Science Community Focus
Driving industry engagement Rachel Freeman, Diamond Light Source From Portacabins to Nobel Prizes: Malcolm Skingle looks back on his Journey with Diamond
Diamond Light Source, the national synchrotron based on the Harwell campus, has proved its vital role behind acceleration of the UK’s research and development over the past two decades. Its use of high intensity x-rays to harnesses the power of electrons, produces intensely bright light that enables scientists to study the structure and properties of a wide range of organic and inorganic materials, ranging from fossils to metals and components, soft matter, viruses to vaccines.
Malcolm Skingle, a pivotal figure in Diamond’s Industrial Advisory Committee, (DISCo), who retired from his role as Chair at the end of last year, shares his insights with readers on some of the remarkable changes and achievements witnessed during the growth of this aptly described national treasure.
“In my diverse career, there have only been two places that have given me a real buzz and made my hair stand on end; one is walking through Westminster and the other is Diamond!” Malcolm Skingle
Reflecting on 20 years of progress at Diamond
Malcolm’s involvement in the progression of Diamond took root following a meeting in a portacabin with David Clark from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Gerd Materlik, Diamond’s founding CEO, before the facility even existed. He has since watched Diamond take a key role in generating data to underpin the Structural Genomics Consortium and contributing to the Protein Data Bank [1], as well as the input that led to a Nobel Prize in Chemistry for AlphaFold, the AI that predicts protein structures and which now forms a key part of Diamond’s research pipelines.
Challenges and growth
Having been asked to lead the committee and tasked with investigating how other countries were using synchrotrons to advance their research, Malcolm quickly grasped the scale of challenges he would face as Chair. He was first to admit: “I’m not a physicist, what do I know about this?” But his humility turned out to be his greatest strength in the role, which as David Clark put it, enabled Malcolm to “ask all of the difficult questions that potential users might want answering!”
Following his investigations it became obvious what an asset a home-based facility could be for the UK science and the business community: “I felt compelled to drive forward the business case to secure funding for what would be a key national resource,” said Malcolm. “The Diamond synchrotron now not only rivals those in other countries but stands at the cutting edge, which was especially clear during the COVID pandemic.”
Malcolm Skingle with Elizabeth Shotton, Head of Industrial Liaison at Diamond. Engaging with industry
By engaging with scientists and researchers from the outset on what was needed to achieve their goals, he commented on how services provision at the synchrotron has developed into a whole system that stands out: “Diamond has really listened to industry and made it both simple and flexible to access these advanced capabilities, enabling industrial research, in particular drug design and material science, to move forward at a monumental pace.”
Malcolm recalls the early days when teams of people came to Diamond with a collection of crystals and would do 8-hour shifts to conduct experiments. A team would then follow and work on it for 2-3 days. “No one wanted the night shift, of course, but someone inevitably drew the short straw. We’ve now transitioned to a seamless model whereby you can mail in your samples to be uploaded by the Diamond team, change samples, and collect data remotely – from your back bedroom if you want to.
“There are a whole range of options available to collect and analyse the data; you can either do this yourself, with help from the Diamond team if required, or they can do it on your behalf. There is no longer a need for those 8-hour shifts or to schedule work on the back of academic research.”
The key value of using a high-end facility such as Diamond is that you are armed with real-time information and insights to make informed decisions for your R&D projects. For example, during COVID, it allowed medicinal chemists to develop structures and see how a protein would bind with potential anti-viral molecules. As the virus mutated, you could see in real-time how the physical changes were taking place, and which drugs would bind to it well.
Left to right: Malcolm Skingle (Former Chair of DISCo), Martin Small (Accelerator Mechanical Team Leader), Elizabeth Shotton (Head of Industrial Liaison) by the Diamond-II test girder.
Malcolm chairing his last meeting at Diamond, with members of DISCo and Elizabeth Shotton.
LABMATE UK & IRELAND - FEBRUARY 2025
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36
