New Managing Director for Lab M


Microbiology company Lab M has appointed Ian Morris as Managing Director. Combining a science background with extensive business experience at a senior level, Ian has a track record in successfully leading the expansion of established businesses and in driving start-up businesses into new areas. He joined Lab M in January 2012 and is based at the company’s headquarters in Bury, Lancashire, UK. Welcoming Ian to Lab M, Chairman Colin Goodwille said, “I am delighted that Ian has joined the senior management team at Lab


M. He brings direct understanding of many of the key industries that Lab M serves, and for the past ten years has held directorships in commercial contract laboratories. His experience in driving business improvements in the heavily regulated markets of environmental, food and pathology testing will be especially valuable in leading Lab M through the continued development of market opportunities around the world.” Ian’s original scientific training is in chemistry and biology. He has a Diploma in Brewing (Dip.Brew) and is a Member of Institute of


Food Science and Technology (MIFST) and is experienced in implementing continuous business improvement in both manufacturing and laboratory sectors. Lab M’s ongoing success in both domestic and export markets owes much to the service excellence delivered by its UK-based support team. Fully integrated research, development, quality assurance and manufacturing enable Lab M to provide a range of precise, rapid and dependable methodology for the detection, isolation and identification of micro-organisms.


Ian Morris TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 546


CRANN and Thomas Swan Sign Industrial Partnership


Professor Jonathan Coleman, CRANN and Harry Swan, Managing Director, Thomas Swan


CRANN, the Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) funded nanoscience institute based at Trinity College Dublin, has announced a new collaborative research partnership worth €750,000 with Thomas Swan & Co Ltd, a leading independent manufacturer of performance and speciality chemicals based in the north east of England. The collaboration will focus on the industrial scale-up of graphene production, a material with potential applications in next generation electronic devices, mechanically strengthened plastics and new thermoelectric materials. Graphene is the focus of one of six of the EU’s FET Flagship Pilot research projects, two of which will be chosen to receive funding of €1 billion for 10 years from the EU Commission. CRANN’s research in the field of graphene


production is led by Professor Jonathan Coleman, who was named as SFI Researcher of the Year in 2011 and is also recognised as one of the top 100 material scientists of the last decade – the only Irish representative on the list. There is currently no method to produce high quality pure graphene on an industrial scale and the collaboration between CRANN and Thomas Swan aims to address this problem. In addition to funding the research programme, Thomas Swan will also place an engineer to work with Professor Coleman’s team for two years. Commenting on the partnership, Dr Diarmuid O’Brien, Executive Director of CRANN, said, “This collaborative research programme with Thomas Swan underlines the strength of our industry engagement programme, which is bringing significant non-exchequer funding into CRANN and research in Ireland. It clearly demonstrates how CRANN has become a global focus point for both academic and industrial partnership. This international success has been built on the back of continuous funding for research excellence from the Irish State through Science Foundation Ireland.”


TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 547


New Managing Director for Plasma Technology


Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology has appointed Dan Ayres to Managing Director with immediate effect. Dan previously held the position of General Manager at the company, and prior to this was Operations Director. With over 10 years experience within the Oxford Instruments Group, Dan has held roles in the fields of Operations, Product Management and Project Management. Dan Ayres will report to Jonathan Flint, CEO of Oxford Instruments plc, commented, “Our business strategy demands an organisation that can meet the challenge of expanding markets, new products, and growing numbers of customers and employees. Dan’s new appointment will ensure that Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology continues its current growth plans, and I am confident that with Dan heading the strong Executive Team in place at the company, this will be achieved.”


“I am delighted to have this opportunity to lead


our highly skilled team and I look forward to working with them to build on the success of recent years”, commented Dan Ayres, “In line with our strategic plan we will focus on innovating improved etch, deposition and growth solutions to meet our customers’ needs for new systems, continuous performance improvement and after-sales support. We will support our focus on innovation by investing in improved business processes to ensure we deliver a healthy and growing business for our employees, shareholders and other stakeholders” At the same time, Mark Vosloo, Sales and Customer Support Director has taken over responsibility for all customer facing functions including strategic marketing and holds the new title Sales, CS & Marketing Director. This will even more effective alignment with customers and the provision of high technology instruments and services geared to their specific requirements, said the company.


