James Oxford receives prestigious IEEE DEIS Graduate Fellowship

The DCDYNAMIC consortium congratulates James Oxford from The University of Manchester on being awarded the 2025 IEEE Dielectrics and Electrical Insulation Society (DEIS) Graduate Fellowship.

The Fellowship is an internationally recognised award supporting outstanding early-career researchers in the field of dielectrics and electrical insulation. It provides USD 5,000 to develop innovative research ideas with the potential to advance dielectric science.

James’ Fellowship project addresses a key challenge in electrical treeing experiments. Conventional testing uses rigid steel needle electrodes to initiate electrical trees in insulation materials, but when mechanical loading is applied voids and air gaps can develop between the sample and needle, compromising the measurements.

This Fellowship will enable research into the use of soft or liquid-like electrodes as an alternative. These soft or liquid-like electrodes can flex under mechanical loads, eliminating the limitations of using solid steel electrodes. . The project aims to generate new insights that could benefit a wide range of dielectric research applications.

The work closely supports DCDYNAMIC’s research into insulation ageing and electrical treeing under combined electrical and mechanical stresses. Improving the understanding of these mechanisms will support the development of reliable HVDC cable systems for future floating offshore wind applications.

James Oxford is thus in good company, as Fabian Bill from ETHZ and also member of the DCDYNAMIC consortium, received this fellowship back in 2023.

👏 Congratulations to James on this well-deserved achievement. The DCDYNAMIC consortium looks forward to following the progress of this exciting research.

DCDYNAMIC expert contributes to Floating Offshore Wind Crash Course in Tokyo

DCDYNAMIC project partner Ralf Skowronnek from Skowronnek & Bechnak contributed as a lecturer at the 3rd Floating Offshore Wind (FOW) Crash Course, held on 30th June 2026 in Tokyo, Japan, as a side event of the WFO Asia Pacific Summit organised by the World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO) and FLOWRA.

The course brought together international experts to discuss the key factors required to advance floating offshore wind from concept to commercial deployment. Topics included market development, project design, certification, geophysical surveys, as well as bankability and insurability.

Drawing on his expertise in offshore wind risk and insurance, Ralf presented the role of insurability and risk management in supporting the successful deployment of commercial-scale floating offshore wind projects.

The participation of DCDYNAMIC experts in international industry events supports the project’s mission to strengthen the dialogue between research and industry and to contribute to the development of reliable and bankable technologies for future floating offshore wind infrastructure.

DCDYNAMIC research recognised at IEEE International Conference on Dielectrics 2026

Researchers from the DCDYNAMIC project showcased their latest research at the IEEE International Conference on Dielectrics (ICD 2026), held from 21–25 June 2026 in Southampton, United Kingdom. The conference brought together leading experts from academia and industry to discuss the latest advances in dielectric materials, insulation systems and high-voltage technologies.

The conference provided a great opportunity for DCDYNAMIC’s early career researchers to present their work, exchange knowledge with the international research community and discuss scientific challenges related to the development of reliable high-voltage direct current (HVDC) cable systems for future floating offshore wind applications.

The DCDYNAMIC team contributed both oral and poster presentations covering several key research topics that are central to the project’s objectives of enhancing understanding of HVDC cable insulation under combined electro-mechanical and thermal stresses.

The presented research included:

• Pit Bechtold (ETH Zürich, High Voltage Laboratory) – Effects of thermal ageing on the electrical properties of XLPE HVDC cable insulation (Poster)
• James Oxford (The University of Manchester) – Embedded Soft Electrodes for Electrical Treeing Experiments with In Situ Applied Mechanical Strains (Oral presentation)
• Fabian Bill (ETH Zürich, High Voltage Laboratory) – Impact of Static Mechanical Strain on Breakdown Strength of High Purity XLPE for HVDC Cables in Floating Offshore Applications (Poster)

A particular highlight of the conference was the recognition of James Oxford (The University of Manchester), who received the Best Paper Award.

The award, which also included a £500 prize, recognises the scientific quality and significance of the research presented. This achievement highlights the strength of the research being carried out within DCDYNAMIC and the valuable contribution of its early career researchers to advancing dielectric science and HVDC insulation technologies.

Participation in international scientific conferences such as ICD2026 plays an important role in DCDYNAMIC’s dissemination activities by enabling researchers to share project results, exchange ideas with the wider scientific community and strengthen collaboration with stakeholders.

DCDYNAMIC at FOWT 2026 in Montpellier

Project partner Skowronnek & Bechnak attended the 10th Floating Offshore Wind Turbines (FOWT) Conference in Montpellier, France, engaging with European and international stakeholders from across the floating offshore wind sector.

The conference brought together more than 1,300 developers, utilities, researchers, technology providers, policymakers, insurers and financiers to discuss the opportunities and challenges of accelerating commercial-scale floating offshore wind deployment.
As the sector continues to grow, ensuring the reliability, risk management and insurability of key infrastructure is becoming increasingly important and DCDYNAMIC´s efforts enhance the trustworthiness of emerging cable technologies with insurers and customers.

Participation in FOWT 2026 provided an excellent opportunity to exchange knowledge with industry stakeholders and contribute to discussions on enabling reliable and trusted energy transmission systems for the next generation of floating offshore wind.

S&B participates and contributes on Floating Offshore Wind Risk and Insurance at WFO Global Summit 2026 and WFO FOW Crash Course

DCDYNAMIC consortium partner Skowronnek & Bechnak GmbH (S&B) participated in this year’s World Forum Offshore Wind (WFO) Global Summit in January 2026 in Barcelona (Spain), joining a series of expert discussions focused on advancing floating offshore wind technologies to commercial scale.

On the first day of the summit, Ralf Skowronnek, Risk & Insurance Advisor and Co-Founder of S&B, took part in the Floating Offshore Wind (FOW) Committee panel discussion. The panel, moderated by Agni Argyri of WFO, summarised the work done as part of the WFO sub-committees and explored perspectives from across the offshore wind value chain, with discussions centred on technical development, standardisation and mass-production, O&M strategies, as well as investment readiness, which goes hand in hand with the FOW technology present level of insurability.

In addition, both Ralf Skowronnek and Barbora Bechnak, Risk & Insurance Advisors and Co-Founders of S&B, contributed to the summit’s training event one day workshop “Floating Offshore Wind Crash Course”, engaging with professionals on key topics related to offshore infrastructure, simplification and streamlining of production, transportation, installation, O&M and  certification, and giving a lecture on insurance and related bankability. The workshop forms part of the WFO’s efforts to support knowledge-building and best practice exchange across the industry. The engagement of the participants, raising more questions than could be accommodated, showed the personal commitment to learn, exchange and really understand what can be done to advance FOW to commercial scale.

The event brought together more than 190 stakeholders from across the globe, underscoring the importance of international collaboration to achieve the renewable energy targets by including the floating offshore wind power generating capacity.

S&B’s engagement in the summit aligns with their work in DCDYNAMIC in enhancing the trustworthiness of emerging cable technologies and continuing  the dialogue with relevant stakeholders at such important events.

Please see the brochure: Floating Offshore Wind Crash Course Flyer

Left: Ralf Skowronnek and Barbora Bechnak during the Floating Offshore Wind Crash Course. Right: Ralf Skowronnek at the Committee panel discussion.