Tegan had worked in industry for many years, initially working on aircraft before finding herself at Jaguar Land Rover focused on power systems and electric vehicles. Alongside this she undertook a part time MSc, conducting a final project on modelling power losses in electric drive units, which brought her interest in modelling and research to life. The pandemic proved a good opportunity to leave the automotive industry and consider a path that she was more enthusiastic about - energy and renewables. IDCORE presented an opportunity to apply the skills she had developed by contributing to the offshore renewables industry.

The IDCORE training is very broad creating a breadth of knowledge that has been invaluable to Nicholas when working with his project sponsor, EDF, who have been strong supporters of IDCORE since it was first set up. They have sponsored students in most cohorts, and a number of times they have sponsored more than one from their R&D centres in London and in Chatou, France.

Mujahid has a background in Mechanical Engineering, which led to an MSc in thermo-fluids for the petrochemical industry. Following this, he worked as a research engineer at the Centre for Engineering Research, a research institute in Saudi Arabia, focusing on industry-academia projects involving multiphase flows in the oil and gas industry. He was attracted to IDCORE as part of a personal response to the climate crisis, seeking to apply his experience to something new and meaningful. He saw the interaction with industry offered by IDCORE as holding the potential to realise his dream of becoming a research engineer in the burgeoning renewable energy sector.

EMEC have had such good experiences with IDCORE students that they agreed to sponsor two students in 2020 despite having only one project specified. Consequently, Luke spent the first part of his project working with EMEC and his academic supervisors to define the work needed.

Jan studied an integrated Masters in aeronautical engineering at the University of Southampton. He wanted to apply this in a renewables focused role but found the sector difficult to access. He was leaning away from an academic, desk-based PhD when he came across IDCORE, which enables you to gain an EngD alongside three years of industry experience.