Royce Technology Platform Lead Prof Robert House has been awarded one of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s inaugural Green Future Fellowships.
The Green Future Fellowship programme aims to nurture climate innovation by providing those working across academia and industry with the space, time and support they need to accelerate their critical technologies into scalable, commercially viable, and world-changing projects. Green Future Fellows will receive financial backing over ten years to develop their ground-breaking initiatives.
Prof Robert House is one of the 13 inaugural Fellows announced at the end of 2025. Since 2021, Robert has been leading Royce’s Inert Sample Preparation and Characterisation Technology Platform at the University of Oxford, and he has worked closely with industry to translate advanced materials research into application through schemes such as the Royce’s Industrial Collaboration Programme. In 2023, he was listed amongst Europe’s top scientists and innovators in Forbes Magazine’s 30 under 30 list.
Robert will use his funding to develop a new type of battery that is four times more energy dense than current lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries, thereby making them much lighter and powerful – and suitable for use in electric or hybrid aeroplanes. Using nanoengineering, the new battery will overcome the challenges presented by their Li-ion counterparts which carry a lot of excess unused weight in the electrode materials.
Robert said:
“The long-term Green Future Fellowship funding will allow me to launch an ambitious new research programme to develop novel battery concepts to meet the stringent performance and safety requirements for aerospace. This high-risk, high-reward research could transform the way we travel by air by making aeroplanes quieter and less polluting at airports, reducing their greenhouse gas emissions in the high atmosphere, and increasing the range of electric flying taxis. The technology could also have a wider impact on Electric Vehicles as well as heavy goods, construction and mining vehicles, improving their power and driving range.
I am looking forward to the challenges that lie ahead and welcome interest from talented, motivated students and researchers who want to help make this a reality.”
Prof David Knowles, Royce CEO, said:
“Being involved in the Green Future Fellowship scheme at the Royal Academy of Engineering, it is really exciting to see these first announcements and Robert’s appointment as Green Future Fellow is richly deserved. His innovative work on advanced battery technologies is a great example of how Royce’s Technology Platform Leads contribute and support the translation of materials research into real-world solutions – in this case, for cleaner transport and a sustainable future.”
