Susan Brench, Akemi Associates

Environment

Background

Since founding Akemi Associates in 2018 Susan has successfully established a portfolio of interests. Building on the foundations of over 35 years' experience in the manufacturing sector with responsibilities spanning commercial management, technology development, and international business development. Throughout her career Susan has worked with clients across the globe including Europe, the USA, and Japan. Her expertise is derived primarily from the chemical manufacturing sector and her expertise has also been employed by 2 major UK financial institutions.

A Physical Natural Sciences – Chemical Engineering graduate from the University of Cambridge, Susan passionately believes in the importance of innovation in science & engineering for building a more sustainable society and has participated in climate change focussed venture builder programmes. Accordingly, through Akemi Associates she frequently works with early stage STEM businesses, helping them to scale and commercialise, and she is a mentor on the RSC Changemakers programme. She also seeks to promote diversity and visibility to attract women and girls into STEM careers and was until recently on the advisory board of Women in Chemicals.

Kevin Matthews, Fluorok

Enabling Technologies

Background

Kevin is Chair of Fluorok Ltd, a spin-out from the University of Oxford. Kevin has more than 20 years’ experience in CEO and Board roles in the chemical, technology, manufacturing and pharmaceutical sectors.
 
Previously, Kevin served as Group CEO of Scott Bader Company Ltd, a speciality polymers business, and a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of FTSE listed businesses; Vectura plc, a specialist contract development business; Low & Bonar plc, a performance materials business; and Elementis plc, a specialty chemicals business. He also served as a Non-Executive Director of Cellectricon AB, a Swedish biotechnology company dedicated to drug discovery and research in the areas of chronic pain and neurodegenerative disease.

A Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Kevin has a strong interest in commercialising technology. He has previously held CEO roles at technology companies including Itaconix plc, an AIM listed biobased polymers business, Isogenica, an antibody drug discovery company and Oxonica plc, an advanced materials business. Kevin is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the SCI, a charity dedicated to facilitating the scale-up of scientific breakthroughs for the benefit of society and is a member of the Council of the Chemical Industry Association. 

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''This competition provides the opportunity for great entrepreneurs to showcase exciting, innovative, technologies. As a judge, I see my role as providing helpful feedback on how to improve the prospect of successfully commercialising an idea that provides a benefit to society.''

Nima Roohpour,Consultant

Health

Background

Nima Roohpour is the Head of the Polymer and Formulation Science Platform at Reckitt, he is responsible for the finding and evaluation of inventions and new technologies/products and identifying innovation partners for Reckitt health and nutrition businesses. Passionate about scientific breakthroughs, Nima has worked with many health-tech start-ups negotiating partnerships and commercialisation, he is continually looking for the next big ideas, identifying cross-category platforms that can bring significant growth for Reckitt.

During his career Nima developed expertise in product research and development through developing new technologies, evaluating external opportunities, innovating and supporting new product claims together with managing R&D teams and projects including all stages of the product lifecycle from exploration to launch.

Nima joined Reckitt in 2019 from GSK consumer healthcare where he was a Principal Scientist in consumer health R&D with more than 12 years of experience in innovation and new product development. Nima is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry with Ph.D. in Biomaterials from the Queen Mary University of London.

Alex Reip

Energy

Background

Alex is an award-winning chemist and entrepreneur with over 15 years of experience in innovation, materials science, and the hydrogen sector. He was one of the co-founders and Chief Technology Officer of Oxford nanoSystems Ltd, a company that developed advanced coating technologies for energy systems, including hydrogen electrolysers. During his time with the company, Alex pioneered the nanoFLUX® coating process, achieving major cost reductions and establishing the foundations for its commercial success. Oxford nanoSystems was acquired in 2025.

Alex currently serves as a Trustee of the Royal Society of Chemistry, Non-Executive Director at the Net Zero Technology Centre, and Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at Brunel University London, where he leads initiatives in hydrogen technology, skills development, and industry collaboration. He also chairs the Academic Advisory Board at the NZTC and the Governing Board at North Kidlington School, reflecting his commitment to education and community engagement.

