Royal Society announces 2019 recipients of the Entrepreneurs in Residence award

Fifteen entrepreneurs, senior scientists and business leaders have been appointed as Royal Society Entrepreneurs in Residence, joining the nineteen appointed in 2018.

The recipients will help commercialise world-leading research and address skills gaps in industries like energy, transportation and data science by using their real-world experience to help foster an entrepreneurial culture within universities and develop curricula that produce industry-ready graduates.

The successful applicants are funded to spend 20% of their time over two years with their host university and collaborators, sharing their experiences to help mentor and support students and academics. The scheme has now funded placements in 24 universities across the UK and will be re-opening for a third round in June 2019.

The full list of the newly awarded Entrepreneurs in Residence and their projects is below:

Dr Alan Roth, Director, Fitzroy Partners Ltd. Hosted by the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is a global leader originating beneficial ideas, inventions and discoveries across numerous academic disciplines. Alan Roth aims to accelerate their impact and adoption by building entrepreneurial capabilities of the students and faculty who create them and promoting activities that strengthen the University's interactions with industry.

Mark Evans, CEO, Adaptix Ltd. Hosted by the University of Glasgow

Mark Evans will be supporting Glasgow University in looking at the possible applications of quantum technology to medical diagnostics, most specifically in medical imaging. The primary focus will be supporting a commercialization strategy as to how quantum technology can be used to enhance existing products and generate new disruptive products to the benefit of patients, physicians and payers, and in doing so create economic benefits and UK jobs.

Dr Callum Norrie, Director, Space Flow Ltd. Hosted by Heriot-Watt University

Callum Norrie will expose staff and students to the entrepreneurial challenges and opportunities of the space industry, focussing on high data rate communication and the use of space data for sustainable development.

Professor David Dent, CEO, Dent Associates. Hosted by the University of East Anglia

David Dent will undertake a technology audit, support commercialisation projects, provide seminars, surgeries and mentoring sessions to build greater confidence in entrepreneurship, and present industry focussed lectures and career advisory sessions in order to raise graduate employability. He will also promote greater commercial research collaboration with rest of the Norwich Research Park and review, analyse and report on the role of academic life-science research in the UK innovation system.

Dr Timothy Allsopp, CSO, Videregen. Hosted by the University of Cambridge

Timothy Allsopp aims to catalyse greater awareness of commercialisation potential from translational science in the cardiovascular and respiratory medicine research excellence themes at the University of Cambridge. More effective translation will foster the generation of entrepreneurial skills and future leaders from these areas of strategic importance for the University and the UK healthcare system.

Nick Russill, Managing Director, TerraDat. Hosted by the University of Exeter

Working with Exeter University's pioneering MEng Engineering & Entrepreneurship degree, Nick Russill will be supporting and inspiring the students in their experiential learning journey to help them launch their own businesses. He will also work with staff and researchers to explore commercialisation of their ideas and contribute to the critical mission of bridging the gap between the industrial and academic sectors. This will lead to business growth and move towards more sustainable ways of meeting the demands of the modern world.

Dr Stephen Chambers, Director, Subsero Ltd. Hosted by Imperial College London

Steve Chambers will be working with the Imperial College Centre for Synthetic Biology to help identify and explore the commercial potential of their research as well as mentoring faculty and students on how to start and scale new ventures. He will provide advice on business models, fundraising, pitching ideas and how to address the business challenges unique to each innovations.

Dr Michael Murray, Partner, Murray International Partners. Hosted by University of Sheffield

Michael Murray will be implementing programmes of training, mentoring and direct support to improve the University of Sheffield's engagement with industry and innovation transfer in the areas biomedicine, dentistry, health and science; raising external awareness of the University of Sheffield's areas of research and innovation excellence in these fields; and developing new consultancy and industrial technical solutions offerings for industry.

Shaun Lynes, Founder, Lean Business Thinking. Hosted by the University of Leicester

Shaun Lynes will work with key stakeholders across the University of Leicester to develop a platform to scale the delivery of Entrepreneurial skills (evidence based entrepreneurship) to undergraduate and post graduate students.

Dr Steve Hilditch, Technical Solutions Manager, Thales Ground Transportation Systems. Hosted by the University of Warwick

Steve Hilditch will work with the University of Warwick’s Centre for Complexity Science and the Mathematics for Real World Systems Centre for Doctoral Training to develop technology for connected journeys that make for improved passenger experience and increased efficiency of the transport system. Steve will bring business investment understanding to Warwick and will align transport applications for Warwick's research expertise in data science, complex systems and mathematics.

Dr Roberto Desimone, Strategic Innovation Manager, BAE Systems Applied Intelligence. Hosted by the University of Bristol

Roberto Desimone will be working closely within the Quantum Engineering Technology (QET) Laboratory at the University of Bristol. He will be giving guest lectures, and mentoring and coaching academic staff and students on how to best exploit quantum technologies for industrial applications, as well as organising industry-focussed workshops and exploring potential bids into InnovateUK.

Jonathan Jackson, Consultant and interim CEO at Previsico Ltd. Hosted by Loughborough University

The Pathway to SpinOut project will design and implement a programme of active mentoring, training and support to improve the quality of promising spinout opportunities from the University.

Peter Winton, Director, 224 Consulting Ltd. Hosted by the University of Nottingham

To seek to provide the University of Nottingham with knowledge, methodologies and experience to turn their generated intellectual property into a revenue stream that enhances the current income from licensing and spin-out incomes. Peter Winton will provide an industrial perspective to the University’s REF impact statements and give training to early career groups on the importance of IP to corporates.

Dr John Black, Director, Cowal Spectro Measurement Ltd. Hosted by the University of Strathclyde

John Black will be assisting university engineering departments to find commercial applications for optical diagnostic techniques which they have developed in past and current research programmes.

Dr Sam Whitehouse, CEO, LightOx. Hosted by Northumbria University

Sam Whitehouse will work with the business teams and the academics in Northumbria University to develop understanding of the challenges in commercialisation of the research carried out in the university. He will run a series of seminars and open workshops to help develop the commercial knowledge and highlight common pitfalls that must be overcome in a range of business models and markets according to the needs highlighted by those wanting support.