West Technology Forensics (WT) and De Montfort University (DMU) are working as partners on a £300k Innovate UK & WT funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) project to develop solvent-less, environmentally-friendly fingermark detection methods. The new process, developed with novel methods, will ensure the business is ready for future Government legislation restricting certain solvents used in fingermark detection.
This is a high priority research area when taking into account pending legislation and chemical companies phasing out these solvents by the end of 2025.
Faculty / Directorate
As the Associate, you will work closely with the partners, taking lead responsibility for translating and applying a range of knowledge and expertise into the creation and development of the novel process. This KTP will diversify the commercial offerings of the business through embedding knowledge, expertise and capability to grow further.
This 36-month KTP project will investigate the solvent-less applications of fingermark detection leading to the development of a commercially viable product. You will be based at WT in Yate, Bristol and work closely with academics at DMU to deliver a successful project. The delivery of a successful project may lead to a permanent role within WT.
Role
To deliver the project successfully, the Associate should ideally be someone with technical qualifications in chemistry, chemical engineering or forensic science. You may have a strong chemistry background but no forensic science which means that you would need to familiarise yourself with the forensic science discipline and market. You would need to be able to work in a team, have good time management skills and an ability to work on your own initiative. Furthermore, you would need to embed into a business environment as well as collaborate with an academic team. The successful candidate can access a personal development and training budget of £2,000 per year.
Ideal Candidate
You should have strong communication skills, oral and written, and be able to develop and prepare presentations for the KTP team, technical support and troubleshooting guides, manuscript draft for peer reviewed publications and conference presentations.
You will need to demonstrate excellent presentation skills and be able to convert technical and legislative terms into commercially impactful language to engage wider stakeholders. You should also have excellent interpersonal and relationship building skills. Furthermore, you should be proactive, curious, self-driven and should be able to manage your workload and adapt accordingly as the project progresses.
An interest in keeping your knowledge up-to-date especially as the legislative landscape changes in relation to forensic sectors use of solvents and engaging in CPD will be important, particularly for maintaining a working knowledge of current relevant regulations and standards. Experience of engaging with customers / diverse stakeholders is desirable as product development will involve implementing improvement projects to meet the requirements of current customers.
For further information, or for an informal conversation, please contact either:
Kevin Farrugia (DMU Senior Lecturer in Forensic Chemistry)
kevin.farrugia@dmu.ac.uk / 0116 3664409
Ian Harris (Managing Director – West Technology)
iharris@west-technology.co.uk / 01454 329 898
or Darsheet Chauhan (Knowledge Exchange Officer)
Closing date: Sunday 11th June 2023
Interview dates: 4/5th July 2023