About
General Introduction
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The School of Chemistry BPU was launched in 1999.
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The BPU is responsible for co-ordinating, supporting and developing the commercially related, knowledge transfer and entrepreneurial activities of the School.
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The unit is located within the School of Chemistry and its staff are fully integrated within the school’s operational structure. This enables very close interaction with staff and students.
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Staff within the unit have a background in Chemistry and also have considerable experience of leading innovation activities both within industry and academia.
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The unit also draws upon the resources of the Universities central business support structure (Research Innovation Services and the Business Development Network) linking with academic and business support staff within other Schools and units across the University.
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The unit acts as a focal point for enquiries from companies and external organisations, helping to match their needs with the capabilities of the School.
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The unit is responsible for identifying research with commercial potential, maintaining the patent portfolio and promoting collaborations with industrial/commercial partners to help bring these technologies to commercial reality.
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The Unit provides advice, guidance, training and support for staff and students in key aspects of Business Practice, Innovation Management and Intellectual Property.
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The BPU is staffed by a mixture of industry-experienced professionals and postdoctoral business science fellows.
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Previous fellows have enjoyed considerable success in contributing to the UK economy in a range of different roles and continue to support the BPU as visiting and returning speakers.
The BPU Team Permanent Staff
Dr Trevor Farren
Business Development Manager
Responsible for the strategic and the day-to-day operation of the Business Partnership Unit, Dr. Farren has over 15 years experience of taking innovative concepts to commercial reality gained within both industry and academia. As a senior manager with the Courtaulds group (later Acordis PLC) he led business development activities within a wide variety of chemical, fibre and polymer products businesses and initiated several new ventures both within Europe and the USA. He also gained extensive experience of product and process support and development, setting up and controlling numerous collaborative projects with Universities. In 1999 he and his team were awarded the Akzo-Nobel prize for commercial innovation.
Telephone: +44 (0) 115 84 66175
Fax: +44 (0) 115 95 13555
trevor.farren@nottingham.ac.uk
Mrs Julie Dove
Marketing Manager
I joined the Business Partnership Unit in January 2012 to work on enhancing communications within the School and interactions with external companies. I am also responsible for assisting academic staff with costing research grant applications and associated administration, services rendered records and web maintenance.
I have worked within the School of Chemistry in various roles over the past 13 years and I am currently finishing a part-time BA (Hons) in Business Studies.
Telephone: +44 (0) 115 95 13653 julie.dove@nottingham.ac.uk
Dr Naaman Ostah
UNICAS Project Manager
I joined the University of Nottingham in January 2008 as a KTI Fellow to work on the UNICAS Project (University of Nottingham Interdisciplinary Centre Analytical Science). UNICAS was set up to provide an environment in which researchers from a range of disciplines can work together in a close collaborative and shared research agenda. We envisage UNICAS as the gateway to a more successful interdisciplinary research programme.
I find my job here very interesting as it gives me the opportunity to interact with researchers from different disciplines and I organise multidisciplinary research symposia across different Schools and campuses in the University.
I came to the University from De Montfort University, Leicester having spent over 27 years teaching and carrying out research in analytical chemistry particularly in mass spectroscopy.
For more information on UNICAS , its activities, latest news and events and a list of major analytical equipment and expertise in the University please log onto www.nottingham.ac.uk/unicas
Telephone: +44 (0) 115 84 66883 naaman.ostah@nottingham.ac.uk
Postdoctoral Business Science Fellows
Dr Freya Hine
Business Science Fellow
I graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2005 and began a PhD with Professor C. D. Garner in the field of bioinorganic chemistry. During my PhD I became interested in the processes involved in the commercialisation of chemical technologies and felt that I would like to pursue this subject further. The BPU and the role of a Business Science Fellow offer an ideal opportunity to gain experience and training in these topics.
As a BSF I receive formal training in commercial and business skills and these are implemented during my day to day interactions with industry professionals and academic staff. I am currently working on projects involving collaborations between SMEs and the University and on early stage technologies developed by academics. These projects include aspects such as protection of intellectual property and searching out and both managing and applying for appropriate funding.
Telephone: +44 (0) 115 84 68078
freya.hine@nottingham.ac.uk
Dr Katherine Scovell
Business Science Fellow
After graduating from Nottingham University in 2005, I undertook a PhD with Professor Martyn Poliakoff in the area of Green Chemistry. Throughout my PhD I gained an insight into the commercialisation of chemical processes and felt that undertaking a Business Science Fellowship would help me to develop my skills in this area as well as enhancing my business knowledge.
My role as a BSF allows me to work on a wide range of projects. These projects include the commercial development of technologies invented in the University, the establishment of partnerships with industrialists and academics on commercially valuable projects and helping to facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations within the University.
Telephone: +44 (0) 115 84 68078
katherine.scovell@nottingham.ac.uk
Dr Nicholas Bennett
Project Manager
I joined the University of Nottingham in February 2012 to manage the ChemEnSus project. This multi-partner collaboration is focused on the application of coordination chemistry to the generation of new multi-functional porous materials to deliver high impact scientific and technological advances, and provide innovative solutions for many of the key issues of the 21st Century around climate change, and environmental and chemical sustainability. ChemEnSus will develop new materials for hydrogen and gas storage, sieving and purification, for carbon capture and chemical reactivity, and for applications in sensing. As a member of the Business Partnership Unit, I am responsible for identifying new industrial partners and seeking commercial opportunities to exploit the research outputs from the ChemEnSus project.
I have eight years’ experience of working within business and academia having previously been employed by AstraZeneca, Peakdale Molecular and Birmingham Science City. Prior to these positions I completed my PhD at University of Nottingham under the supervision of Professor Gerry Pattenden.
Telephone: +44 (0) 115 95 13418 nicholas.bennett@nottingham.ac.uk
Dr Tom McInally
Following a career in the Pharmaceutical industry as a Medicinal Chemist, with Fisons, Astra and AstraZeneca I joined the University of Nottingham in September 2011.
My role as a Business Science Fellow is two-fold. Firstly to mentor 4th year MSci chemistry students who are engaged in a research project in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline, to design and synthesise novel compounds targeted at a poorly treated respiratory target and secondly to use my knowledge and experience of industry in interactions with SME’s in the East Midlands.
I have a broad knowledge of the key aspects of the drug discovery process and recently have experience of working in collaboration with scientists in Japan, in the field of Toll Like Receptors (TLR) agonists. This research project identified a compound now undergoing clinical trials as a novel treatment for allergic diseases. I also have a long standing interest and expertise in high throughput synthesis and purification equipment and techniques.
In the BPU I hope to be able to use my experience to maximise interactions with other academic groups and industrial parties especially in the field of drug discovery.
Telephone +44 (0) 115 95 13197 thomas.mcinally@nottingam.ac.uk
Ben Pointer-Gleadhill
I have worked within the University of Nottingham as a technician supporting research and analytical services since April 2011. I graduated from The University of York in 1999 and worked as an scientist for a number of pharmaceutical companies in product development and analytical development/validation roles.
I joined the School of Chemistry in November 2011 as a technician. My role within the BPU is to provide technical support for the Chemistry Innovation Laboratory project.
ben.pointer-gleadhill@nottingham.ac.uk