PROSPEKT Partnership

See the Scotsman story:

Adams to head commercial arm of informatics centre. Scotsman 22-Jun-06

We are fortunate to have recruited Colin Adams as Director of Commercialisation, and welcome him back to the University. Colin will be expanding our activities in this area with an £8.25m programme of activities in Knowledge Transfer, Entrepreneurism, and Public Outreach over the next five years.

Project Summary

A £5m SE investment in commercialisation will build on £3.25m from the University and provide

• a dedicated commercialisation team to pro-actively engage with industry
• refurbishment of two floors of Appleton Tower (adjacent to the Forum), providing 1,200m2 of commercialisation facilities hosting the above team, and a floor dedicated to industry collaboration
• programmes and activities to encourage entrepreneurship and resultant company formation
• international promotion of the School of Informatics and leverage of its global alumni network.

Press Release issued 2006-06-21

A leading figure in the electronics sector has been appointed to direct a programme that will strengthen Scotland’s growing reputation for advanced and applied computing science research and commercialisation.

Dr Colin Adams has been named as Director of Commercialisation at the University of Edinburgh’s School of Informatics. A £42 million purpose built research facility, the Informatics Forum, part-funded by Scottish Executive and Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, is under construction in Edinburgh city centre. The adjacent Appleton Tower is being refurbished to provide a Hub for informatics teaching, commercialisation and life-long learning. Together, these will form a world-leading facility for the new science of informatics.

As a key player in global electronics sector in recent years, Dr Adam’s pedigree is ideal for the demanding new role at the new Edinburgh facility.

Most recently, he was vice president and general manager of Cadence Design Systems in Scotland where he was responsible for the Livingston facility and had worldwide responsibility for Cadence Design Foundry – the electronics design services arm of the £1.2 billion global company.

With a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Edinburgh, Dr Adams will return to his seat of education after 29 years working in the sector to raise awareness of the School of Informatics. He will build a technology transfer operation and will be charged with establishing a dedicated market-focused commercialisation team which will bridge the gap between industry demands and the world class research. He will manage industry relationships with global enterprises as well as those required to stimulate spinouts and growth in local SMEs.

Once fully operational, the Forum and the refurbished Appleton Tower, will provide state-of-the-art facilities for researchers, students, entrepreneurs and investors to stimulate breakthrough research, generate industrial applications and add value to the Scottish economy. Promoting the Forum as a recognised international centre of excellence will attract world class talent and enable Scotland to compete against the very best.

Colin Adams said: “I’m delighted to take up this exciting new post – the Forum will play an important role in developing a sustainable computing science industry in Scotland. I look forward to working with our universities and technology companies to help them realise the commercial potential of their research and projects.”

The collaborative programme will receive a £14 million boost in funding from Scottish Executive to assist with construction costs and £4.9M from Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian to scale up the implementation of its commercialisation strategy.

Neil Francis, Deputy Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise Edinburgh and Lothian, said: “Securing the right person for the role of commercialisation director was a major milestone in progress for the Informatics Forum. Colin’s experience in the field and most recently his time with Cadence, an industry leader in its field, makes him an excellent choice for this challenging new role.”

“Harnessing Scotland’s research and development capability in this increasingly important field of informatics is a key part of developing a knowledge driven economy capable of competing globally in the twenty-first century.”

Tim O’Shea, Principal of the University of Edinburgh, says: “I am very pleased with this high quality appointment and look forward to welcoming Colin back to the University. This is a tremendously exciting time for informatics at Edinburgh and Colin's role will be key to ensuring that the significant potential economic benefits of the Forum can be realised for the University and the city, and indeed for Scotland.”

The University of Edinburgh's School of Informatics is considered one of Scotland's national assets and one of the top five locations in the world for computing science and information related research.

Construction of the Forum is well-advanced, and the facility will be operational by the end of 2007. The project is also being supported by the University of Edinburgh, Scottish Higher Education Funding Council, the Wolfson Foundation and private donations.