Consultancy, Knowledge Exchange, and Industrial Collaboration

Alongside our academic research and teaching activities, we engage in consultancy and knowledge exchange with industrial partners to address complex technical challenges and support innovation. These collaborations allow us to translate fundamental research and advanced engineering methods into practical solutions, while also informing and enriching our academic work.

Our consultancy activities span a range of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, materials, manufacturing, energy, and sustainability. We work closely with partners to provide independent, evidence-based insight, combining experimental expertise, modelling, and data-driven analysis to tackle problems that require both depth and flexibility.

A classroom setting where students are actively participating in a learning session.

Over the years, members of the group have worked with organisations including GSK, Hydroaluminium, RS, WSP UK, Synthomer, Nanopharm, and other industrial partners. These collaborations have taken many forms, from short-term technical consultancy and feasibility studies to longer-term engagements involving process development, materials evaluation, modelling, and scale-up considerations.

A key strength of our approach is the ability to bridge disciplines. Many consultancy and knowledge-exchange projects sit at the interface between materials, chemical processing, manufacturing, and digital tools, allowing us to support partners in areas such as process optimisation, advanced characterisation, sustainable technologies, and data-informed decision-making.

From Research to Impact: Pasture to Plate and the Ecotricity KTP

An important example of this translational approach is our Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Ecotricity, which builds on our Pasture to Plate research programme. This partnership focuses on advancing the underlying chemical processing and biotechnological concepts toward scalable, commercially viable systems.

Through the KTP, we are working closely with Ecotricity to further develop processes that convert UK pasture grass into high-value food ingredients, including proteins, with the aim of enabling more resilient and sustainable food supply chains. The partnership provides a framework for integrating academic research, industrial insight, and practical engineering constraints, supporting the progression of the technology from laboratory-scale innovation toward real-world deployment. This collaboration exemplifies how knowledge exchange can support impact-driven research, enabling new technologies to move beyond proof-of-concept and toward commercial and societal benefit.

Working Together

We place strong emphasis on clear communication, confidentiality, and delivering actionable outcomes. Each engagement is shaped to the specific needs of the partner, whether the goal is to solve a defined technical problem, explore new process routes, or support longer-term strategic development.

Organisations interested in engaging with the group are welcome to get in touch to discuss consultancy, knowledge exchange, or collaborative opportunities. Initial conversations are informal and exploratory, with the aim of identifying where our expertise can add the most value.