Business Partnerships Lead,  REWIRE


Dr. Alex Oliver is REWIRE’s Business Partnerships Lead, working between the academics and industry partners to develop, foster and expand relationships across the consortium.

Alex joined the University of Bristol from UKRI, having worked as a Senior Policy Adviser on the delivery of UKRPIF and infrastructure research policy at Research England and a Portfolio Manager in the ICT team at EPSRC. At the latter, he developed strategic interventions for the Electronics research portfolio, including inputting to the UK Semiconductor Strategy and managing a range of key relationships across academia and industry. Alex has a MSci and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Bristol.

Presentation: REWIRE – Transforming Next Generation Power Semiconductors to Deliver Net Zero

With UK Government legally committed to reaching Net Zero by 2050, efficiency improvements across all sectors will need to go hand-in-hand with transformative technological change. Power electronics are fundamental building blocks in all critical technologies, from AI to data centres to renewable power generation and electric vehicles. To leverage these technologies fully and help deliver Net Zero, the next generation of power semiconductor devices is essential.
It would, for example, be game changing if we could fully charge an electric vehicle in only 5 minutes. And if we could provide energy security by improving the feed in of renewable energy into our national grid. And if we could meet the data demands for AI and future compute without greatly spiking related greenhouse gas emissions. Power semiconductors are key to enabling these grand ambitions.

REWIRE is a £11m Innovation and Knowledge Centre investment funded by UKRI, developing pioneering power semiconductor technologies and new power electronic devices to achieving these ambitions and accelerating the UK’s trajectory to meeting its net zero goals. Our mission is to transform high voltage electronic wide and ultra-wide bandgap compound semiconductor devices into the technologies of tomorrow. Wider band gap semiconductor materials, such as SiC, GaN and Ga2O3 can enable devices to be much smaller in size, much higher in efficiency and power, and much greater in thermal reliability and lifetime, all of which are paramount for creating sustainable next-generation technologies for Net Zero.

The REWIRE programme is headed by world-leading academic teams at the University of Bristol, the University of Cambridge and the University of Warwick in collaboration with over 30 industry partners from across the entire semiconductor supply chain. The combination of academic expertise and capability with industry insights will mitigate risks, strengthen the UK’s position on the global semiconductor stage and accelerate the development of critical power electronic technologies, facilitating the delivery of new commercial products to market and providing economic growth and impact for the nation.

The talk will highlight ongoing industry use cases, in collaboration with current REWIRE partners, that are helping us deliver these essential Net Zero technologies, and ways in which academia and industry can engage with the IKC to help deliver impact and innovation in power semiconductor technology.