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www.labmate-online.com GlaxoSmithKline Manufacturing Investment Boost


The BioIndustry Association and bioProcessUK have welcomed GlaxoSmithKline’s investment plans for £500 million in manufacturing facilities in the UK, including £350 million in building a new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Ulverston, Cumbria.


Glyn Edwards, BIA Interim Chief Executive, said: "GlaxoSmithKline's confirmation that it will build a new biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in the UK is a fantastic boost for the UK's life sciences sector. The investment recognises that the UK is


one of the world's leading locations for life sciences discovery, development and manufacturing and that recent changes to the corporate tax system make the UK an increasingly attractive place for investment. GlaxoSmithKline acknowledged that this investment is on the back of the government's ‘patent box’ legislation, which was first proposed in the BIA-supported Bioscience Innovation and Growth Team's Review and Refresh of Bioscience 2015 report."


Tony Bradshaw, Co Director of the HealthTech and


Medicines Knowledge Transfer Network, said: "The BIA and bioProcessUK believe this is a critically important announcement that will start to capture the value of the UK's competitive biopharmaceutical research capability. The important tax benefits provided by the patent box, and commitment to a decreasing corporation tax, will leverage this world class capability increasing investment, creating jobs and provide the UK with the opportunity to make, as well as discover, the next generation of advanced medicines in the UK."


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NanoKTN Helps Graduate Secure Job


NanoKTN has announced details of a successful Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) between Cardiff


University and European


Thermodynamics. Mark Robbins, member of the NanoKTN and KTP associate for the project, believes it is the support and advice offered by the NanoKTN that led to him securing the KTP research post and encourages others looking for jobs to become a NanoKTN member. Twenty- three year old Mark graduated from the University of Leeds in December 2011 with a BSc in Physics and a Masters in Nanomaterials for Nanoengineering. Like many other graduates, when Mark finished University he found that organisations weren’t recruiting. After speaking to a number of companies to no avail, someone recommended that he speak to the NanoKTN and on the advice of NanoKTN Theme Manager


Martin Kemp, he became a member. “The NanoKTN’s website was hugely informative and it was through the website that I learnt about an event where I first met Alec Reader, Director at the NanoKTN. Alec was very helpful and he pointed me in the right direction whilst offering invaluable advice about the job market. He also personally introduced me to a number of companies and educated me about KTPs and the benefits they offer to graduates like myself,” says Mark Robbins. It was through the NanoKTN’s website that Robbins heard about a position with Cardiff University as a KTP Associate, managing a high- profile project aimed at establishing processes and facilities for the assembly of thermoelectric modules. Robbins is now completing his first month in this job.


TO FIND OUT MORE CIRCLE NO. 550


Development of UK Facilities for Proton Radiotherapy


The British Institute of Radiology (BIR), has welcomed the announcement from the Department of Health (DH) to move ahead with NHS provision of proton radiotherapy from centres in London and Manchester. This is a long-awaited development which will bring much benefit to selected patients. Children with cancer will especially benefit, along with adults with spinal tumours, head and neck cancers, some difficult to access abdominal tumours and certain types of brain and eye tumours. It is to the great credit of the DH team that this development is going ahead at such a financially challenging time. The BIR was instrumental in raising the profile of proton


radiotherapy at its 2009 President’s Conference.


The then President, Professor Stuart Green said, “In 2009 we gathered a large audience to spend two days discussing the science, technology and clinical benefits of particle radiotherapy. It is tremendous that the Department of Health is now taking this important step towards providing proton radiotherapy treatment from facilities in England.” Proton radiotherapy and radiotherapy with heavier particles such as carbon ions are topics of much research around the world, and a subject of a 2011 special issue of the British Journal of Radiology.


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