Recognised with multiple awards, including the Energy Revolution Innovation Award, Alex continues to champion the translation of scientific research into real-world applications. His current work focuses on advancing hydrogen materials, supporting the next generation of cleantech entrepreneurs, and strengthening links between academia, industry, and policy to accelerate the UK’s transition to a net-zero economy.

Jason Harcup, Unilever

Environment 

Background

Dr. Jason Harcup is currently Chief R&D Officer, Beauty and Wellbeing within Unilever. He has been an R&D Leader in Beauty for the whole of his 26 year professional career, spending more than ten years outside his native UK leading R&D in the Americas and in North Asia. In the last dozen years, he has driven the creation of a suite of blockbuster Skin Care technologies that have now added almost a billion Euros in incremental turnover to Unilever. 
 
He is a Cambridge University Natural Scientist and has published work in diverse fields ranging from Hair follicle biology through skin barrier dermatology to explorations of the connection between the skin and the health of the brain. He was elected a Fellow of The Royal Society of Biology in 2016, having also been made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2015.
 
His broader service to the industry over the years has included Chair of Judges for the RSC's Emerging Technologies Initiative, co-convenor of the Asian Dermatological Forum, Faculty Member for Health and Beauty America, Advisory board Co-founder of the Broadening Horizons cross industry initiative to address inequities in Science professional advancement, Beauty Disruptor with the CEW network and invited Advisory Board Memberships including more recently the Asian Microbiome Congress. 

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''The Emerging Technologies Competition is powerfully unique in at least two important ways: the sheer breadth of innovation spaces it brings together, and the world leading depth of judging and incubating expertise it can convene. I love this competition, and now seeing past winners really flying!''

Andy Chapman, Carbometrics

Health

Andy is a chemist by training with more than 12 years’ experience in multiple areas of chemistry, biotechnology and diagnostics. He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate degrees at the University of Bristol. After two postdoctoral positions, he joined a London-based start-up – Econic Technologies – focused on the commercialisation of a CO2/epoxide polymerisation technology before moving to Kingston University London to begin his independent academic career, where he was appointed Senior Lecturer. His research at Kingston was focused on creation of supramolecular sensors for small molecules. In 2017, Andy returned to Bristol to join Ziylo as CSO, where he led the company’s scientific team during its transition from the university to private laboratories (now at Science Creates). Later that year, he was appointed as a director and ultimately played a critical role in guiding the company towards its landmark acquisition by Novo Nordisk in August 2018. During the acquisition, Andy co-founded Carbometrics to commercialise the same Glucose Binding Molecule technology for glucose sensing applications, under license from Novo Nordisk, and closed a ca. £650K seed investment round upon incorporation. In 2020, Andy was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry ‘Rising Star in Industry’ award for his efforts so far, and in 2021 he led the first institutional fundraising, securing £2.1M in an oversubscribed bridge-to-series A round. In March 2022, Andy established a research partnership and licence option deal with PyroScience GmbH to commercialise glucose sensors for biotechnology applications and then later that year led and closed a major Series A investment into Carbometrics by a Medtronic company that has set the course for the company to commercialise its revolutionary CGM technology. To date he has raised over £12 m in dilutive and non-dilutive funding for the company. He has an Executive MBA from the Biotechnology Business Institute (Cambridge, UK) and also serves as an advisor and NED to several other small life science companies.

Aldo Guiducci, bp

Energy

Background

Aldo is the head of analytical chemistry in bp’s Applied Sciences. The teams he leads are responsible for safely generating data using proprietary analytical capability, providing insights to their customers to enable better decision-making for the business. He has held a number of previous roles within technology, including helping formulate the materials science strategy for the company, and managing the EPSRC ICASE allocation process within bp. He has a strong track record of developing new technologies and is a past winner of the bp-Tallow Chandlers’ Award for Excellence in the Innovation and Application of Technology.

Aldo has 20 years’ experience of working in chemical sciences, including chemical R&D (Shell International Chemicals B.V), consultancy work in mass spectrometry and forensic science (M-Scan Ltd.) and a broad portfolio of technology activity within bp.

He holds a degree and doctorate in chemistry from the University of Oxford and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. A Chartered Chemist and Chartered Scientist, Aldo is also chair of the RSC Admissions Committee, a member of the Professional Standards Board, and former treasurer of the Formulation Science and Technology Interest Group.

