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Industry College Networking 2022

This conference will address cross-sector collaborations by bringing together past and current Royal Society Industry Fellows, Entrepreneurs in Residence and their collaborators.
Participants will have the opportunity to hear what other network members are working on, participate in workshops surrounding issues facing industry scientists in the UK, and hear about the wider work of the Royal Society as a whole.
Attending this event
As well as new and current Industry Fellows and Entrepreneurs in Residence, there will be a limited numbers of places at this event for others interested in the relationship between industry and academia.
If you would like to attend, please email industry@royalsociety.org with a short explanation as to why you are interested in the event. As places are limited, we cannot guarantee that there will be spaces available.
Schedule
09:30 - 09:35 |
Welcome and Industry Programme update
![]() Dr Katy Gearing
![]() Dr Katy Gearing |
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Chair

Professor Neill Campbell

Professor Neill Campbell
Neill Campbell is a Royal Society Industry Fellow and Professor of Visual Computing and Machine Learning at the University of Bath. He is the director of the UKRI Centre for the Analysis of Motion, Entertainment Research and Applications (CAMERA) that researches and applies visual computing and machine learning technology in the fields of entertainment, health and sports science. He is the chair of the British Machine Vision Association (the UK body for computer vision) and works closely with companies in the creative industries, championing collaboration and translation of ideas and practice between academic and industrial research and development.
His research involves learning models of shape, appearance and dynamics from images. In particular, creating systems that do not require technical computing expertise (eg for artists). He also works on machine learning problems where data are scarce or expensive to obtain (eg annotations from expert clinicians) and when uncertainty in the resulting output is important (eg medical and safety applications).
09:35 - 09:45 |
Intelligent software tools and new models for industry/academia engagement
![]() Professor Neill Campbell
![]() Professor Neill CampbellNeill Campbell is a Royal Society Industry Fellow and Professor of Visual Computing and Machine Learning at the University of Bath. He is the director of the UKRI Centre for the Analysis of Motion, Entertainment Research and Applications (CAMERA) that researches and applies visual computing and machine learning technology in the fields of entertainment, health and sports science. He is the chair of the British Machine Vision Association (the UK body for computer vision) and works closely with companies in the creative industries, championing collaboration and translation of ideas and practice between academic and industrial research and development. His research involves learning models of shape, appearance and dynamics from images. In particular, creating systems that do not require technical computing expertise (eg for artists). He also works on machine learning problems where data are scarce or expensive to obtain (eg annotations from expert clinicians) and when uncertainty in the resulting output is important (eg medical and safety applications). |
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09:45 - 09:50 |
Breeding and genomics of the black soldier fly
![]() Dr Gregor Gorjanc
![]() Dr Gregor GorjancDr Gregor Gorjanc leads the HighlanderLab at The Roslin Institute of The University of Edinburgh. They research management and improvement of populations using data science, genetics, and breeding. They focus on populations used for food, feed, and fibre production with some spillover into other populations. They are particularly interested in: (i) methods for genetics and breeding, (ii) design and optimisation of breeding programmes, and (iii) analysis of data to unravel biology and to find new ways of improving populations. |
09:50 - 09:55 |
Next-generation very small nuclear reactors for space and heat applications
![]() Dr Aiden Peakman
![]() Dr Aiden PeakmanAiden is a senior physicist and technical lead at the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL) in computational physics, with a focus on the design and use of novel reactor systems. Aiden is currently the UK representative on two of the Generation-IV International Forum working groups relating to 1) hydrogen production from high temperature reactors; and 2) non-electric applications of current and next-generation nuclear reactors to help decarbonise hard-to-abate sectors. He was previously chair of the OECD-NEA expert group on advanced reactor systems and future energy market needs. In addition, Aiden has worked in government as a scientific advisor and also at Rolls-Royce, working on small modular reactor systems to decarbonise commercial shipping. His expertise in conventional reactors includes support for the operation of the UK reactor fleet, fuel design for European reactor systems and advanced uncertainty quantification methods to underpin the licensing of commercial light water reactor systems. Throughout his career he has frequently collaborated with researchers in academia and industry in the UK and internationally on the above topics. |
09:55 - 10:00 |
Gene editing in zebrafish to support drug target validation: The short and long of it
![]() Dr Matthew Winter
![]() Dr Matthew WinterMatt is a comparative toxicologist and pharmacologist working primarily on fish models for the last 23 years. After his PhD at the University of Manchester, he undertook post-doctoral work on biochemical biomarkers of pollution in fish at the University of Birmingham, before joining the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca as an environmental toxicologist. During his time at AstraZeneca, he gained an increasing interest in the use of zebrafish as an alternative model for preclinical drug safety and efficacy assessment and this work has continued since his move to the University of Exeter in 2014. His work with the Royal Society started with a Short Industry Fellowship on evaluating the potential use of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene editing in embryo-larval zebrafish to support early target Validation in AstraZeneca. This has since evolved into a full Industry Fellowship (commenced May 2022), in which he is using AstraZeneca-developed novel gene editing technology to create more representative adult zebrafish models of human heart failure and chronic kidney disease. |
