Sign In

John Richards

Director of Knowledge Exchange at Aston University

John Richards is a seasoned Knowledge Exchange professional with more than 25 years of experience in spearheading collaborative research, technology transfer, and business development initiatives.

He has played a pivotal role in furthering Aston University's mission and 2030 strategy, leading to numerous accolades, including being recognized as the 'University of the Year' by the Guardian and winning the 'Entrepreneurial University of the Year' award from the Times.

John currently heads a dedicated team that facilitates connections between academic experts from Aston University's Colleges of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Health and Life Sciences, and Business and Social Sciences with industrial and public sector organizations.

Apart from his professional endeavors, John Richards enjoys activities like running, playing cricket, and supporting his favorite football team.

He holds an MBA with Distinction from Aston University and a Bachelor of Social Science in Public Policy and Administration with a 2.1 from the University of Birmingham.

With a rich background that spans various roles at Aston University, such as Director of Knowledge Exchange, Director of Industrial Research Partnerships, and Head of Business Development, John has acquired a diverse skill set and a deep understanding of fostering strategic partnerships.

Highlights

Sep 3 · linkedin

The adoption of digital technology and Industry 5.0 principles is know to be to be one of the biggest challenges and greatest opportunities for UK manufacturing. Aston University is working with partners including the likes of Make UK, Innovate UK, Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce and others to undertake world class innovation, enhance productivity and drive business growth.

In our latest Innovate UK Knowledge Transfer Partnerships project, we are working with Redditch-based Protaform Springs & Pressings Ltd who are a leading manufacturer of springs, pressworks, wireforms and multiforms to OEMs in the automotive, military, defence, Aerospace, electronics, medical, leisure and construction sectors.

Read more below to find out how academics from Aston Business School are working with the company to undertake a transformational industry 5.0 programme spanning business strategy, human factors, processes automation, technology adoption and data-driven decision making via a new digital dashboard and digital twins.

Huge congratulations to the project team including Donato Masi, Dr Ben Clegg, Ammar Al-Bazi, Mark Lovatt, Steven Shaw, des fagg, Anuradha Kamble and Paul Warrington.

#UKManufacturing #Innovation #TeamAston

Aug 22 · linkedin

Non-healing wounds, such as diabetic foot ulcers, are one of the most common inflammatory conditions having a huge impact on patients, clinical workloads and rising costs of over £5bn to the NHS to treat.

Aston University’s Professor Andrew Devitt, Dr Ivana Milic and Dr James Gavin have founded EVolution Therapeutics Ltd, to help overcome this huge unmet clinical need through the development of new advanced treatments.

The treatments are based on extracellular vesicles, which are small, membrane-enclosed fragments which are released by dying cells to trigger the body’s natural repair systems. EVo's breakthrough technology means that they they can encase healing enzymes in such vesicles, which can be applied to wounds as an active treatment.

Click the link below to watch an amazing podcast with Aston's Head of Research Commercialisation, Luke Southan, and the academic team exploring the biology behind their unique therapy and the personal research story behind the work and the crucial role of grant funding from sources such as BBSRC and Innovate UK along with more recent support from SPARK the Midlands hosted at Aston University and supported by the West Midlands Health Tech Innovation Accelerator - WMHTIA.

John Richards
Add to my network

Location

West Midlands, England, United Kingdom