Written by Will Salmon, FASS Commercialisation Officer at the University of Surrey.
I am a recent arrival to the world of Knowledge Exchange having joined the University of Surrey as AHSS Commercialisation Officer 6 months ago. Prior to this, most of my career has been in the media and publishing sector, working on partnerships and intellectual property rights. My first experiences of PraxisAuril has been as a member of the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) Community of Practice (CoP) which has been a fantastic way to meet other colleagues in the field of SHAPE commercialisation via regular online meetings where we compare notes and challenges.
I jumped at the chance to attend the PraxisAuril Conference since the agenda had a lot of focus on SHAPE topics that are very relevant to my day-to-day role, as well as some bigger picture subjects (levelling up, regional clusters, metrics) that I hoped would increase my understanding of the wider KE world. I also hoped to meet some fellow colleagues who until now have just been small boxes in zoom calls.
My hopes for the conference were more than exceeded! It was a really friendly atmosphere and very professionally organised. There were a lot of interesting presentations and workshops on SHAPE commercialisation, and as well as hearing some excellent case studies from the likes of Essex and Durham, there were a lot of interactive sessions which not only helped to meet other people but gave a much wider range of perspectives and experiences.
Some of the biggest challenges in SHAPE Commercialisation arise from the fact that the processes and metrics follow the more established STEM model that has led the way in creating spin-outs or licensing deals from university research. There was a very interesting presentation on a ‘SHAPE Readiness Level’ (SRL) toolkit that could offer a more suitable way of assessing the stage of SHAPE projects rather than the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) that is the current standard-bearer (and is borrowed from NASA!). We also discussed what ‘meaningful metrics’ could look like for SHAPE, and while the discussion was fascinating and there were some great ideas, it is clearly a complex topic that will doubtless be revisited a few more times.
My favourite part of the conference was the chance to meet a lot of friendly and enthusiastic people, both during sessions and chance meetings over cups of tea or lunch. My LinkedIn network has grown rapidly, along with my broader understanding of KE - and above all I came back on the train fizzing with ideas for what I wanted to do as soon as I was back at my desk!
Will Salmon
FASS Commercialisation Officer, University of Surrey