10:00 - 10:05 |
Nanostructured TiO2 for green energy applications
![]() Professor Vlado Lazarov
![]() Professor Vlado LazarovVlado Lazarov is a professor in the school of Physics, Engineering and Technology, and a director of York-JEOL nanocentre at University of York where he leads the development of environmental transmission electron microscopy. His research is in advanced materials for energy with focus on the role of atomic structure of surfaces, interfaces and defects on their functionality. In his research over the last 20 years, he has used both experimental (advanced atomic resolution electron microscopy and thin film growth) and theoretical techniques (density functional theory calculations) to elucidate the correlation between structure and functionality of materials. Dr Lazarov obtained his PhD in physics at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (USA), followed by postdoctoral positions at Brookhaven National Laboratory and University of Oxford. He was also awarded a Royal Academy of Engineering fellowship before becoming an academic at University of York. |
10:05 - 10:10 |
Affective design methods for virtual reality
![]() Dr Christof Lutteroth
![]() Dr Christof LutterothChristof Lutteroth is a reader in human-computer interaction and director of REVEAL (REal and Virtual Environments Augmentation Labs), the interdisciplinary research centre for immersive technology at the University of Bath. He studied computer science in Berlin, Germany and then undertook his PhD at the University of Auckland in New Zealand. His research focuses on immersive technology such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), as well as on methods that enable users to interact with devices using sensors. He is interested in how VR/AR can move people emotionally and give them lasting benefits beyond their immediate experience. For example, he is investigating how VR/AR can motivate people to be physically active using immersive 'exergaming', how it can accelerate learning by providing a more direct learning experience, and how it can help prepare people emotionally for stressful situations such as harassment. He is researching how immersive experiences can be measured, how they are formed, and how the many factors involved in VR/AR design and their effects can be modelled. |
10:10 - 10:15 |
Bioassay development using genetically encoded biosensors to reduce off target drug effects
![]() Dr Graham Ladds
![]() Dr Graham LaddsGraham studied Biochemistry at the University of Birmingham before completing a PhD in yeast pheromone signalling at the University of Warwick. He continued to work at Warwick as a post-doc studying pro-hormone convertases before securing a five-year independent fellowship funded through the NHS. This project enabled him to return to his interest of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). He progressed through the ranks at Warwick become an Associate Professor before leaving in 2015 to join the Department of Pharmacology at Cambridge, where he is a Professor of Receptor Pharmacology and also a Fellow of St John’s College. His research group use a combination of pharmacological investigations and mathematical modelling to study factors that control agonist bias at GPCRs. These investigations have enabled him to foster strong collaborations with the pharmaceutical industry. He was elected a fellow of the British Pharmacological Society in 2020. |
10:15 - 10:20 |
Opportunities and challenges in using silicon carbide MOSFETs in multi-megawatt renewable energy applications
![]() Dr Paul Judge
![]() Dr Paul JudgePaul D Judge received the BEng (Hons) degree in electrical engineering from University College Dublin in 2012 and the PhD degree from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, in 2016, for which he received the Eryl Cadwaladr Davies Prize for best doctoral thesis. He also received a Best Paper Award for his submission to the IEEE Transactions on Power Delivery special issue on “Frontiers of DC Technology” in 2018. Since May 2020, he has been a lecturer in power electronics and smart grids at the University of Edinburgh. Since January 2022 he is also a Royal Society Industry Fellow. His research interests include power converter design and control, as well as power system integration aspects of renewable energy technology. |
10:20 - 10:30 |
Reflections on an Industry Fellowship
![]() Dr Aquila Mavalankar
![]() Dr Aquila MavalankarAquila holds a PhD in experimental physics from Cambridge, which was followed by postdoctoral research at Oxford, both in semiconductor quantum devices. She then joined Adaptix Ltd, a healthcare start-up based in Oxford, which is developing a compact X-ray source for medical imaging and participated in the growth of the company from 9 to 50 employees. She was responsible for setting up the R&D infrastructure at the company, which was previously limited to a single test chamber on loan from the STFC. In the years after, she recruited and supervised a small team of scientists, set-up new radiation-safe company labs, and also brought in-house the entire multi-process fabrication pathway for the miniature electron sources central to the company’s technology (this was the aim of the Industry Fellowship awarded to her in 2016). She is currently working part-time on defining a future product for chest imaging. |
Chair

Professor Neill Campbell

Professor Neill Campbell
Neill Campbell is a Royal Society Industry Fellow and Professor of Visual Computing and Machine Learning at the University of Bath. He is the director of the UKRI Centre for the Analysis of Motion, Entertainment Research and Applications (CAMERA) that researches and applies visual computing and machine learning technology in the fields of entertainment, health and sports science. He is the chair of the British Machine Vision Association (the UK body for computer vision) and works closely with companies in the creative industries, championing collaboration and translation of ideas and practice between academic and industrial research and development.
