Rob Ireson has worked at Glass Futures since it was established in in January 2020 during which time he has built up a R&D Projects team currently responsible for managing and delivering a £60 million project portfolio. Rob currently holds the role of ‘Head of Innovation’, leading the Technical and Project teams, including the development and the deployment of the Glass Futures project portfolio and Innovation Roadmap. Rob’s core areas of expertise include glass science, alternative fuels (including hydrogen, biofuels and electric melting), carbon capture and raw material developments, such as utilising waste ashes in glass manufacturing. Over the last 7 years, he has led several research projects into use of hydrogen fuels within industrial processes, including practical pilot-scale hydrogen firing trials for glass, ceramics and steel processes, which has involved the development of a number of large-scale hydrogen-enabled pilot-scale demonstrators. Rob has been closely involved with the Hydrogen Innovation Initiative for four years, sitting on their Industrial Advisory Board and more recently as a HII Partner. Rob has been involved in leading industrial R&D projects for more than 22 years across a broad range of industrial sectors, having previously worked at Glass Technology Services and Tata Steel.