Lorna joined the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult in September 2016 in the Operational Performance Directorate. She is involved in both research and design projects, with a background of mechanical design and project management. Lorna works on a wide variety of exciting projects in wind and tidal power, engaging with SMEs, organisations and academia to address industry challenges through technology innovation and research; also working with companies to diversify and transfer their technology offering to the wind, wave and tidal industries.
Since August 2017 she has been responsible for coordinating information, access, demonstration and validation testing in and around ORE Catapult’s Levenmouth Demonstration Turbine in Fife and has supported over 140 technology developments, demonstrations and research projects. With a broad range of skills and a depth of experience in marine renewable energy development, she is now leading the delivery of projects under the Energy Transition Alliance (ETA) in collaboration with the Oil and Gas Technology Centre (OGTC). This is a ground-breaking collaboration which aims to transform the energy sector, accelerating the UK’s transition to a net-zero future and ensuring a reliable and secure source of power for the UK. Current research areas include sustainable decommissioning and the circular economy; clean hydrogen development, and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS).
Lorna is also responsible for the STEM engagement strategy across ORE Catapult’s Scottish sites. In 2018 she won a Royal Academy of Engineering Ingenious Award to develop a plan of engagement with local primary schools. In collaboration with a number of local and national organisations and charities she has driven community engagement, promoting STEM careers and the importance of sustainability across the country. This led to Lorna being awarded the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year Women’s Engineering Society (WES) Prize in December 2018, recognised as a WATC Rising Star 2019 in Science & Engineering and as a finalist for the Contribution to Skills Award at the Scottish Green Energy Awards in December 2019.