His research involves learning models of shape, appearance and dynamics from images. In particular, creating systems that do not require technical computing expertise (eg for artists). He also works on machine learning problems where data are scarce or expensive to obtain (eg annotations from expert clinicians) and when uncertainty in the resulting output is important (eg medical and safety applications).
11:30 - 11:45 |
170 years of industrial education
![]() John Lavery
![]() John LaveryBorn in 1964 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, John Lavery joined the Royal Navy in 1983 as a non-graduate Naval College entrant. During a career of 29 years as a Logistics branch officer he has enjoyed 8 seagoing appointments, serving in a variety of vessels from a Leander Frigate to the Aircraft Carrier HMS Ark Royal. Promoted to the rank of Captain in 2008, his final appointment in the Service was leading the team that oversaw all Naval Reward and Remuneration Policy. He retired from the Royal Navy in 2012 to take up the post of Chief Executive of the White Ensign Association, a naval charity based in HMS Belfast, providing transition, employment and personal finance support to serving and veteran sailors and marines. He left that position at Easter 2022 to take up the role of Secretary to the 1851 Royal Commission. He is a previous Chairman of the Naval Service Sports Charity (2013-2022), and the current Chair of Trustees of Royal Navy Football Association Charity. Married to Claire and with two sons, he lives on the Hampshire coast. |
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11:45 - 12:00 |
Turning ideas into reality – supporting entrepreneurs to solve society’s greatest challenges
![]() Katie Saddleton
![]() Katie SaddletonKatie Saddleton is Senior Ecosystem Manager at the Royal Academy of Engineering supporting engineering and technology innovators and entrepreneurs looking to solve today’s most complex economic and social challenges. Katie started her career at the Royal Society overseeing research funding areas including UK early career fellowships, professorships and industry and innovation. She moved on to lead career development and engagement for researchers in the UK and some internationally. She has since established a new deep tech programme called EXPLORE at the Royal Academy of Engineering, focusing on creating growth opportunities for entrepreneurs in entrepreneurship ecosystems outside of the UK. |
Chair

Dr Nessa Carey

Dr Nessa Carey
Nessa has just completed two and a half years as an EiR at the University of Oxford, supporting innovations in the medical and health sectors. She's had a very varied career, originally following the classic academic route at Imperial College, where she left her position as a Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology in 2001 to join the biotech industry. Following nearly 15 years in biotech and big pharma, where she specialised in developing collaborative approaches in emerging areas of biology, she spent five years building the first internationally accredited course in technology transfer delivered in China, training hundreds of professionals. Nessa has provided consultancy to a number of the UK's leading PRSEs, and has served on/chaired panels and schemes for MRC, BBSRC and UKRI. She is a non-executive director for two businesses and the author of three popular science books.
