Growing up in a tiny village in rural Scotland, regular power cuts would leave Lorna Bennet and her family without electricity for days on end. Determined to become self-sufficient Lorna set about learning how to create sustainable energy, from designing water wheels to working on tidal power arrays and testing the world’s largest offshore wind turbine blades. Becoming a mechanical engineer has enabled Lorna to push the boundaries of renewable energy technology but working on world firsts is not easy and has meant overcoming challenges that come with innovation, including the collapse of the burgeoning wave power industry. But setbacks like this have also given Lorna invaluable experience which she uses today at the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, designing and testing innovations that are changing the world and helping achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

GUEST

Lorna Bennet, mechanical engineer, ORE Catapult
IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year WES Prize Winner 2018

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RESOURCES

Watch the world’s longest turbine blade manufactured by LM Wind Power, being transported to the ORE Catapult testing facility at Blythe here
Learn more about the Shetland Tidal Array