Dr. Kilner is a Senior Research Investigator at Imperial College London and I2CNER Professor at Kyushu University. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

He is former BCH Steele Professor of Energy Materials, former Head of the Department of Materials, and former Dean of the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College London).

He has been involved in research into ionic and mixed conducting ceramics for over 30 years and has published more than 250 papers in this and related fields of materials science.

He was appointed as European Editor for the journal Solid State Ionics. He holds a number of patents relating to fuel cells and gas separation devices and is the co-founder of the successful spinout company CeresPower Ltd.

Prof. Kilner is primarily interested in studying the exchange and diffusion of oxygen in oxide ceramic materials for applications in devices such as fuel cells, oxygen separators and sensors, and has been instrumental in the development of isotopic exchange SIMS techniques to study these phenomena.

Much of his work is now centered upon the development of the Intermediate Temperature Fuel Cell and improved understanding of surface and interfacial phenomena is crucial for further development of this device.