Pulse Tidal has appointed Angela Robotham as its new engineering director to develop the company’s tidal energy offering. The vastly experienced Robotham was previously engineering director for Marine Current Turbines where she led the design, development, build, test and commissioning of the SeaGen machine currently in operation in Strangford Lough and prior to that responsible for the development of the Neptune tidal stream energy device for the Scottish & Southern Energy/Weir Group.

Commenting on the appointment Pulse chief executive Bob Smith, said:  "Angela is considered to be the world’s most experienced tidal energy engineer.  Our technology concept is proven through our grid-connected 100kW machine in the Humber, our team is first class and we have supply chain partnerships with a number of international companies. In addition, our €8m EU grant provides enormous leverage to the new investors which we are attracting.

"Angela wanted to be a part of Pulse at this most exciting time in the company’s development and we are thrilled to have her onboard."

Pulse Tidal recently received an €8 million EU grant to begin developing its first commercial 1MW tidal energy generator, to be commissioned in 2012 and set to provide electricity for up to 1,000 homes.

Ms Robotham’s arrival at Pulse comes immediately after the company signed contracts with a group of international companies to develop the commercial device and form a secure supply chain for volume production.  The project team brings together all of the skills needed to develop and supply the commercial Pulse product: Bosch Rexroth for hydraulics, Herbosch Kiere for installation, DNV for certification, IT Power for engineering, Niestern Sander for construction, the Fraunhofer IWES for control and electrical systems and Gurit for composites.