended the Third Royce Hydrogen Conference at the Aerospace Integration Research Centre (AIRC), Royce at Cranfield University.

The event, hosted by the Henry Royce Institute, brought together leaders from academia and industry to explore translational solutions for materials challenges across the hydrogen value chain—from production to storage and end-use applications.

It was an excellent opportunity to engage with members of the Royce senior management team, including Robert Sorrell (CEO, Royce Hydrogen Accelerator), Robin Morris (Business Development Manager, Royce Oxford), and Richard Dawidek (Research and Business Engagement Manager, Royce Sheffield).

The opening keynote by Rebecca Advani (Connected Places Catapult, Hydrogen Innovation Initiative) set the tone with a powerful overview of the global hydrogen economy and its projected 2050 impact.

Highlights included:

· Lakshmi Shenoy (The University of Sheffield) on machine-learning approaches to materials discovery (MACE).

· Richard Doyle (JCB) showcasing remarkable advances in hydrogen-fuelled engines for heavy machinery.

· Sibimol Luke l (UCL) providing valuable updates on UK-HyRES: Hub for Research Challenges in Hydrogen and Alternative Liquid Fuels, strengthening links across the UK hydrogen research landscape.

· Ben Richardson (Element Materials Technology) discussing validation of analytical and testing frameworks for liquid hydrogen.

· Thought-provoking sessions from Ceres, PowderLoop Technology Ltd. and other innovative teams driving electrolysis, materials durability, and fuel cell performance.

Events like this underline the importance of collaboration and knowledge exchange in accelerating safe, efficient, and economically viable hydrogen technologies.

We are grateful to the Royce at Cranfield University Hydrogen Innovation Initiative for organising such an inspiring event and look forward to continuing engagement with the Royce community to translate materials innovation into scalable clean-energy solutions.