Working for the first 2.5 years in London before moving to Vienna, I have experience across a broad range of tasks with increasing responsibility.Working as a project manager I coordinate and chair teams across Europe, Japan and China. This is with members within the R&D function but also from Quality assurance, legal and global markets developing products from concept to launch. Working at the third largest international tobacco company means I have an excellent understanding of a corporate structure and with my Prince2 qualification, I have the skills to lead fast-paced projects under times pressure successfully. This being with most of my time under covid restrictions I worked with minimal guidance but still delivered high outputs. Not just products but also a named inventor on 100+ patents, implementing improvements in cross-function committees and developing SOP’s within a lab environment. Working in consumer goods that are inhaled means I have experience in providing maximum benefit to the consumer whilst being mindful of the regulatory requirements for a commercial product.

In this role I manage the technical aspects of projects. These projects involve developing early-stage concepts and prototypes which are typically research-focused working with novel technologies. The devices are developed by a third party and require coordination of test sessions, selection of design architectures and ensuring project specifications are meet. Often key decision making is required to ensure the device will operate to its maximum potential.As the position is technology-focused IP is a major part of my work. This involves the generation of IP protected as patents with over 50 applications being processed to date making myself in the top 5 inventors within the company. I also evaluate external IP to develop workarounds and also it's worth as a potential acquisition. While the role is management focused on work carried out externally I am also heavily involved in work carried within JTI’s laboratory environments. This included developing and undertaking ad-hoc testing procedures helping to evaluate a technology but also fault find and identify possible improvements. The significant improvement in analysis has led to faster data generation and from its rapid implementation of improvements.

My role also involves having a long-term vision for future research within the laboratory by securing funding to carry out the research through grants and by having a strong and supportive relationship with industrial partners. Being highly organised is key to efficiently and effectively manage the projects where timelines are drawn up for projects and I have an excellent success rate for producing deliverables on time. I also have experience in facility management where I carefully coordinate research’s and equipment to manage the demand for the equipment along with the project deadlines to ensure a smooth operation.

During my third year, I worked part-time as an RA after securing funding to commercialise a consumer electronic device I had co-developed. Here the focus was on developing a small-scale device outside of a research basis, with the end user firmly in mind. Once developed I aided in the testing period, checking the efficacy of the device against other commercial products.

I was appointed as a part-time RA during my second year to co-develop a microbubble bioreactor for the stripping of ethanol from a biological broth. This involved working in part of a team and drawing on the knowledge I had already accumulated in bespoke reactors to design and develop the system. Time management was also key to deliver targets set within my PhD.

For my MSc project, I am worked on designing and building a biomass pre-treatment reactor. Currently the leading technique in this field is steam explosion which is incredibly energy intensive. We hope by using radical new technology in the form of microplasma reactors to produce ozone aided with microbubbles the energy usage will reduce. This will make biomass a very more attractive fuel due to its lower cost. I have been given key roles in the research team tasked with the design of the reactor module and sourcing membranes that allow the formation of microbubbles. This involves me communicating with worldwide manufacturers to source the optimal components required.