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''The RSC’s Emerging Technologies Competition showcases some of the most novel, innovative and creative ideas in the chemical sciences that can have real impact on the technological challenges of our time. It is inspiring to see the breadth of concepts within each of the categories, and as a judge in the Energy category I am excited to understand more of the thinking behind the ideas, and to see the application of them to the real world.''

Julie Dimakou, PA Consulting Group

Environment

Background

Julie is a Management Consultant Chemist at PA Consulting’s Global Innovation Centre in Cambridge. Bringing 29 years’ experience in manufacturing, Physics, Chemistry and innovation in the Food and Drinks sector, she is responsible for leading innovation programmes through Process Design and inventing novel packaging barrier films, as well as advising start-ups and multinational corporations on Business Case building, sustainability strategies and Intellectual Property.
 
Julie has invented and patented novel products and processes, as well as novel home-compostable packaging films. She started her career with rheology, cereal science, meat and fat replacers. She subsequently worked for Foss, creating in-line analytical chemistry solutions enabling businesses to run intelligent data-driven high yield processes before moving to a start-up as a CEO. During her career she has worked with dairy, bakery products, oils, wine, juice, beer, coffee and functional ingredients.

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''I feel honoured to be a judge in a competition that offers a unique platform for exposure, insight exchange, networking and funding of the best start-ups in our scientific community. I thoroughly enjoy discussing the scientific breakthroughs, the shaping of the business cases and identifying areas for improvement together with other industry experts.’'

Simon Turner, Alacrita

Health

Background

Simon has over the past three decades focused on the development and commercialisation of life science technologies in early-stage companies, as an entrepreneur, executive, venture capital investor and advisor. 

After an early career as a bench chemist at Eli Lilly and ICI Agrochemicals and 10 years as a strategic management consultant to blue chip life science companies, he became the first CEO of University of Cambridge spin-out Biotica Technology, an early-stage venture-capital backed drug-discovery company based on microbial genetic engineering, which he led for five years. 

He has since been involved as an investor and advisor to research-based life science companies and IP owners in two investment firms and more recently as Managing Partner of boutique biopharma management consultancy Alacrita. In the latter capacity, he has been involved in identifying and advancing several bioscience spin-out opportunities. He was also a Non-Executive Director at Green Biologics Ltd, a biobutanol company, and is a founder director of Foothold America, a business which assists UK companies to establish a presence in the USA. 

Simon has an MA in Natural Sciences and a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Cambridge and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Sarah Davidson

Health

Background

Currently working as Technology Development Lead at Croda, Sarah has a diverse role assisting Croda’s research and technology teams across Chemistry, Biotechnology and open innovation. In this role, her goal is to champion new sustainable technologies, seeing them progress from ideation through to research and development and to scale up. Building on her previous experience working in Croda’s Group Sustainability team, Sarah brings life cycle thinking to each project, ensuring it has sustainability embedded from start to finish. Her previous work has included developing a sustainability checklist for use during research and development, and tools to predict the carbon footprint of a new product before manufacture. 

Prior to this, while on Croda’s highly sought after Graduate Development programme Sarah had placements within Research and Development in Croda’s product applications and chemical synthesis teams. This played to her educational background, whereby she attained a Master’s Degree in Chemistry from the University of Sheffield, graduating in 2018.

Alongside her day job, Sarah also plays an active role advocating within and for the sustainable future of the chemical industry. This includes her current role within the Society for Chemical Industry’s committee on Sustainable Materials for Consumer Products and previously as the Chemical Industry Association’s Young Ambassador. 

Alexandra French, Xampla

Environment

Background

Alexandra French has over 25 years of business and R&D experience. At global chemicals company Johnson Matthey she held a variety of senior leadership, commercial and technical roles, ultimately responsible for the P&L of multi-million pound operations. Following Johnson Matthey, Alexandra joined AIM listed company Titon as CEO, leading a workforce of 200+ employees across the UK, Europe, the US and South Korea and returning the business to profitability.

