Title

Associate Professor, Strategic Director - International Doctorate Centre (High Value, Low Environmental Impact Manufacturing), Deputy Head of Materials and Manufacturing

Contact Details

WMG
International Manufacturing Centre
University of Warwick
Coventry
CV4 7AL

T:   024 765 28444
Fax: 024 76 418922
E:   Kerry.Kirwan@warwick.ac.uk
Materials and Manufacturing Group

Research Profile

Sustainable materials, Biomaterials, polymer glazing, environmentally-friendly motorsport, Industrial Biotechnology, Manufacturing

Research Groups

• Warwick Centre for Industrial Biotechnology and Biorefining (WCIBB)

Background

Dr Kerry Kirwan is an Associate Professor at WMG, University of Warwick. He is the Strategic Director of the £10m Industrial Doctorate Centre and Deputy Head of the Materials and Manufacturing Theme Group within WMG. He is a specialist in sustainable materials, polymer processing and automotive applications, having graduated from Warwick's Engineering Doctorate (EngD) programme in 2003, specialising in innovative materials for automotive glazing. He has considerable experience in both injection moulding and novel utilisation of polymers and has published extensively in these areas and secured a number of patents. He has more recently specialised in environmentally friendly materials for application within numerous industries, most recently being awarded a £1.3m WIMRC grant for 'Wealth out of Waste', a highly multidisciplinary programme aiming to develop a truly novel bioreactor system that utilises waste agricultural products and biological systems to create high value products such as pharmaceuticals, fine chemicals, plastics etc. He has also received a prestigious £1m Challenging Engineering grant from EPSRC for his Sustainable Materials - A Global Challenge programme. This is an area of exciting research challenges, strong user demand responding to increasingly stringent EU legislation for end-of-life disposal, opportunity to help farmers to access higher added value markets and environmental necessity. He also currently supervises three EngD students in the field of advanced materials and manufacturing and is involved in business development of novel processes for high volume applications.

Dr Kirwan has regularly engaged in public science activities through his position within WMG, being previously recognised for 'EcoOne' - the environmentally friendly racing car and his biodegradable 'Sunflower Phone' that allowed mobile phone users to grow plants from their discarded mobile phone cases through the encapsulation of a small seed in a visible window and subsequently prompting them to dispose of the electronics in a responsible manner. Most recently he was Principle Investigator on the WorldF3rst Formula 3 racing concept, which demonstrated that 'green is sexy' by delivering a fully functional F3 racing car built almost entirely from waste and recycled materials and fuelled by biodiesel derived from waste food products such as chocolate, beef fat and residues from the cheese industry. This car was named in Time Magazine?s Top 50 Global Inventions of 2009 and was showcased at various industry and academic events such as Goodwood Festival of Speed, the British and European Grand Prix's and MIT's Global Energy Conference. It has appeared on many UK television programmes, countless international TV channels, radio and printed publications. Dr Kirwan was awarded the Isambard Kingdom Brunel Award by the British Science Association in 2009 and the IOM3 Thornton Gold Medal in 2011 as a result of this project.

Current Research Projects

• Engineering Doctoral Centre in High Value, Low Environmental Impact Manufacturing, with Prof Lord SK Bhattacharyya, Funded by: EPSRC, Project Start Date: 01/04/2011 Project End Date: 31/03/2018
• Cleaning Land For Wealth (CL4W), Funded by: EPSRC, Project Start Date: 01/01/2013 Project End Date: 31/12/2016
• EngDoc - NanocompEIM project, with Dr Stuart R Coles - WMG, Funded by: Alstom Grid UK Limited, Project Start Date: 01/12/2012 Project End Date: 30/11/2016
• Sustainable Business Model, Funded by: EPSRC EngD/JLR, Project Start Date: 01/11/2012 Project End Date: 31/10/2016
• Sustainable Luxury, Funded by: EPSRC EngD/JLR, Project Start Date: 01/11/2012 Project End Date: 31/10/2016
• collaboration agreement linked to EPSRC Grant ,proposal number 34810 . Collaboration on a research project called CORE CREATIVE OUTREACH FOR RESOURCE EFFICIENCY . Terms and conditions approved by contracts officer Jacob Langlands, Funded by: EPSRC, Project Start Date: 27/03/2013 Project End Date: 26/03/2016
• CORE: Creative outreach for resource efficiency, with Prof. J Glass, Loughborough, Funded by: EPSRC, Project Start Date: 01/01/2013 Project End Date: 31/12/2015
• Zero Waste in the Automotive Industry, Funded by: EPSRC EngD/JLR, Project Start Date: 01/11/2011 Project End Date: 31/10/2015
• Electrospinning, with S.R.Coles, WMG, Funded by: EPSRC DTA, Project Start Date: 01/10/2012 Project End Date: 30/10/2015
• Life Cycle Analysis of Environmentally Friendly Nanomaterials, Funded by: Warwick, Project Start Date: 01/10/2012 Project End Date: 30/09/2015
• Industrial Studentship Research Project: with Regenesis Bio Fuels Limited: Mr Andrew Sellars, with Dr Andrew J Clark, Chemistry, - Dr Kerry E Kirwan - WMG, Funded by: Regenesis Bio Fuel Limited, Project Start Date: 04/10/2010 Project End Date: 03/10/2013
• GRP Innovative Manufacturing, Funded by: Research Development Fund, Project Start Date: 01/08/2012 Project End Date: 31/07/2013

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Publications

• Cherrington, R., Goodship, V., Longfield, A., Kirwan, K. (2013) 'The feed-in tariff in the UK: A case study focus on domestic photovoltaic systems' Renewable Energy 50 421 - 426
• J. Meredith, R. Ebsworth, S. R. Coles, B. M. Wood, K. Kirwan (2012) 'Natural fibre composite energy absorption structures' Composites Science and Technology 72 (2), 211 - 217
• C. Konscag, K. Kirwan (2012) 'A membrane screening for the separation/concentration of Dilignols and Trilgnols from Solvent Extracts' Separation and Purification Technology 94 54 - 60
• R. Cherrington, V. Goodship, J. Meredith, B.M. Wood, S. Coles, A. Vuillaume, A. Feito-Boirac, F. Spee, K. Kirwan (2012) 'Producer responsibility: Defining the incentive for recycling composite wind turbine blades in Europe' Energy Policy 47 13 - 21
• J. Meredith, S. Cozien-Cazuc, E. Collings, S. Carter, S. Alsop, J. Lever, S. R. Coles, B. M. Wood, K. (2012) ''Recycled carbon fibre for high performance energy absorption' Composites Science and Technology 72 (6), 688 - 695

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Conferences