Technology and Innovation

Amy Adams, Cummins

Amy Adams is vice president of fuel cell and hydrogen technologies at Cummins, with oversight of the company’s investments and partnerships. These include the company’s acquisition of fuel cell firm Hydrogenics and a partnership with vehicle manufacturer Scania to power fuel-cell electric trucks.

Bilim Atli-Veltin, TNO

Bilim Atli-Veltin is a senior scientist at Dutch research institute TNO. She was an early champion of hydrogen at TNO, and after years of lobbying, TNO added the fuel to its agenda. Now, Atli-Veltin works with a team to investigate the performance of materials and structures at hydrogen conditions—high pressure as well as cryogenic temperatures. She also works with students at technical university TU Delft on hydrogen storage research.

Isabel Carrilero, Ignis

Isabel Carrilero has over 20 years of experience in innovation projects, with a focus on energy storage, sustainable mobility and renewable energies. She is currently the chief innovation officer at Ignis, a Spanish integrated energy company. In addition to holding 4 patents and several publications, she is a keen supporter of diversity in the workplace and the recognition of women in science.

Annie Jing, KBR

Annie Jing leads ammonia and syngas projects at US-based engineering and technology company KBR. She has also pioneered the development of clean hydrogen technology at the firm.

Candice John, Shell

Candice John leads a team of 14 developing effective and affordable solutions for zero-emission hydrogen fuel.  Over the past four years, she has led her team in designing and bringing to market retail hydrogen refuelling stations that double capacity while halving cost, bulk hydrogen distribution that triple capacity while halving cost and the first multi-modal hydrogen station to fuel cars, trucks and locomotives. She has also taken action to improve process and safety.

Nicola McKidd, Johnson Matthey

Nicola McKidd is a research technical manager at UK technology firm Johnson Matthey. She plays a key ongoing role in the firm’s award-winning, GHR-ATR low-carbon hydrogen technology, which will be deployed at the HyNet hydrogen hub in northwest England. She has made particular contributions to not only ongoing research and development of the catalysts, but the subsequent manufacturing support for their production at scale. Nominations highlight her “exemplary standards in the scientific rigour of her approach”, focus on sustainability and support for team members.

Annemarie Purmer, Nel

Annemarie Purmer is senior QHSE director at Nel. She is in charge of quality and safety risk management, assessing and defining the key strategies for quality, safety, codes and standards development both internally for the company and externally for the wider industry. She previously worked as the safety manager for Shell’s Holland Hydrogen 1 project.

Janet Reiser, Hydrogen Technologies

Janet Reiser is the president of Hydrogen Technologies, which has developed a zero-emissions boiler which burns hydrogen and oxygen in a closed-loop combustion process. She has previously served as CEO and executive director of Alaska Energy Authority, before moving into the hydrogen industry.

Brittany Westlake, EPRI

Brittany Westlake is a technical leader at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) in the US. She leads projects related to existing and emerging storage technologies—including hydrogen—and how they could meet grid application needs across multiple grid sectors. Prior to joining EPRI, she worked as a science and technology policy fellow at both the Department of Energy’s Office of Electricity and the American Chemical Society.

Iryna Zenyuk, National Fuel Cell Research Centre, UC Irvine

Iryna Zenyuk is the associate director for UC Irvine’s National Fuel Cell Research Center. She has published more than 70 papers in electrochemical technology journals and given more than 80 invited presentations on fuel-cell technologies.