Alexandra brings a unique combination of technical expertise, commercial acumen, and inspiring leadership. Joining Xampla in 2023, she is delivering its growth strategy as it launches the business' world-first, multi-patented, plastic-free Morro materials into the market, at scale. Alexandra has a degree in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge and is also an accredited coach, with a proven track record of creating and leading high performance teams.

Jeremy Compton, Givaudan

Enabling Technologies

Background

Jeremy Compton is the Global Head of Science and Technology - Fragrances at Givaudan. With over 36 years’ experience in the Fragrance and Flavours industry since graduating in Chemistry he has had a diverse global career with significant management positions in commercial, development and research functions and has held senior management positions in the Fragrances, Flavours, and the Fragrance Ingredients businesses.

He is passionate about the positive impact Fragrance can have on consumers' lives and how research into new materials, formulations, methods, and forms of delivery can make this true.

In addition to the UK, he has lived and worked in Brazil, Indonesia, France, the United States and Singapore and is now based in Kemptthal, Switzerland.

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''Whenever I bump into science based start-ups in the UK who are looking to take the next step or added exposure for their innovation I often suggest they think about the RSC Emerging Technologies competition as a great way to take that next step.

Over the last 3 years judging the Enabling Technologies category we have seen some fantastic ideas, science and great ways igneous teams have found to stretch their discoveries into very relevant business ideas. And each year the participants seem to be even more inventive than the previous one - showing there is no shortage of great innovation that involves good Science.''

Mark Selby, Ceres Power

Energy

Background

Dr. Selby is Chief Innovation Officer at Ceres where he is looking for the next generation of clean technology leaders to build partnerships that accelerate their route-to-market, improving their probability of success and lowering the barriers to commercialisation.

Mark's goal is to build collaborations with progressive companies to solve hard science and engineering problems to get world-changing science out of the lab and into their products changing the world. He is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.

William Goundry, AstraZeneca

Health

Background

William Goundry is a Principal Scientist in Early Chemical Development at AstraZeneca’s Macclesfield Campus. Following his DPhil in organic synthesis at Oxford University and Post Doc at Indiana University Will joined AZ at Macclesfield in 2006. He has developed a strong track record in process design and scale up working from grams to tonnes, including Biocatalysis and flow chemistry.

Will is currently AstraZeneca’s scientific lead for the early phase scale-up of New Modalities, including antibody drug conjugates (ADC), peptides, and nucleotide based drugs. In this role he is developing the commercial routes and processes for ADC payloads, whilst directing the manufacture of clinical trial material.

He has a strong innovation track record including winning an internal AstraZeneca technology competition through delivering a pitch. He is an Honorary Lecturer at the University of Manchester in the Division of Pharmacy, and an industrial lead for both the Centre for Biocatalytic Manufacture of New Modalities and the Centre for Doctoral training (CDT) in integrated catalysis. William is both a Chartered Chemist (CChem) and a Fellow (FRSC) of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Rory Back, NSG

Energy

Background

Rory Back is the NSG Group’s R&D Incubator Technical Manager. The Incubator is a dedicated R&D resource for building partnerships with start-ups, global companies, and academic institutions. Its purpose is to enable early-stage innovation to find new methods and products for glass technology, relating to Architecture, Automotive, and Solar Power applications.

He joined NSG in 2015 after studying Chemistry at Durham University. He began as a Technologist in the Thin Film Technology department, developing nanocoatings for advanced optical and surface-functional properties.
Rory moved to his role in the Incubator in 2018, working on innovation, collaborations, and product development. He is the author of multiple patents in thin-film coatings and glass technology.

In 2021, an advanced multifunctional glass roadside barrier concept developed by Rory won in the Environment Category of Highways UK’s Civils and Materials Innovation Awards. Rory is a Chartered Chemist and a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry, including the committees of the Surface Coatings Interest Group and the Liverpool Local Section. He is a regular speaker at surface science and glass conferences, including Glass Performance Days, Advanced Building Skins, Surfex, and RSC Formulating Functional Thin Films and Coatings.

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''It has been a privilege to be a part of the judging panel for the Emerging Technologies Competition since 2022. The technologies and businesses generated by the applicants and finalists showcases the potential of chemistry in the UK. It is a must-attend event for those seeking out the latest and most innovative chemistry/materials-based start-ups. Additionally, it has been an excellent networking opportunity for meeting academics, industrialists, and investors engaged in chemical science technologies.''

