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RTC North, Sunderland. Tuesday 17th October

October has been a busy month for NEPIC and our Connect series of events! We also welcomed over 50 businesses at our recent instalment if Pharma Connect at our Sunderland based office; RTC North. Members stepped away from their very busy schedules to take part in the industry focused meeting which is aimed at bringing the pharmaceutical cluster together.
Presenter Professor Justin Perry Northumbria University’s Director of Enterprise and Engagement was the first speaker giving an informative and detailed overview of the Applied Sciences at Northumbria University and their ambition to be a top 50 university in all senses for research, student satisfaction and employability.
The University currently supports in the region of 27,000 students from its base in the heart of Newcastle and is regularly voted the best place in the UK for students who are attracted by its excellent academic reputation backed by their well-known quality and practical ability of their placement students and graduates within industry. NEPIC provides support to assist growing their research profile in Chemical, Biochemical and Genetic Analysis. The Uni has recently invested heavily in state of the art equipment, including Molecular and Analysis equipment, Microscopy and Spectroscopy. Justin’s passion for his work was clear from the start and his enthusiasm infectious.
Second to present was Cramlington based company ThermoFisher Scientific. Anthony Richards, Business Development Manager for Single Use Technologies talked about their knowledge as a world leader in serving science. With revenues of more than $20 billion and approximately 65,000 employees globally, their mission is to enable their customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Working with their customers to accelerate life sciences research, solve complex analytical challenges, improve patient diagnostics, deliver medicines to market and increase laboratory productivity. Anthony gave an insight into Single-use products and how they have revolutionised the field of biomanufacturing with single-use technologies. Prior to the availability of these single-use systems, this would have required substantial facilities to produce the material needed. Single-use technologies are used throughout the bioproduction workflow, from buffer and media preparation to bioreactor cultures for vaccines to the storage and shipping of intermediates and bulk biologics.
Our final presentation was delivered by David Smith of DJS Process Consulting. Describing their consultancy business and an introduction to the Intelligent Manufacturing Platform – a novel and low-cost process monitoring and control system. The highly secure and robust system, uses off-the-shelf technology with internet banking level security, to enable simple, remote access to PLC systems and data. The simple, remote access to PLC systems can then be combined with customized data analysis, including monitoring, visualization and integrated smart process control algorithms to give a higher level of product quality control & process optimisation compared to conventional PLC only systems. David also offers Technical Consulting, Product Development Strategic Advice, R&D technical support and IP & Expert Witness services.