Queen Mary Innovation

Congratulations to Dr Hamit Soyel and Dr Adam Daykin on being shortlisted for the best commercialisation achievement in PraxisAuril’s Knowledge Exchange Awards! Look out for the #winners on 21 November. Hamit co-founded Dragonfly AI – a biologically inspired algorithm used by global #brands like GSK, Coca Cola and Barilla to test and optimise creative content. We normally like to interview #founders, but as this award is for the whole commercialisation effort we thought we’d speak with our colleague Adam Daykin, who heads our technology and engineering team, about how QMI helped Dragonfly go from research to business: - 𝗔𝗱𝗮𝗺, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁?   “Dragonfly actually began as a spot the difference app – nothing to do with marketing at all. Perhaps unsurprisingly we didn’t get much traction. As a team, we knew we needed to rethink and get new perspectives.” “It was during a public engagement talk at the Science Museum that a marketing expert recognised the technology’s potential. We wanted to explore this further, so we had more conversations which helped us refine the direction we wanted to go in.” “This is core to our role at QMI. There’s no shortage of interesting inventions coming out of academia – but it’s not a business until you can validate your market.” “We help academics shift their thinking from solving a technical problem to solving a commercial problem." "What is the business need that your idea solves? How big is that need? Is it growing? What’s driving that growth? What are the barriers to your idea being adopted? How will you overcome them? What regulations apply? What value are you adding? Are you a disruptor or an enhancer?” - 𝗦𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗮, 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴?   “You need to protect your idea i.e. with patents or other IP protection – another core QMI function. We licensed the IP to Black Swan Data and helped Hamit get funding for a secondment. After a few years incubating within Black Swan, Dragonfly AI spun out as a company in its own right.” “We want all Queen Mary spinouts to be as investible as possible – so we work hard to support new founders with preparing their first business plans and pitches, and we now host dedicated investor events such as our AI pitching event earlier this year.” “We’re very proud of Dragonfly’s success. They’ve set new standards across the industry and are a prime example of the impact you can achieve with academic research.” 𝗪𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘆. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁, 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗚𝗹𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗹 𝗘𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗪𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿. 𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝘁: https://lnkd.in/eQH5KwgZ

London Social Ventures officially launches today! It's still early days, but look out for more from the first pilot programs coming soon. This is a major new initiative, led jointly by Queen Mary University of London and UCL Business Ltd which will build a robust pipeline of social ventures emerging from #London universities, supported by a city-wide network offering #legal assistance, #business model development, #mentoring, and more. #Entrepreneurship allows researchers to implement innovative ideas in a new way – whether it’s cleaning up London’s air, developing new medical #technology for the #NHS, or tackling ingrained poverty. But without support, structure and capital, many new social ventures will find the early stages of growth challenging. London Social Ventures will eventually offer all three. We aim to gain a comprehensive understanding of the support ecosystem required for social ventures and to map the scale and scope of the pipeline developing from universities. This will demonstrate proof of concept for our approach, while shaping a longer-term solution. We will also be sharing insights with like-minded colleagues across the UK and globally.

Welcome to Noureen Vadsaria, joining QMI as a project manager for London Social Ventures! Noureen has solid experience in social impact. London Social Ventures is a brand new initiative from major London universities, private partners and public bodies led by Queen Mary University of London and UCL Business Ltd to support researchers and students in launching and scaling social ventures aimed at tackling complex social issues. Look out for the official launch later this month!

Welcome to our newest LifeArc Fellow Patric Spruyt. Patric recently completed his Masters in Drug Discovery and Pharma Management at UCL where he focused on funding for global #health, and gained commercial experience through internships in venture capital and contract research organisations. Welcome to the team and we hope you enjoy your experience at QMI!

