19 June 2026
Professor Malcolm McCulloch passed away on 12 June 2026. Malcolm was a pioneering engineer, distinguished teacher, and internationally recognised leader in sustainable energy systems. He made an extraordinary contribution to the Department of Engineering Science, the University of Oxford, and the many students, colleagues, and collaborators whose lives he touched throughout his career. He is greatly missed.
Read the Department's tribute to Malcolm
Malcolm McCulloch was Professor of Energy Systems and Group Leader of the Energy and Power Group at the University of Oxford.
His interests were in the area related to the domestic energy sector, development of user centric demand side management technologies, useful information to enable behaviour change. Previous work led to the the spin-out Intelligent Sustainable Energy, of which Malcolm is both a founder and non-executive director. This has merged to form Navetas Energy Management.
In the transport sector, research is ongoing in developing power trains for electric vehicles. A successful project was that of the Morgan LifeCar – the first ever Hydrogen sports car. This project lead to the development of high-efficiency low-weight motors using new materials- The yokeless and segmented armature motor. This has resulted in the Oxford spin-out company Oxford Yasa Motors, of which Malcolm was a founder. He extended the work of ICERT to create an Integrated Transport Network for Oxford.
In renewable generation, novel lightweight low speed direct coupled generators are being developed along with a transverse axis tidal turbine, leading to the spinout of Kepler Energy, of which Malcolm was also a founder and non-executive director.
In Energy for Development, he developed technologies that leverage advanced intelligence to provide cost effective and nano and micro grid solutions that provide a scalable pathway to distributed electrification.
Malcolm was Co-Director of the Institute for Carbon and Energy Reduction in Transport, a member of the Oxford Martin School, from 2008-2013.