Andrew Muir, UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund

Environment 

Background

Dr. Andrew Muir is a Director of Future Planet Capital Ventures, an FCA-authorised fund management company. He is the fund principal for the £110M UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund (UKI2S), which invests in innovations emerging from the UK’s science and knowledge base. He also co-manages the Future Planet Capital Blue Ocean investment vehicle backed by the government of Monaco. 

After an initial scientific career at Zeneca Andrew went on to roles in research and business development at the medical device company Biocompatibles and was then Vice President of Technology for a US start-up in disinfection of medical equipment. 

He started his career in venture at NESTA (the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts). Andrew has previously advised the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Edinburgh on their entrepreneurship support programmes and has held a number of portfolio company directorships. He has a degree and a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Oxford.

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“It is a privilege to be a judge on the Emerging Technologies Competition, with an opportunity to meet such a diverse range of ambitious, talented founders and to see first-hand the potential for chemistry to be a force for good at the heart of solutions to the grand challenges we face today.” 

Ellen Norman

Enabling Technologies

Background

Ellen is the Lead for Safety and Regulatory Service at Reading Scientific Services Ltd (RSSL).  As a service provider RSSL needs to be agile and adaptive to the market needs ensuring the capabilities match client expectation on quality and cost. She also coordinates major investigative projects covering a wide variety of issues including contamination, adulteration, developing new analytical techniques and troubleshooting product failures.

She originally joined RSSL in 2007, having previously worked for 10 years at Brewing Research International (now part of Campden BRI). Throughout her career she has had a variety of responsibilities including running training courses, research, surveillance and government funded projects. She has a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Birmingham.

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''I have been involved with the emerging technologies competition mainly through judging for more than five years now. It is a fantastic way for people in established industries to connect with innovators and entrepreneurs in the chemical sciences, perhaps an area where innovation is sometimes hard to bring to a wider market. 

The competition enables us to make lasting connections, seeing the passion that people have for their amazing ideas and being able to guide and support the growth of those businesses is immensely rewarding. The emerging technologies that we see are addressing some of our key challenges in society and it makes you feel proud to be part of such an amazing community''.

Victoria Steadman, Sai Life Sciences

Health

Background

Dr. Vicky Steadman is Vice President Business Development and Integrated Partnerships at Sai Life Sciences. A medicinal chemist by background, Vicky has nearly 20 years industry experience in Big Pharma and within CROs. She is named on over 25 peer reviewed publications and patents including a Nature paper, and has worked in the therapeutic areas of anti-virals, antibiotics and neuroscience.

Vicky has a BSc in chemistry from Imperial College and a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Cambridge. She is a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

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''The diversity of applications, teamwork and talent on display across the ‘Health category’ innovation landscape gave the judges a difficult choice. I enjoyed hearing all the different scientific and commercial plans and look forward to judging again in 2024.''

Geetha Srinivasan, PETRONAS

Energy

Background

Dr. Geetha Srinivasan as an applied chemist with 23 years of research experience is passionate about sustainable chemistry, currently with PETRONAS as a Principal Scientist in R&D Chemistry. Richly experienced in leading and directing research and development at the interface between academia and industry with a strong innovation record of technologies.
 
Recipient of several awards including the outstanding women in science award from L’Oreal-UNESCO-Royal Society in 2012 for her work on ionic liquids in biomedical applications.
 
This was followed by three Institute of Chemical Engineering – IChemE awards and Don Nicklin Medal in 2013 as a key researcher in an environmental mitigation project dealing with toxic heavy metal removal from petrochemical streams, showcased by RSC as one of the 175 faces of Chemistry, recipient of Rising Star in Science and Engineering Category Award UK in 2018. Recently, recipient of Industry Project Award and highly commended for Energy Award from IChemE 2024, as key technical personnel of the Team developing PETRONAS PEM hydrogen technology.
 
Professional recognition includes Elected Member Appointment in the Royal Society of Chemistry Industry and Technology Division in 2020, International Editorial Member for ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, and Associate Editor in Green Chemistry Reviews and Letters. Geetha is a Chartered Chemist (CChem), Chartered Scientist (CSci), Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). 

