Dr Rob Barthorpe is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Mechanical, Aerospace and Civil Engineering at the University of Sheffield. His research focuses on the development of tools for optimal decision making under uncertainty. In recent years his focus has been applications in the energy domain, and in particular the role that distributed thermal and electrical energy storage may play as part of the transition to a low-carbon energy grid. This work has included the development of hierarchical control methodologies incorporating model predictive control, and evaluation of how they may be employed for optimal decision making over differing time horizons such that the potential of novel storage technologies may be fully exploited. He led the DESNZ-funded ADSorB project, which sought to progress two advanced domestic thermal storage technologies towards commercialisation.