Actica Consulting Ltd is a business and technical consultancy dedicated to helping its customers deliver the efficiency and effectiveness improvements necessary to achieve their business objectives.Our business services combine knowledge of best practice in transformational and process change with 'real world' experience of project delivery to manage and deliver the practical outcomes required to assure benefits realisation.

My role at Durham is as a post-graduate researcher investigating the application of novel analytical techniques for the characterization of compounds of pharmaceutical and industrial importance, with the work being submitted for the qualification of doctor of philosophy (PhD). My role involved the design and implementation of analytical experiments on novel chemical compounds to evaluate the effectiveness of each approach for the structural characterization of a selected compound. This required a logical design of experiments that probed all established variables in a time and cost efficient way. This project allowed me to develop a wide range of skills, where the ability to draw simple conclusions from complex data sets was of critical importance. This research gave me the opportunity to partake in projects involving scientists from both academic and industrial backgrounds requiring strong communication skills and the ability to meet restrictive deadlines. The results generated by my research provided me the opportunity to develop my communication skills through delivering a presentation at an international conference to an audience of 400. My work has improved my written communication skills through the preparation and acceptance of scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Alongside my research interests I was employed as a teaching assistant in the Department of Chemistry where my role was to supervise and support undergraduate Chemistry students during practical laboratory sessions. In this role, I was able to provide support and guidance for students who had problems with their practical work. I also ensured that the laboratory health and safety standards were upheld and that students were working in a safe manner. Part of the role as a teaching assistant was to perform assessments of the practical work being performed by the students, this included establishing the criteria for which the students would be graded against and marking work with the aim of reinforcing good work practices and highlighted areas for improvement