She has mentored and supervised numerous doctorates at different stages of their careers and passionate about talent development.

Besides chemistry, Geetha is a diversity and inclusivity champion.

''The Royal Society of Chemistry's Emerging Technologies Competition energises me every year to look forward to see the efforts on frontier chemistries maturing into working technologies. In my opinion there isn’t much ground-breaking science the world needs but requires desperately innovative approaches to sustain the planet. Kudos to the RSC to champion those technology innovations through this award process to the next level!''

Tony Gough, Innospec

Environment

Background

Tony Gough is Director of Innovation for Sustainability at Innospec and is responsible for identifying routes for making Innospec’s Performance Chemicals portfolio of products free of virgin fossil-derived materials and making their manufacturing processes more efficient to increase their sustainability profiles.

Tony has a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry and has worked in R&D/technical roles for over 35 years, mainly within the personal-care product industry, but also spent several years in homecare and industrial products areas. Prior to joining Innospec, Tony held management/senior-management roles at Unilever, Alberto-Culver, COSi, Surfachem and ISP/Ashland; has numerous patents and publications, and has a track record of innovation and successful major product launches.

He is also a past President of the International Federation of Cosmetic Chemists (IFSCC), a past President of CESIO and is a member of CESIO’s Executive Committee. He is also a past President of the UK and Ireland’s Society of Cosmetic Scientists (SCS) and remains active in the SCS as its Honorary Treasurer, as a member of its International Journal of Cosmetic Science (IJCS) committee and is on the IJCS editorial board.

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''The Emerging Technologies Competition provides a wonderful chance for entrepreneurs to make their chemistry-led innovations known to the world and get important help they need on their pathway to getting their innovations into the market place. This will be my third time as a judge for this excellent competition and it is a real pleasure, an honour and great education experience for me to be involved in this prestigious event. The applications I see are always of a very high quality and cover a fascinating and diverse array of chemistry-related technologies making it a challenging but enjoyable experience to ultimately decide upon the winning applicant with my fellow judges on the judging panel.''

Jing Zhang, Aqdot

Enabling Technologies

Background

 

Dr Jing Zhang co-founded Aqdot following her PhD in Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, where she co-invented the core technology that underpins the company’s chemtech platform. She now leads Aqdot’s strategic direction and operations, overseeing product development, manufacturing scale-up in Spain, and partnerships across multiple sectors。 Her background combines scientific research and commercial execution, with experience spanning technology translation, investment, and business development.

Before founding Aqdot, Jing was President of Cambridge University Entrepreneurs and worked on early-stage innovation projects connecting academia and industry. Jing holds a Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) from the Australian National University, where she graduated with the University Medal.

Aqdot

Aqdot is a Cambridge-based chemtech company commercialising AqFresh, a proprietary supramolecular chemistry that interacts and captures other materials. Its proprietary platform supports innovations in improving air quality, including odour and pollution management, fragrance delivery, and allergen inactivation. The company’s work spans home and pet care, hygiene, automotive, and textile sectors, helping partners enhance product performance and sustainability. With product development and scaled manufacturing operations, Aqdot combines scientific insight with practical, scalable implementation.

Steve Mcbride, Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry

Enabling Technologies

Background

Steve is the Head of Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry (KCMC) at the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI). A materials scientist by training his career spans aerospace, automotive and chemicals sectors, working in global supply chains to commercialise highly engineered materials and products.

Applying his industrial experience to knowledge transfer, he leads the KCMC to drive collaboration across academia, industry and the wider innovation network, supporting the research and innovation needs of companies to establish new product and processes. 

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“It’s a pleasure to be involved in the RSC’s Emerging Technologies Competition and be able to see the portfolio of fantastic ideas and technologies being developed here in the UK. Translating great science and discovery into marketable product is complex and this competition gives a unique platform for the most promising chemistry-led technologies to make a difference in everyday lives and to help tackle societal challenges.”

