Our Industrial Life

From 2007 to 2016, Steve Holliday was the CEO of the UK’s National Grid. In that time, the share of electricity generated by renewables in the UK grew from 3% to 16%. Today, that number is close to 40%. Rebecca and Joe talk to Steve about his time leading the National Grid through the beginning of the energy transition. They also get Steve’s perspective on some of the big questions around the future of the grid, including: The untapped potential of demand response and virtual power plants;Gri...

Preston Miller, a veteran of the mining industry, explains why mining companies need to invest in a comprehensive digital twin. We also explore the operational challenges faced by miners and how technology is poised to transform the industry. About our guest Preston Miller, a professional mining engineer with decades of experience, is a leader in mining technology innovation. In his previous roles he pioneered digital twins, AR/VR, and AI, building scalable data systems and automated re...

Attempts to meld virtual spaces and physical reality so far have struggled to take hold. For all the ingenuity behind projects like Google Glass, the metaverse, and the Apple Vision Pro, they’ve often felt like technologies in search of a purpose. Professor Nick Kelling, an engineer turned researcher, may have found one. Rebecca and Joe spoke to him about the limitations and possibilities of extended reality in the industrial sector. About our guest Nick Kelling is a Professor of Human ...

Critical minerals are key to green technologies, but their supply is dominated by a small number of countries. Recycling could, in theory, open up a new source of supply of these minerals—but that too is dominated by a small number of countries. Rebecca and Joe talk to Megan O’Connor, CEO and co-founder of Nth Cycle. The start-up's Oyster system has the potential to transform the recycling business. Subscribe to our biweekly newsletter. Visit our website. Follow us on LinkedIn.

Rebecca and Joe talk to Dr Tim Minshall, the Dr John C Taylor Professor of Innovation and Head of the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, about his new book, Your Life Is Manufactured: How We Make Things, Why It Matters and How We Can Do It Better. They discuss why “supply chain” is a misnomer, how SMEs can begin their digitalization journey, a useful prism through which to think about reshoring—and a whole lot more. Buy Your Life Is Manufactured: Waterstones / Blackwe...