Our Industrial Life

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What the energy transition looks like from inside the grid Aug 05, 2025

Show notes

From 2007 to 2016, Steve Holliday was the CEO of the UK’s National Grid. In that time, the share of electricity generated by renewables in the UK grew from 3% to 16%. Today, that number is close to 40%.

Rebecca and Joe talk to Steve about his time leading the National Grid through the beginning of the energy transition. They also get Steve’s perspective on some of the big questions around the future of the grid, including:

The untapped potential of demand response and virtual power plants;
Grid-scale batteries and the persistent issue of long-term storage;
The role of nuclear in a fully green grid; and
Whether AI will be a net benefit for the grid.

About our guest:

Steve Holliday is the former Chief Executive of National Grid plc. He is currently Chairman of Zenobe and Cityfibre. Steve joined National Grid Group as the Board Director responsible for the UK and Europe in March 2001, becoming Chief Executive of the company in January 2007, which he led for almost 10 years, until 2016. Steve is a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Energy Institute. He holds a BSc degree from Nottingham University and honorary doctorates from Nottingham and Strathclyde universities. His sporting interests include cycling and following the fortunes of the England Rugby team.

A transcript is available on the episode's webpage.

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How a mine actually works Jun 02, 2025

Show notes

Preston Miller, a veteran of the mining industry, explains why mining companies need to invest in a comprehensive digital twin. We also explore the operational challenges faced by miners and how technology is poised to transform the industry.

About our guest

Preston Miller, a professional mining engineer with decades of experience, is a leader in mining technology innovation. In his previous roles he pioneered digital twins, AR/VR, and AI, building scalable data systems and automated reporting tools that delivered millions of dollars in value. His work enhances operational efficiency and decision-making. Holding an MBA from Arizona State University and a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Preston is passionate about advancing industrial digital twins and the metaverse, transforming mining operations through cutting-edge, sustainable technology solutions that drive operational excellence.

https://www.aveva.com/en/our-industrial-life/type/podcast/welcome-to-the-mining-metaverse/

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XR training and the future of industrial work May 01, 2025

Show notes

Attempts to meld virtual spaces and physical reality so far have struggled to take hold. For all the ingenuity behind projects like Google Glass, the metaverse, and the Apple Vision Pro, they’ve often felt like technologies in search of a purpose. Professor Nick Kelling, an engineer turned researcher, may have found one. Rebecca and Joe spoke to him about the limitations and possibilities of extended reality in the industrial sector.

About our guest

Nick Kelling is a Professor of Human Factors Psychology at the University of Houston-Clear Lake. His research focuses on the use of VR/XR/AR technologies for training psychomotor skills and the use of technology in environments where education and entertainment goals coexist. In his nearly two decades of research, he has collaborated with college athletics, computing and aerospace companies, amusement parks, zoos, and NASA. Nick is an author of more than 30 published works within education, human factors, and engineering receiving multiple grants from the US National Institute of Health and NASA.

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How to handle the coming e-waste avalanche Mar 27, 2025

Show notes

Critical minerals are key to green technologies, but their supply is dominated by a small number of countries. Recycling could, in theory, open up a new source of supply of these minerals—but that too is dominated by a small number of countries. Rebecca and Joe talk to Megan O’Connor, CEO and co-founder of Nth Cycle. The start-up's Oyster system has the potential to transform the recycling business.

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Your life is manufactured Feb 24, 2025

Show notes

Rebecca and Joe talk to Dr Tim Minshall, the Dr John C Taylor Professor of Innovation and Head of the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge, about his new book, Your Life Is Manufactured: How We Make Things, Why It Matters and How We Can Do It Better.

They discuss why “supply chain” is a misnomer, how SMEs can begin their digitalization journey, a useful prism through which to think about reshoring—and a whole lot more.

Buy Your Life Is Manufactured: Waterstones / Blackwells / Faber / Amazon. Follow Tim on LinkedIn. Visit the Institute for Manufacturing’s website.

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“The Victorian Internet”—The world’s first global communication network Nov 01, 2024

Show notes

The telegraph system went from speculative theory to a global telecommunications network connecting continents via undersea cables in just 35 years.
Episode page:
https://www.aveva.com/en/perspectives/podcasts/the-victorian-internet/
Article page:
https://www.aveva.com/en/perspectives/blog/dot-dot-dash-35-years-that-shrunk-the-world/
[1] “The Electric & International Telegraph Company's map of the telegraph lines of Europe” Published under the Authority of the Electric Telegraph Company by Day & Son, Lithographers to the Queen. August 1, 1856.
[2] The Iconography of Manhattan Island. Isaac Newton Phelps Stokes, 1915. Page 61.
[3] Cyrus W. Field, His life and work [1819-1892]. Isabella Field Johnson. New York Brothers Publishers, 1896. Page 117.
[4] The story of the telegraph and a history of the great Atlantic cable. Charles F. Briggs and Augustus Maverick. Rudd & Carleton, 1858. Pages 11-12.
[5] The Victorian internet. Tom Standage. Bloomsbury, 1998. Page 90.

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Dark matter and ghost particles—industrial data helps uncover the secrets of the universe Aug 30, 2024

Show notes

SNOLAB is the deepest clean lab in the world. It searches for the most elusive building blocks of our universe: neutrinos and dark matter. The Nobel Prize website describes its experiments as like searching for a particular grain of sand in the Sahara—and it relies on industrial data to do it.

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AI: A sustainability friend or environmental foe? Jul 02, 2024

Show notes

AI has been helping industries decarbonize for years by making their equipment more energy efficient and helping power grid operators incorporate more renewable energy sources. But, manufacturing, training and running the computers that power AI also produces a lot of carbon emissions. So, which is it? Is AI increasing or decreasing our industrial carbon footprint?
Episode page: https://www.aveva.com/en/perspectives/podcasts/ai-a-sustainability-friend-or-an-environmental-foe/

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Green ammonia is decarbonizing food production Apr 30, 2024

Show notes

Half the world relies on synthetic ammonia fertilizer to grow its food. But traditional ways of making ammonia produce about 2% of global CO2 emissions. On this episode, we speak to Dr. Zhenyu Zhang about how he’s decarbonizing the processes and making green ammonia.

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/schwoaze-4023294/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3361927">Sabine</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=3361927">Pixabay</a>

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Bridging the skills gap with connected workers Feb 28, 2024

Show notes

A whole generation of industrial workers is about to retire, taking extensive knowledge and skills with them. How can companies attract new high-quality workers and quickly give them the skills previous generations took years to develop? New information technologies, called connected-worker solutions, are helping new workers get up to speed faster than ever before—and making their jobs more safe and attractive as well.

Image by <a href="https://pixabay.com/users/wal_172619-12138562/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=7859047">wal_172619</a> from <a href="https://pixabay.com//?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=image&utm_content=7859047">Pixabay</a>

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