Dr James HopgoodIndustrial Fellowships scheme

Dr James Hopgood is a senior lecturer in the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. From 2015 to 2016, a Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Fellowship enabled him to collaborate with Agilent Technologies to apply signal processing techniques to electrophoresis analysis.

RESEARCHAdvances in data science are creating opportunities to improve fundamental tools and processes for research in life sciences, enabling researchers to gather data and generate insights at a faster rate. An Industrial Fellowship allowed Dr James Hopgood to explore this as part of a collaboration with Agilent Technologies, a global leader in providing laboratory equipment and services to the life sciences, diagnostics and applied chemical markets.

Dr Hopgood had worked with Agilent previously in a project funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The Fellowship created an opportunity to further develop this work. “It provided the framework to strengthen the relationships between the university and industry,” Dr Hopgood explains.

“Our project produced mathematical algorithms that were implemented by the software team at Agilent and were fundamental to the next generation of automated electrophoresis products,” continues Dr Hopgood. “These algorithms were entirely new, and doubled the performance of the existing analysis techniques.”

IMPACTElectrophoresis is a technique that uses electrical fields to separate macromolecules according to their size. It is a fundamental process frequently used in DNA, RNA and protein analysis. Dr Hopgood’s research addressed industrial challenges faced by Agilent and made a significant contribution to a new generation of electrophoresis products.

By regularly spending time onsite at Agilent, Dr Hopgood increased opportunities for knowledge transfer and exchanges of ideas. Agilent also made use of the partnership to access to a broader network of researchers at the University of Edinburgh.

Insights to industry practice have also been shared with students. “My teaching at both undergraduate and postgraduate level has been enhanced by using

the research outcomes as exemplars of the application of signal processing techniques to practical problems in industry,” highlights Dr Hopgood.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENTWorking with Agilent allowed Dr Hopgood to develop new research interests and the collaboration resulted in several publications. There are plans for continued work together through various new projects and Dr Hopgood successfully expanded his networks in industry during the Fellowship.

“I am still in close contact with the scientists and engineers who I worked with during the secondment, some of them now have a startup software development company, Firefinch, and I am a member of its advisory board,” Dr Hopgood explains. “We hope this will lead to future collaborative opportunities.”

ROYAL ACADEMY OF ENGINEERING INDUSTRIAL FELLOWSHIP SCHEMEThe Industrial Fellowship scheme provides an invaluable opportunity for early- to mid-career academics to undertake a collaborative research project in an industrial environment. The scheme aims to strengthen the strategic relationship between the university and the industry host by providing an opportunity to establish or enhance collaborative research between the two parties and enhance the quality of teaching.

“ My Industrial Fellowship provided an outstanding opportunity to work with scientists and engineers to research and develop data science tools that had a real impact on a new generation of products.”

Royal Academy of Engineering Prince Philip House, 3 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5DG

@RAEngNews E research@raeng.org.uk W raeng.org.uk/ifs First printed 2018

Image © Peter Tuffy Photography / Edinburgh Research and Innovation.