PraxisAuril delivers knowledge-based training on technology/knowledge transfer and commercialisation issues by combining a thorough, professional education model with international academic and business excellence. We have the UK's most research-intensive universities as members which means we can share the very best of a range of approaches that the UK has in innovation, entrepreneurship, knowledge and technology transfer practice. Our trainers have worked and lived every aspect of technology transfer, knowledge exchange, entrepreneurship and research commercialisation.
We have a wide community of trainers on which to call, all of premium calibre, some of whom are profiled below.
Dr David Secher
In 2002, together with Lita Nelsen of MIT, David Secher founded Praxis (now PraxisAuril). He served as chairman or as a director at PraxisUnico until 2012, when he became one of our Patrons. David is a Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) and an independent consultant in the areas of research commercialisation, intellectual property and technology transfer, in the UK and internationally. Recent assignments include work in Thailand. Saudi Arabia, Japan, Brazil, Chile, Lebanon, Jordan, Mexico and Europe. As a consultant, he has advised universities, governments and individuals on the commercialisation of intellectual property, as well as acting as a non-executive director of high technology and investment companies.
David is based in the University of Cambridge and is a Life Fellow of Gonville & Caius College. Previous roles include Senior Bursar of his college; Chief Executive of the N8 Research Partnership (a collaboration of the eight most research-intensive universities in the North of England); Director of Research Services, University of Cambridge; Director of Drug Development, Cancer Research Campaign (now Cancer Research UK); and Director of Monoclonal Therapeutics, Celltech Ltd. His PhD work at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Laboratory of Molecular Biology was with the late César Milstein (Nobel Prize-winner for the discovery of monoclonal antibodies). Together with Derek Burke, David made and patented the first monoclonal antibody to human interferon. David was awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion in 2007, in recognition of his contributions to creating "environments that favour enterprise, specialising in the practical aspects of commercialising the results of academic research".
Gavin Smith
Gavin Smith, now retired, was Director of Lancaster University Business Enterprises Ltd. He was responsible for commercialisation of research from all departments of Lancaster University, including evaluations, patenting, marketing, licensing, spinout company formation and also using IP to assist in winning collaborative research grants.
Gavin was an undergraduate and postgraduate at Cambridge University. After a period as a post-doctoral researcher and then travelling, he spent many years in SMEs operating in the electronics, software and banking sectors, and as an independent consultant. He has been and continues to be a director of several university and independent companies.
Iain Thomas
Iain is Head of Cambridge Enterprise’s Life Sciences team at the University of Cambridge where he and his team work in fields as diverse as therapeutics, diagnostics, biofuels, IVF, epigenetics and agritech. CE’s portfolio of products includes alemtuzumab (Sanofi), breast cancer markers (Brevagen) and mouse touch screen chambers (Campden Instruments). Recent spin-outs include Morphogenix, Mission Therapeutics, Cambridge Epigenetix, XO1 Therapeutics (sold to Janssen), Z-factor, Phoremost, and Storm Therapeutics. Iain led discussions with GSK in respect of the University of Cambridge–GSK open innovation drug discovery initiative based at the SBC and was the Cambridge lead for the Apollo Therapeutics Fund. Iain has been an active trainer for Praxis Courses since 2004.
Paul Maclennan
Paul Maclennan is a solicitor and a Partner at Anderson Law LLP, a niche firm of commercial/IP solicitors based in Oxfordshire. Paul advises on a wide variety of commercial agreements focussing on transactional work within the IT, life sciences and university sectors. His clients include leading UK universities and an international IT/telecoms company. Paul is listed in Chambers & Partners as a leading UK lawyer in the field of Intellectual Property and is a contributor to a number of Anderson Law’s publications on intellectual property and commercial law, most recently Technology Transfer (3rd Ed, Bloomsbury, 2010). Paul can be reached at paul@andlaw.eu
Robert Marshall
After more than two decades working at a senior level in the university sector and manufacturing management, Robert Marshall now provides training, consultancy, personal coaching and advice on technology transfer, commercial negotiation, conflict resolution and communications for a wide range of private and public sector clients worldwide. He is passionately interested in the psychology of the workplace, negotiation and dispute resolution.
Robert was Head of Technology Transfer at the University of Cambridge, where he was instrumental in the creation and development of the Technology Transfer Office (now called Cambridge Enterprise). For four years he was Director of Research & Business Services at the University of East Anglia (UK), and before that he worked in manufacturing management, consultancy, research management and as a quality manager in specialist engineering companies.
He is a former member of the Bank of England’s Consultative Group and has served on the governing council of The Association for University Research and Industry Links (AURIL).
Sarah Stables
For the past 15 years Sarah has worked to promote knowledge exchange between HE and industry, her work has been focused on Cumbria and as such her specialist area of understanding is the growth and development of new Universities as place-based anchor institutions in rural areas. All of her industry and knowledge exchange work has involved engagement with businesses across a range of sectors, with a specific understanding of the challenges of enabling knowledge exchange in rural areas with a primarily SME business profile. European Funding has enabled much the Knowledge Exchange work, as such Sarah has experience of managing and delivering programmes of over £24M of European structural funds.
Over the past 15 years, Sarah has worked with and managed teams of up to 26 Knowledge Exchange professionals and as such has a keen interest in the advancement of knowledge exchange professional development frameworks.
Sarah’s most recent role has been as Business Development and Enterprise Lead for the University of Cumbria. She has sat on many regional boards encouraging links between Universities and regional growth this includes Cumbria LEP Technical Officers Group, the Cumbria ESIF committee and the North West Universities European Unit. Sarah was very proud to be an AURIL council member from 2015.
Sue Sundstrom
Sue joined the university sector in 2002 initially as Director, Lifescience Enterprise at the University of Southampton and now as Head of Technology Transfer at the University of Bristol, following a career with AstraZeneca.
Whilst with AstraZeneca, Sue undertook a range of commercial roles in marketing (UK and international), corporate strategy (new and existing businesses), business development and general management. As Managing Director of a French subsidiary she turned it from loss making to profit in 2 years through a rigorous prioritisation and rationalisation process. She was responsible for the sale of a subsidiary in Chile to one of its customers, negotiating a good price while protecting staff and maintaining an appropriate supply arrangement.
Our international clients have all been highly satisfied with the training we delivered.
PraxisAuril thoroughly evaluates every course that it runs. Our consistently high level of customer satisfaction is based on our detailed understanding of the client's needs and objectives, the wider commercial environment in which they operate, and the expertise of our trainers.
The average rating for the overall quality of courses delivered internationally over the last four years was 4.61/5, where 5 is a ranking of “excellent”. Over 99% of delegates reported that they would be happy to recommend our international courses.
We pride ourselves on the high levels of praise our courses receive:
"Excellent level of information. It is not theoretical but also practical expertise."
"The UK has a creative approach to addressing technology transfer issues."
"The case study chosen was complex and futuristic. It was thought provoking and gave a real insight into evaluating a technology and the way it needs to be commercialised."
"Initiatives like this help bring China and the UK together to work on technology transfer."
"Unlike the very common type of seminar in Japan that tends to be a one-way presentation, we were able to have a constructive dialogue with the instructors."