Rhi Dixon 

MSc Renewable Energy and Resource Management, University of South Wales, Pontypridd (1 year)

BSc (Hons) in Physics, University of Birmingham, UK (3 years)

Born and schooled in Maidstone, Kent, Rhi moved to Birmingham in 2011 to pursue her BSc in Physics at the University of Birmingham. During the course of her three year undergraduate studies Rhi specialized in solid-state physics and photonics. In her final year she worked on a group project aiming to build a trans-Atlantic telecommunications device where she focussed on frequency doubling the communication signal using periodically-poled lithium niobate.

Rhi decided to use her background in Physics to tackle the global energy crisis and moved to Pontypridd in 2014 to study an MSc Renewable Energy and Resource Management in order to obtain a more applied viewpoint on the industry. Six months of her studies were spent focussing on her dissertation investigating the operation of anode-supported solid oxide fuel cells operating on varying fuel mixtures of hydrogen, methane and biogas. This work was carried out under the supervision of Dr Christian Laycock. The experience of manufacturing and testing button solid oxide fuel cells led to Rhi applying to the doctoral researcher position within the Centre for Doctoral Training at the University of Birmingham. 

In September 2016 Rhi joined the Centre for Doctoral Training in Fuel Cells and Their Fuels within the University of Birmingham to begin her PhD studies. Her research, supervised by Professor Robert Steinberger-Wilckens and Professor Peter Slater focusses on the utilization of biogas with solid-oxide fuel cells. The main focus will be to investigate the use of novel dopants in order to minimize the effects of carbon deposition and sulphur poisoning on the anode. 

Outside of the office, Rhi is a qualified Healthcare Assistant (HCA) and enjoys PC gaming and cooking with a recent interest in gluten-free recipes. Rhi has also recently taken up learning British Sign Language (BSL).