Newcastle University: The School of Marine Science and Technology (MAST), is the largest and most broadly based marine department in Europe, specialising in Offshore Engineering, Pipeline Engineering and Renewable Energy amongst other marine based subjects. It has a long established international reputation for excellence in teaching and research, and has consistently scored the highest grades (5) in the national Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).

The School is very active in both national and international collaborative research and in recent years has participated in over twenty EU-FP6 projects, having led four of them. The CCS Research Group was set up by Professor Martin Downie in 2005 and includes Dr Julia Race, Dr Ben Wetenhall and Patricia Seevam. The group’s specialist interest, reflecting the core disciplines of MAST, is in the transportation of CO₂ in CCS projects. The Group has already established an international reputation and its expertise is widely consulted abroad (eg invited paper at the 2nd Petrobras International Seminar on CO₂ Capture and Geological Storage conference in Brazil, IEA school in Canada) and in the UK (invited papers for CCS Association) and has representation on two CCS ZEP Panels. 

It has established working relationship with CO₂ pipeline operators (Kinder Morgan and Denbury) in the states and CO₂ research organisations in Norway (Polytec and Statoil) as well as pipeline contractors (AMEC), operators (National Grid) and utilities (Eon). Other companies and organisations that have approached the group include: DITR Resources department of the Australian Government, BP, Conoco Philips, Petrobas, Pemex, Schlumberger, UKOPA, Battelle, HSE and EIC.

Martin Downie has worked at the School of Marine Science and Technology for the last 25 years, and was appointed to the Chair of Technology in the Marine Environment in 2005.  His core research is in the field of hydrodynamics in the context of Offshore Engineering and Offshore Renewable Energy. Dr Race has recently joined Newcastle University as a lecturer in Pipeline Engineering having previously worked in the power generation, chemical, refinery and oil and gas industries for 20 years.

Prior to joining the university, Dr Race worked for GE Energy, PII Pipeline Solutions as an Integrity Consultant, where she was involved in pipeline fitness-for-purpose assessments, structural integrity analysis and failure analysis. In addition Dr Race has conducted R&D activities in the area of pipeline integrity resulting in the publication of a number of technical papers, particularly relating to dent assessment and corrosion rate prediction.

Dr Alasdair Charles has spent twenty years working on environment assisted cracking including work in high temperature water environments (up to 350°C) for the power generating industry and on nickel alloys for marine applications. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Corrosion and a Senior Corrosion Technologist with NACE International.