Eight new Royal Society Industry Fellowships connect academia and industry

The Royal Society announces eight new fellowships aimed at strengthening links between academia and industry. The fellowships are awarded to academic scientists who want to work on a collaborative project with industry and for scientists in industry who want to work on a collaborative project with an academic organisation.

The latest awardees’ project topics range from animation technology to low-carbon steel manufacturing.

Dr Taku Komura will be joining Disney Research for his Industry Fellowship. His research will focus on the natural and realistic movement of animated human characters and robots, with a particular focus on close interactions between characters; for example one character carrying another during a rescue scene, or characters dancing or playing sports. These actions are already well designed in films, but the process is often cumbersome; Dr Komura works on solving these current challenges.

Commenting on the fellowship, Dr Komura said:

 “I am very excited to work with Disney Research, which is one of the strongest research groups in the world. Professor Kenny Mitchell, at Disney Research’s subsidiary office in Edinburgh, is leading research on a Digital Acting project on which I will be collaborating.”

Dr Tiffany Wood will be working with Mentholatum Company Ltd using advanced imaging techniques to look at how the microstructure of the company’s major product, Deep Heat, determines its performance and will be exploring new routes to formulation.

“I feel honoured to receive a Royal Society Industrial Fellowship and I am looking forward working with the company to explore their traditional process and to developing innovative routes to formulation development,” said Dr Wood.

The Royal Society Industry Fellowship scheme provides each scientist’s basic salary for the duration of their secondment, which lasts for up to two years full-time or four years part-time.

The full list of the latest Royal Society Industry Fellowships recipients is as follows:

• Dr Taku Komura from University of Edinburgh to work on Relationship Descriptors in Computer Animation and Robotics at Disney Research.
• Professor Julie Macpherson from the University of Warwick to work on Development and Application of Diamond Based Electrochemical Sensors at Element Six.
• Dr Robin Sloan from the University of Manchester to work on Optimisation of Diodes for Millimetre-wave Circuits and Systems at Teratech Components Ltd.
• Dr Alexander Southern from AECOM to work on Next Generation Auralisation for Architectural and Environmental Acoustic Design at the University of York.
• Dr Tiffany Wood* from the University of Edinburgh to work on Formulations for the future: understanding traditional and innovative composites at Mentholatum Company Ltd.
• Dr Alexis Lambourne from the Rolls Royce PLC to work on Optimised electrical machines through additive layer manufacturing at the University of Sheffield.
• Dr Paul Webb from Sasol Technology UK Ltd to work on Advanced Spectroscopy Applied to the Study of Fischer-Tropsch Catalysts at the University of St Andrews.
• Professor Shaowei Zhang from the University of Exeter to work on Novel Ultra-Low Carbon Refractory Composites for Clean Steel Making at Vesuvius UK Ltd.

* Royal Society Industry Fellow to be awarded funds for a Royal Society and Society of Chemical Industry PhD studentship

The Royal Society Industry Fellowship scheme is funded by the Royal Society, EPSRC, BBSRC, NERC, Rolls Royce and BP. The source of funding for the Royal Society and Society of Chemical Industry PhD studentship is the legacy of Dr Sydney Andrew a former Fellow of the Royal Society and Member of the Society of Chemical Industry.