A knowledge transfer workshop on Mathematics and the Management of Energy Systems was held on 29 January 2008 at the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences, in Edinburgh.

The purpose of the workshop was to help in the exchange of ideas between mathematicians and the staff managing the energy industries. The workshop followed the format of presentations from industry, with presentations on knowledge transfer mechanisms, research funding and coordination, and with opportunities for questions and networking. The event was organised by Dr Tim Johnson (Heriot-Watt University).

Dr Melvin Brown provided an overview of the setting, aims and activities of the Industrial Mathematics KTN, and of its role in supporting the Technology Strategy Board, and he gave numerous examples of and opportunities for the application of mathematics to energy systems. Dr Stephen Elsby, Mathematics Programme Portfolio Manager, in the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, presented the aims and structure of the Research Councils and described the research funding opportunities they, and EPSRC in particular, provide. Prof Janusz Bialek, Dr Tim Johnson, Prof Ken McKinnon outlined the capabilities of the Edinburgh Research Partnership in Engineering and Mathematics.

The programme included the following industrial talks:

• Dr Anna Aslanyan (BP) - "Power Station Control and Optimisation"
• Dario Ghazi (Centrica) - "Gas Storage Valuation"
• Michael Wagner (IPA) - "Portfolio Generation Investment Under Uncertainty"
• Oliver Rix (Redpoint Energy) - "Domestic Customer Portfolio Risk Management"
• Jonathon Stamp (RWE-npower) - "Managing Volume Risk in a Retail Energy Business"

Links to the industrial talks may be found in the workshop programme.

As an outcome of this activity it is planned that a framework for rapport between academics and industrialists will be established through a "network" in mathematics and the management of energy systems, drawing on industrial endorsement and time-commitment. For further information on the follow-on from the workshop, academics and industrialists are invited to contact:

Dr. Timothy Johnson
Department of Actuarial Mathematics and Statistics
and the Maxwell Institute for Mathematical Sciences,
School of Mathematical and Computer Sciences
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh
EH14 4AS
Email: tcj1@hw.ac.uk
Tel: +44 (0) 131 451 8343
Fax: +44 (0) 131 451 3249