12:00 - 12:10 |
A lot of help from our friends - building an expert network at the University of Oxford
![]() Dr Nessa Carey
![]() Dr Nessa CareyNessa has just completed two and a half years as an EiR at the University of Oxford, supporting innovations in the medical and health sectors. She's had a very varied career, originally following the classic academic route at Imperial College, where she left her position as a Senior Lecturer in Molecular Biology in 2001 to join the biotech industry. Following nearly 15 years in biotech and big pharma, where she specialised in developing collaborative approaches in emerging areas of biology, she spent five years building the first internationally accredited course in technology transfer delivered in China, training hundreds of professionals. Nessa has provided consultancy to a number of the UK's leading PRSEs, and has served on/chaired panels and schemes for MRC, BBSRC and UKRI. She is a non-executive director for two businesses and the author of three popular science books. |
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12:10 - 12:15 |
Defining Maths: thoughts from a maths EiR 8 months in
![]() Chris Daniels
![]() Chris DanielsChris is a tech and maths-focused entrepreneur, with multiple current Chair, NED and CXO positions. His main entrepreneurial role is with a drone business, Flare Bright Ltd. He is also a director of ARPAS, the drone industry trade body. Chris spends one day a week as the Royal Society Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Oxford University Mathematics Institute. He sits on the EPSRC’s Mathematical Sciences Strategic Advisory Team. He is also on the advisory group of the new UK National Academy of Mathematics and is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications. Chris spent 10 years delivering financial solutions for top multinationals at Barclays, HBOS and Lloyds Banks, focusing on derivatives and structured capital transactions. Chris subsequently led Lloyds Banking Group’s award-winning London 2012 B2B Olympic and Paralympic Games sponsorship activation. He gained a mathematics degree from Oxford University before a five-year Short Service Commission with The Parachute Regiment. He subsequently studied an MBA at IESE Business School in Barcelona. |
12:20 - 12:25 |
Making affordable solutions for global health challenges: How to commercialise high impact, low profit science
![]() Dr Barrie Rooney
![]() Dr Barrie RooneyBarrie is an experienced entrepreneur and leading tropical disease expert who spent many years working with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Initially trained as a microbiologist, Barrie worked for the Pharmaceutical industry before setting up the Biotechnology company ExCyte Ltd, which characterised new drug targets emerging from the human genome project. She worked with MSF on a range of humanitarian projects including a drug trial for Sleeping Sickness and the mapping of the disease around central African rainforests. Her commitment to open access research and the wider implementation of technologies is demonstrated by the recently established charity TROZON X17. Barrie’s scientific interests are focussed on the use of biotechnology to make affordable solutions for current health challenges and using her experience to develop alternative business models to promote the translation of high impact, low profit science. |
12:25 - 12:30 |
Developing new indications for generic medicines in neglected diseases
![]() Dr Stephen Hobbiger
![]() Dr Stephen HobbigerBeginning as a junior hospital doctor before moving to the Pharmaceutical Industry in 1989, Dr Stephen Hobbiger spent ten years at Wellcome/GlaxoWellcome in late phase drug development before joining Napp. In 2001, he returned to GlaxoSmithKline where he spent 20 years in support of the Chief Medical Officer including 10 years as the GSK Qualified Person for Pharmacovigilance (QPPV). His final substantive role before retiring in May 2021 was as Senior Vice President, Head of GSK Drug Safety and Medical Governance. Following retirement, he rejoined the NHS supporting Covid Vaccination in Cambridge and in February 2021 started as an RS EiR at University College London working on a Drug Repurposing in the Translational Research Office. He is a past Vice President of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Medicine and has participated in several major collaborations including the EU Innovative Medicines Initiative and the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences. |
12:35 - 12:40 |
Developing targeted mentor support for entrepreneurs
![]() Janette Pallas
![]() Janette PallasFollowing an early career in software and ICT, Janette set up and grew an ICT and Marketing consultancy business. Following the sale of her business, she pursued a career in early stage business innovation support, through various organisations, including, St John’s Innovation Centre, Cambridge, Warwick Science Park, De Montfort University and Midlands Innovation Commercialisation of Research Accelerator. She also delivered coaching to high growth EU companies through the EU H2020 EASME programme. As the current Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at Loughborough University, she is focusing on developing and growing a pool of high quality volunteer mentors to support the community of founders and entrepreneurs in the Loughborough University eco-system. National Awards:
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12:40 - 12:45 |
Catalysing academic-industrial collaboration in chemistry
![]() Dr James Douglas