David Gillespie, Cargill

Energy

Background

David Gillespie is a technology specialist currently working in the Energy Technologies group of Cargill Bioindustrial. In this role he develops new lubricant base oil and additive technologies to help meet customer requirements in wide ranging global markets. Within the team he is responsible for research into future fuel applications and supporting other colleagues with advanced statistical methods and analysis.

David started his industrial career as an applications scientist at Croda in the Lubricant Applications group and has spent time working on a range of lubricant applications and markets. He subsequently joined Cargill in 2022 as part of the acquisition of Croda’s Performance Technologies business. He studied Chemistry and holds both an MCHem and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Bristol.

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“The RSC's Emerging Technologies Competition is a great way for industrial scientists to keep up to date with the latest developments in both academic and SMEs. I really enjoy judging the competition. Its great to connect with peers in the industry on the panel as well as meeting all the contestants. The final at Burlington House brings a great sense of occasion and is a fitting location to reflect the hard work put in by the entrants.”

Jo Slota-Newson, Almanac Ventures

Enabling Technologies

Background

Jo Slota-Newson is a venture capital investor supporting early stage and growth ventures across deep technology sectors. Jo has worked in technology commercialisation for 17 years, in technical, commercial and investment roles. She has experience working with high growth technology businesses in the advanced materials, electronics, photonics, cleantech, industrial engineering, medical technology, and software sectors.
  
Jo started her career as a research scientist in nanotechnology and applied electronic materials at the University of Cambridge, and the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, where she also lectured in biomedical engineering and renewable energy technologies. She has also served as CTO for an early stage photovoltaics company, and director of operations for an online equity investment platform focussed on the Life Sciences and Biotech sectors.
 
Jo holds an MA, MSci and PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge, and also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

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''As well as getting to see a broad mix of technologies, in judging the Emerging Technologies Competition we see a wide range of stages of innovations - from those still in the lab to more commercially developed ventures. It’s exciting to think about the potential impact of these innovations, and see them benefit from the unique platform the competition gives them.''

Edwin Raj, Johnson Matthey

Energy

Background

Edwin Raj is a Senior Programme Manager in Johnson Matthey’s Catalyst Technologies Transformation Office where he manages FT-CANS/HyCOgen sustainable solutions programme. Prior to moving to Transformation Office, Edwin was a Principal Scientist at Johnson Matthey Technology Centre at Sonning Common where he led several R&D NPI projects in automotive conductive pastes and black pigments as well as leading the Flame Spray Pyrolysis facility.

Edwin has a PhD in Inorganic Chemistry from the University of Madras and carried out postdoctoral research at Imperial College London and University of St Andrews. Edwin is a Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry, Charted Chemist and APM PMQ certified project manager.

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''The RSC's Emerging Technologies Competition brings together inventors and innovators from various fields, showcasing groundbreaking ideas and products that are poised to shape our future. As a judge, I enjoy most is witnessing the sheer passion of competition participants and their relentless pursuit of pushing boundaries and revolutionizing the way we live, work, and interact with the world. The Emerging Technologies Competition encapsulates the true spirit of technological advancement.''

Mike Anson, GSK

Health

Background

Dr Mike Anson is currently the UK Head of Chemistry in Drug Substance Development in GSK based at the Stevenage Campus.  The key remit of the department is to develop commercial synthetic routes and processes for candidate APIs, transfer the processes to manufacturing and write and defend relevant sections of regulatory files.  He is a synthetic organic chemist by training gaining Bsc and PhD qualifications at UCL followed by a post-doctoral stint at Sheffield University, before joining GSK’s Chemical Development department at Ware in 1990.  He is author or co-author on 32 scientific papers and patents during GSK career

During his career at GSK Mike has had roles as a bench scientist, project leader, team leader and department head including global leadership of technical teams in Ireland and Singapore. He led an internal ‘start-up like’ department developing second generation commercial processes, including development and implementation of new process for iconic brand Amoxicillin and first implementation of a multi-stage continuous process for one of GSKs key respiratory APIs.  He also led a department whose primary focus was to implement ‘ready now’ technologies (Flow Chemistry, Synthetic Biochemistry, Catalysis and High Throughput Chemistry) on projects across all development phases of GSKs product portfolio.   

