The Research and Development Society

Thursday 21 May 2009 2009, 4pm - 6.30pm
Hosted by Linklaters, One Silk Street, London EC2Y 8HQ

Panel:

• Professor Sandro Macchietto, Professor of Process Systems Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering; Director of the cross-faculty Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College (Chair)
• Gavin Costigan, Joint Head of the International Science and Innovation Unit in the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills on "The work of the UK’s Science and Innovation Network in Asia"
• Professor Mike Hobday CENTRIM (Centre for Research in Innovation Management), University of Brighton on "Asian Innovation in a time of crisis"
• Dr Nermeen Varawalla, President & CEO, ECCRO on "Innovation within the Asian Life Science sector"
• Jim O'Reilly, Technology Information Officer, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) Europe on "Innovation within the Asian electronics/ICT sector"
• L K Sharma, Editor of InnovativeIndia Rises (2009) and Innovative India (1999) on "Asian Innovation from an Indian perspective - some comments"
• Eva Gerhards, (Commentator) Coordination officer for Innovation policy at the European Commission " Comments from an EU perspective"
• Nermeen Varawalla, discussing innovation in Asian Life Sciences
  

This will be the first in a regular series which will be run by APTN and the R&D Society and which will cover the general area of "Asian Innovation". These seminars will range across sectors and countries within the region, and will focus on the issues thrown up by the emergence of world-class scientific centres in Asia.

• What kinds of innovation are we seeing in Asia? What is the balance between imitation (catch-up) and genuinely cutting edge innovation? ... and what other varieties of innovation are found in the region?
• What are the comparative paths to innovation taken by the various Asian countries?
• What are the barriers facing Asian innovators?
• What is the quality of the scientific and educational institutions underpinning the innovators?
• What contribution do entrepreneurs and venture capitalists make to the health of Asian innovation?
• How do Asian innovators interact with the innovation systems of Europe and the USA?
• Where are the most promising sectors for collaboration, and what are the areas of potential friction?

Professor Sandro Macchietto, Professor of Process Systems Engineering, Department of Chemical Engineering; Director of the cross-faculty Energy Futures Lab, Imperial College (Chair)

Sandro Macchietto is a Professor of Process Systems Engineering in the Department of Chemical Engineering, a Director of the cross-faculty Energy Futures Lab and a Member of the Court of Imperial College (Engineering)

His research expertise include the application of mathematical methods to process design, control and operation, and the development of model-based experiment design techniques for rapid model development and validation. More recently, he has become interested in the use of systems methods for the analysis, development and optimisation of sustainable energy systems, with particular applications in the biofuels area.

Interested in exploring the relation between people and research environment to generate sparks, he has promoted the creation of innovative mechanisms for fast track research, such as a successful Process Concept Studio, and interfaces between academia and industry. He co-founded and was a director of the interdisciplinary Centre for Process Systems Engineering, launched one of the first Imperal College spinouts and has been a driving force behind the formation of the Energy Futures Lab.

Sandro is a visiting professor at the University of Padova, Italy, a member of the Advisory Board of ENSIACET (Institut National Politechnique) in Toulouse, France, a Board Member of the Asia Pacific Technology Network, and a frequently invited speaker on technology and R&D policy.

He was made a Cavaliere of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic by its President in 2004.

Gavin Costigan, Joint Head of the International Science and Innovation Unit in the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills

Gavin Costigan became Joint Head of the International Science and Innovation Unit in the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills on its formation in July 2008. He is also Head of the UK’s Science and Innovation Network, which operates out of UK embassies, high commissions and consulates overseas, a role he previously held for 2 years in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, before the responsibility for the network transferred to DIUS. Before leading the S&I Network, Gavin spent 13 years in the UK Department of Trade and Industry, 8 of them in science policy at the Office of Science and Innovation. There he had a number of different posts, including leading Research Councils Directorate, creating the UK's Large Facilities Capital Fund and Large Facilities Road Map, and reviewing governance of UK Research Council institutes. He studied natural sciences, specialising in geology, at the University of Cambridge in the UK. He is married with two young children.

Dr Nermeen Y. Varawalla, MD, DPhil (Oxon), MBA President & CEO ECCRO

Dr Nermeen Varawalla is recognised to be an industry expert in the utilisation of emerging countries for global clinical trials and leads ECCRO – the pan Emerging Country Contract Research Organisation. At Accenture’s UK Health & Life Sciences Business Consulting Practice, working with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies on drug development strategies, processes and systems Nermeen became an enthusiast for including emerging countries in global clinical development programmes. She left Accenture to set up PerinClinical, a niche India focussed CRO that she subsequently sold to PRA International.

Nermeen was a Vice President at PRA International - a global CRO with over 3200 employees for five years during which time she held a number of leadership roles, most notably establishing and growing PRA’s operations in India. Nermeen received her medical training at the KEM group of hospitals, Mumbai, India. She was awarded the Rhodes Research Fellowship to the University of Oxford where she conducted her doctoral research in Molecular Genetics. Nermeen practised as a specialist at two of the UK’s leading NHS Hospitals. She then obtained her MBA at INSEAD. In recognition of her expertise in the globalisation of clinical trials, Dr Varawalla is frequently invited to speak at industry conferences. In addition she is a regular contributor to industry trade and peer reviewed publications and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of the Institute of Clinical Research, India and the Journal for Clinical Studies, UK. Nermeen is well conversant with the Indian biomedical sector and in her capacity as Chair, OperationIndia serves as an advisor to international organisations.

Professor Mike Hobday, CENTRIM (Centre for Research in Innovation Management), University of Brighton

Professor Mike Hobday works at CENTRIM (Centre for Research in Innovation Management) at the University of Brighton. He researches (a) East and South Asian innovation; and (a) innovation management in complex products and systems (CoPS). His PhD. was on telecommunications in Brazil and since then he has published widely on innovation in East and South East, looking in detail at how local East Asian firms and multinational subsidiaries in South East Asia managed to catch up with firms in the West (including many strategic assessments of leading firms in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand). He also carries out research on innovation in CoPS, showing how the world’s leading firms compete in high technology, high value capital goods. Mike conducts consultancy for governments, private companies and international agencies, including many studies of catching up in the semiconductor, telecommunications and electronics industries.

Jim O'Reilly, Technology Information Officer, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) Europe

Jim O'Reilly is the co-author of Digital Korea: Convergence of Broadband Internet, 3G Cell Phones, Multiplayer Gaming, Digital TV, Virtual Reality, Electronic Cash, Telematics, Robotics, E-Government and the Intelligent Home (2007)

Eva Gerhards, (Commentator) Coordination officer for Innovation policy at the European Commission

Eva Gerhards is responsible for the coordination of innovation policy at the European Commission (Directorate-General Enterprise&Industry). Until 2007, she was project officer for e-business in the same Directorate-General. Prior to joining the Commission, she worked as a competition lawyer at Freshfields and as a management consultant at Diamondcluster International. She studied law in Bonn, Freiburg and Lausanne and holds a degree in law from Bonn university.