Deadline approaching: this Sunday, September 29th! We are seeking top talent in AI, Machine Learning, and Computer Science, with up to 30 permanent academic positions open. This is a unique opportunity to join a world-leading research institution with a rich history of pioneering Computer Science, founded by innovators like Professor Peter Landin. His legacy continues in the Landin Building, where groundbreaking research in computing is still thriving. Learn more and apply to be part of Queen Mary’s next chapter in excellence: https://lnkd.in/e7whueQ5 #AI #MachineLearning #ComputerScience #Research #Hiring #FigureOfTheWeek

We're proud to have achieved the highest possible score for commercialisation among top research-intensive universities in the latest Knowledge Exchange Framework. Whether it's Ultima Forma Ltd forging a path to zero-carbon flight, RoEx using #AI to make music production inclusive to all, or Keratify changing what's possible for skin testing, our researchers are behind a multitude of ambitious #spinouts. And we're growing. Queen Mary University of London is #hiring for top researchers in AI, machine learning and computing. You still have a few more days to #apply before the deadline on 29th September. Find out more: https://lnkd.in/ewy4eWxD

Could you be behind the next game changing spinout? Dragonfly AI are leaders in the attention economy - and it all started with #research. Dragonfly began with research by Dr Hamit Soyel and the late Professor Peter McOwan into biologically inspired visual processing. Today, they’re helping global consumer brands like Mars, GSK, Nestle, Danone, SCJohnson, and Coca-Cola to predict, analyse, and influence people’s attention and stand out in a competitive market. They recently raised $6m in Series-A funding - and Queen Mary University of London continues to partner with Dragonfly to keep their #technology cutting edge. Queen Mary Faculty of Science and Engineering is #hiring up to 30 new permanent research and teaching roles in #AI, Machine Learning and Computing. This is a big expansion and investment by our university, building on the success of our #research, #innovation and #teaching in AI. Could you be behind the next game changing #spinout? Come and join the growing entrepreneurial community at Queen Mary. Apply by September 29th: https://lnkd.in/ebbTvmD5

Queen Mary is #hiring for up to 30 new research and teaching roles in AI, Machine Learning and Computing. We spoke with Professor Joshua Reiss - a prolific #entrepreneur behind numerous spinouts born out of his research into #AI and machine learning - about the support Queen Mary offers and why he thinks #entrepreneurship is so important for academic impact: “I am passionate about impact from research. For me, it’s not enough to just write a paper and hope that it gets read and cited.” “I’m inspired by seeing research make it all the way from proof-of-concept to product, or in some other sense making a difference. Entrepreneurship is a great way to achieve that aim.” “Queen Mary offers tremendous support to startups and the teams behind them. They’ve supported me on the journey at all stages.” Come and join the growing entrepreneurial community at Queen Mary University of London. Apply by September 29th: https://lnkd.in/ebbTvmD5

Queen Mary is #hiring for up to 30 new research and teaching roles in AI, Machine Learning and Computing. This is a big expansion and investment, building on the success of our #research, #innovation, and #teaching in AI. From diagnostics to music mixing, #AI research at Queen Mary University of London is behind numerous exciting innovations. Come and join our growing entrepreneurial community. Apply by September 29th: https://lnkd.in/ebbTvmD5

Coronary artery disease was the leading cause of death worldwide in 2019 – according to the British Heart Foundation. It's the most common cause of premature death in Britain. We spoke with Prof Stephen Greenwald, #founder of Nilocas, one of our newest #spinouts, about how they’re changing what’s possible for detecting the disease. - 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆? “Diagnosing coronary artery disease diagnosis is far from easy.” “The most reliable way is coronary angiography, which requires specialist x-ray equipment and highly trained operators – so it can only be done in a hospital by a radiologist or cardiologist. That makes it expensive and time-consuming. Plus it’s invasive and uses radiation.” “On top of all that, you probably don’t have the disease. 65% of people who go for testing do not have coronary artery disease – so many of the 119,000 angiograms and 85,000 CT scans which take place every year in the UK alone didn’t need to happen.” - 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗡𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽? “We’re developing a medical device set to revolutionise detection of coronary artery disease.” “A patch placed on the chest captures the sounds and skin movements of disturbed blood flow as it navigates through coronary arteries narrowed due to disease.” “Using #AI, we will use this information to diagnose coronary artery disease earlier and more efficiently.” “Crucially, the kit can be used by a nurse outside of a hospital.” Nilocas recently joined the London Institute for Healthcare Engineering’s MedTech Venture Builder. They will be starting an #investment round next year to fund clinical trials, prototype development and a regulatory plan. Speak with CEO Mark Aichroth to learn more.