Patent Attorney, Sue Ratcliffe  

Sue is a patent and trade mark attorney who is working as a consultant to the University and is on campus two days a week. She is providing IP (Intellectual Property) support to University Staff and spin out companies.  Having worked for both large corporate organisations, as well as, SMEs she has a very broad range of experience in the world of IP and how it can be used effectively as a business tool.

Since her appointment, Sue has talked to a number of staff about their projects. She is also in the process of arranging seminars so that staff have an overview of the IP system and whether it fits in with the work they are doing. She very much wants to encourage an open door policy, so if anyone has any questions about whether they have any IP or how to effectively use their IP then she is happy to discuss this with staff.

But what does Swansea University’s Patent Attorney actually do? We find out…

The Role

• To provide information to staff on what is IP and how is applies to academia
• To assist staff in identifying IP
• To help in the preparation of invention disclosures
• To assist in the drafting of patent applications
• To support staff in the preparation of applications for funding where IP is involved
• To provide seminars to staff on IP and incorporate an element of IP in undergraduate courses
• To assist University spin out companies in the early stage of their development

You can contact Sue on sue.ratcliffe@swansea.ac.uk or 01792 602085.

Communications Officer, Louise Lowrie

Louise is the new Communications Officer within the Department of Research and Innovation (DRI) and will be providing the department with communications support and expertise gained from working in marketing and public relations for both the public and private sector. Having previously worked for the University of Plymouth and Microsoft, Louise has experience of working with both businesses and academia.

Louise is charged with marketing the Dragon Innovation Partnership (DIP), Knowledge Exchange Wales (KEW) and DRI. Since her appointment in August, Louise has worked hard to build relationships with partnership universities, marketing colleagues, DRI staff and researchers within Swansea University, in an effort to initiate a joined up communication approach.

But what does Swansea University’s Communications Officer actually do? We find out…

The Role

• To represent and/or take a lead role at awareness raising events
• To assist in the development and promotion of DIP, KEW & DRI
• To develop and maintain a professional, branded suite of promotional material
• To produce success stories for each project, maximising the associated publicity opportunities to raise awareness of the impact/ contribution of commercial collaboration
• To contribute to university publications to promote each project
• To develop and maintain content for the DRI, DIP & KEW web pages including downloadable information about all of the services
• To support and/ or lead direct marketing campaigns, undertaking market research as required 

You can contact Louise on l.e.lowrie@swansea.ac.uk or 01792 602962.

IP Development Officer, David Moore

David is the new IP Development Officer within DRI and will be working with the Swansea IP team to provide contract support, manage the consultancy arrangements between Swansea’s academics and outside institutions and project manage the ESDF Academic Expertise for Business (A4B) project, as well as The IP Commercialisation A4B Project.

David is able to assist on legal matters, having gained experience of working in Solicitors firms in Cardiff for over 2 and a half years, and recently having completed the Legal Practice Course at Cardiff University.

David is given many tasks that come under the rather large umbrella of legal support and IP management.

But what does a Swansea University IP Officer actually do? We find out…

The Role

• To project manage the IP communications and ESDF (Early Stage Development Fund) projects – providing progress reports to the Welsh Assembly Government on the development of the projects, monitoring targets, and administering the provision of evidential requirements for project outputs and deliverables
• To assist with the preparation of academic’s applications for funding under the ESDF project
• To attend panel meetings and Steering Group meetings to ensure both projects are on course, and spend is being attributed correctly
• To provide contract support to University employees regarding contracts entered into by themselves or under the University’s name
• To deal with the necessary tasks involved with being the lead institution on the IP Comms project

You can contact David on d.l.moore@swansea.ac.uk or 01792 513128.

Clerical Assistant, David Carter

Having graduated from UWIC University with a degree in Accounting, David spent 2 years working for  2 different accountancy practices as an Accounts Assistant; assisting in accounts preparation from incomplete records up to trial balance stage, helping with the preparation of personal tax returns and preparing and completing VAT returns for sole traders, partnerships and small limited companies.

After a short stint as a Finance Assistant in a food manufacturing company, at the start of October 2010, David took up the role of Clerical Assistant within the Department of Research and Innovation, providing administrative support primarily to the pre-award section of the department.

But what does a Swansea University Clerical Assistant actually do? We find out…

• To maintain the database for the grant proposals and contracts awarded to the University
• To liaise with Principal Investigators  and other members of staff regarding their contracts and helping ensure that all contract stipulations are adhered to in time with their deadlines
• To prepare and send out invoices to the research councils, companies and other sources of funding
• To assist with the costing of proposals before submission to the research councils

You can contact David on d.m.carter@swansea.ac.uk or 01792 602095.