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Matilda Bingham, Concept Life Sciences

Health

Background

Tilly Bingham is a drug discoverer with >20 years’ experience of working in the pharmaceutical R&D sector (Organon, Schering-Plough, MSD, Redx Pharma, Concept Life Sciences) and is currently CSO/COO at GIO Therapeutics and Executive in Residence at Cumulus Oncology. 

Tilly’s early career was spent working as a medicinal chemist in CNS therapeutic areas where her research focussed on design strategies for getting small molecule therapeutics across the blood brain barrier for targets including the GPCRs OX2R, V1R and CGRP. Then, as Head of Research and Operations at Redx Pharma she oversaw the discovery and development of oncology and fibrosis clinical candidates, including the clinical candidate porcupine inhibitors RXC004 (oncology), RXC006 (fibrosis,/AZD5055), Pan RAF inhibitor (JZP815) and FDA approved BTK inhibitor (Pirtobrutinib /Jaypirca®). As CSO/COO at GIO Therapeutics Tilly is bringing to bear her proven ability to craft strategic roadmaps and metamorphose fresh ideas into impactful new products

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''What I love about this competition is that I get to see the way that innovative chemistry is being applied in other industries not just my own. The creative ways people find to apply chemistry solutions to problems in healthcare and beyond never ceases to impress me and it is a great forum to network with likeminded entrepreneurs.''

Imran Afzal, Worth the Squeeze

Environment

Background

Imran is Founder of Worth The Squeeze, a company that provides strategy and practical advice to boost traction for start-up founders and deliver solutions for global consumer packaged goods companies in the Food Tech and adjacent sectors.  
 
Imran has a wealth of experience in the retail and foodservice sectors, having held significant product category roles at Tesco and Sainsbury's, where he managed a diverse product portfolio valued at over £200 million annually. At ASDA, he served as Head of Quality, overseeing the largest private label consumer testing program in UK history. He later joined the Board of a start-up focused on creating gluten and dairy-free products for retail and foodservice markets. Here, he spearheaded the establishment of a manufacturing facility and set the R&D agenda, resulting in a range of award-winning products. At PepsiCo, Imran led open innovation programs across Europe, collaborating with various stakeholders. A passionate advocate for the role of start-ups in transitioning to a net-zero economy, Imran is also committed to expanding healthy years of life for an aging population.

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''Witnessing innovation bloom, igniting a ripple of impact, and leaving the ordinary behind - judging start-ups at the Royal Society of Chemistry’s Emerging Technologies Competition has given me a front-row seat to help shape the world, one audacious pitch at a time.''

Steve Dobson, Nexeon Ltd 

Enabling Technologies

Background

Steve is a Chartered Scientist and a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers. After a 40-year career in the chemical industry, Steve retired from full-time work last year and returned to the UK, having lived the previous 31 years in Germany, Singapore, Belgium, South Korea and Taiwan.

For the last ten years, Steve was Head of the Electronic Chemicals division of Solvay SA, a business which grew more than tenfold under his leadership to around 250M USD turnover, with 14 operating plants all over the world and in which commercializing new technologies and materials for the semiconductor, display, battery and PV industries played a key role, including working with a number of start-ups and spin-out companies.

Steve holds various degrees and postgraduate diplomas from the University of Nottingham, Manchester Metropolitan University, MIT Sloan Business School, INSEAD and FT Pearson and presently serves in a number of part-time roles including as a Non-Executive Director in Nexeon Ltd, a Non-Executive Director in Tullis Russell Group Ltd, a member of the Governance Board in the IChemE and a Governor and Council member at the University of Chester.

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''Far from becoming disheartened or intimidated by many of the problems facing our society there are plenty of young scientists and engineers who are zeroing in on a problem of concern to them, coming up with innovative technology based solutions and then taking steps to roll them out to the market.

As a Judge on the annual RSC Emerging Technologies Competition it is motivating and inspiring to be presented with many of these projects and if we can also help to challenge here or there or raise one or two pertinent questions based on some decades of real world experience then so much the better.  The most difficult aspect is picking a winner in each category when really every project which makes it to the final is already a "winner".

Hats off to the Royal Society of Chemistry for initiating and continuing this wonderful competition for more than a decade already in which time many of the finalists have already gone on to find success and make a real difference.''