Opportunities in the Hydrogen Economy

Amer Gaffar is director of the £4.1m Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre at Manchester Metropolitan University and a sustainability professional with more than 22 years’ experience in the sector during which he has led a number of large scale innovation programmes for both the private and public sector. Amer is a passionate advocate for fuel cell and hydrogen technology and has successfully built consensus and momentum in Greater Manchester and the North West towards positive environmental practice and cleaner energy over the last decade.
In 2013, Amer founded the Greater Manchester Hydrogen Partnership to develop and build the strong and diverse network of SME, industry, researchers and public sector stakeholders integral to the work of the Centre today.

In addition to his role at the Centre, Amer continues to lead a number of projects to make Greater Manchester a centre of excellence in hydrogen and fuel cells such as leading one of Europe’s first targeted programme of Hydrogen Education (HySchools. He is also leading the Net Zero skills pathway for NetZero North West and has led the development of the now formally adopted Greater Manchester Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Strategy.

Chris joined Manchester Metropolitan University in 2017, and for the last three years has been the operational lead for the Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre project. Funded by the European Union’s European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the project has supported small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Greater Manchester to understand and develop new products and services utilising hydrogen and fuel cell technology.

Working within the University’s Business School, Chris has a research interest in SME eco-innovation, and is Manchester Met’s project lead for a new, three-year ERDF low carbon project, Eco-I NW. Working with North West university partners, the project will actively support SMEs to develop low carbon products and services, and iterate circular economy business models.

Neil Simpson has spent more than a decade bringing innovation to businesses, helping them to grow by turning their ideas into money. Based in Liverpool, Neil specialises in ideation, digital marketing and innovation, assisting entrepreneurs to profit from their intellectual property, brand value and in house genius.