![]() Dr James DouglasJames Douglas was born in Cambridge (UK) and obtained a MChem degree from the University of York in 2008, which included a one-year placement at GlaxoSmithKline in Stevenage. In 2012, he completed his PhD under the supervision of Professor Andrew Smith at the University of St Andrews and was jointly funded by AstraZeneca and the EPSRC. Following his PhD, he spent three years in the United States (Boston, Michigan, and Indianapolis) as an Eli Lilly postdoctoral scientist working in collaboration with the group of Professor Stephenson on visible light photocatalysis. He joined AstraZeneca process chemistry in Macclesfield in late 2015, supporting drug projects across oncology, heart disease, and neuroscience. In 2021 he took on the role as team manager of the Catalysis, High-Throughput & Synthesis team before starting his current position in 2022 as global director for High-Throughput Experimentation. |
12:50 - 13:00 |
Commercialising academia's research: multiple choices
![]() Dr Fiona Riddoch Phd MBA
![]() Dr Fiona Riddoch Phd MBAFiona Riddoch is a consultant specialising in strategy, policy development and innovation in energy and carbon reduction. In 2018 she co-founded Words That Carry On, a mental health research fund. She is also trustee of a UK work-based pension fund. Fiona spent over 20 years in product design, manufacturing and management, much of this in heating controls at Honeywell Inc. In 2000 she started providing strategic and product marketing leadership to technology start-ups, including renewable energy. She became CEO to the European Association for Combined Heat and Power in Brussels in 2006, cofounding the Coalition for Energy Savings in Brussels which participates in EU energy efficiency policy development. She is a working group member of the EU’s EEFIG on financing Climate Change Response investments. Fiona Riddoch started her career researching heat recovery and photovoltaic design at Heriot Watt and Strathclyde Universities. She holds an MBA from Edinburgh University and was one of the first cohort of Royal Society Entrepreneurs in residence being based at the University of Edinburgh. Fiona has served on the SIT committee of the Royal Society. |
14:00 - 15:30 |
Transforming UK translation: five years in
In 2017 the Society and three other partners (the Academy of Medical Science, the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Academy of Engineering) published a joint position which outlined a ten-year plan and declared that “research should have the widest possible benefit to society, and that new knowledge and discoveries should be applied beyond the academic setting wherever possible” and that “a vibrant translation system is essential for this to occur”. The declaration set out eight commitments using a broad definition of translation covering a range of knowledge exchange activities primarily taking place in universities and research institutes, while also acknowledging that not all organisations would have the resource or remit to address all the actions. We are now five years into this ten-year plan and during this time the Society has consulted the innovation community on the challenges of translation in the UK in workshops and meetings (for example in 2019 and 2020) and developed industry facing award schemes. Currently the Research and Innovation team in Science Policy is developing a major project, to be chaired by Sir Adrian Smith PRS, on a long-term vision for science. This will take a long view of R&D across academia and industry up to the year 2040, ask what the science system should look like to maximise the economic and societal benefits, and what needs to happen between now and then to realise that vision. In this workshop, we will review the progress made to date by the Society to address the eight commitments; how the external policy environment has changed in the last five years as experienced by attendees; and consult attendees on what further role the Society should play in developing the long term vision for optimising the process for translation of novel research in the UK. ![]() Tom Frostick
![]() Tom Frostick![]() Tim Rees Jones
![]() Tim Rees Jones |
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16:00 - 17:00 |
Recognition of scientists in industry
The Royal Society’s prestigious medals and awards programme recognises and celebrates outstanding contributions to science from individuals and teams. Around 30 medals and awards are presented each year, celebrating excellence across a wide range of scientific research areas and roles. Several of the awards are accompanied by a prize lecture. Historically, the programme recognised excellence in research, but the scope has broadened in more recent years to recognise those excelling in outreach and science communication. The Society is now working to broaden the nomination pool, ensuring it more accurately reflects modern-day science and diversity in all its forms. ![]() Katie Coupar-Evans
![]() Katie Coupar-Evans |
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17:00 - 17:30 |
Closing keynote
![]() Simon Andrews
![]() Simon AndrewsSimon leads Fraunhofer UK Research Ltd and supports Fraunhofer Centre Applied Photonics, based at the University of Strathclyde, in Glasgow. This first UK Fraunhofer centre follows the proven German model of providing professional R&D services to industry, whilst staying connected to excellent research in the university sector. Fraunhofer CAP is succeeding in its mission to help the UK economy by providing high quality applied R and D in lasers, optical and quantum systems, for industry, with 61 staff and students accelerating innovations for many sectors including life science, environmental monitoring, LIDAR and quantum sensing and communications. Simon is a physicist and engineer who spent many years in the photonics and medical device industries, often taking innovation from concept to market. His love of excellent science, international collaboration and practical innovation have driven his efforts on both sides, and in the middle, of the technical and commercial 'valley of death'. He sits on the Royal Society's Science Industry Translation Committee, the Quantum Technology Leadership Group, and the boards of Photonics Leadership Ltd and Technology Scotland Ltd. |
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