IST - Key Persons
Derek joined Science Technician's Association (STA) in 1954 just a few months before it was incorporated and became the Institute of Science Technology (IST). He initially worked as a Junior technician at University College London in the Pharmacology Department where The Head of the Department was Professor Winton who was at the time, President of the STA.Derek completed the Institute's own 3 year technician Course and became ordinary technician. He joined the Royal Army Medical Corps for three years and took the medical technology examinations.On leaving the Forces he joined the Institute of Orthopaedics at Stanmore Middlesex doing research histology. He took the City & Guilds/IST final examination in histology in 1962 and became a Senior Technician.Over the next few years he wrote a number of scientific papers on orthopaedic research, mainly new histology techniques. He became a State registered Medical Laboratory Technician in 1968. About 1969 he became the Chairman of the London Branch of the IST and served on the Branch Committee until about 1973In 1974 whilst still working at the Institute he became director of a small company Reco Laboratory Products Ltd. This company still exists today under the name ‘Reco Laboratory Services'
In 1982, after 3 years study Derek wrote a thesis for the IST Fellowship, on the histochemistry of mucopolysaccharides and became a Fellow of the Institute. In 1989 he joined the Council of the IST and then the Executive as the Overseas and Fellowship Officer; a post he still holds today. He retired as Manager of the Institute of Orthopaedics in 2003.
He is now semi-retired but still runs Courses on microscope repair and servicing and still plays an active part in Reco Laboratory Services. He provides valuable support for the Executive in his capacity as Fellowship and Overseas Advisor.
Job Titles:
- Education Officer
- Trustee of the Science Council and a Specialist Advisor to the National Technician Development Centre
Arthur is a Trustee of the Science Council and a Specialist Advisor to the National Technician Development Centre (NTDC). During a long career as a professional Technician, Scientist and Management practitioner, Arthur became highly knowledgeable of and skilled in the effective delivery of research, teaching and professional services in the UK's Higher Education Institution (HEI) sector.
Arthur commenced his career at the University of Manchester, in 1975, as a trainee Technician. He completed his education and developed his professional profile whilst progressing his Technical, Scientific and Managerial career at the University. He attained an M.Sc., PhD and Chartered membership of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (CMIOSH). He is a Member of the Institute of Safety in Technology and Research (MISTR) and a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB) and Institute of Science and Technology (FIScT).
Arthur served as an elected member of Manchester University's General Assembly. He held the posts of Treasurer and Chair for the University Bioscience Managers' Association (UBMA) and acted as a Regional Network Co-ordinator for both HEaTED and The Universities Safety and Health Association (USHA).
Arthur has well established, productive working relationships within a number of professional bodies and organisations. Working with them, he has actively contributed to shaping best practice and achieving, HEI sector wide, advances; most notably in enhancing the professionalism, employability and career progression prospects of technical staff and in the development of safe & sustainable laboratories.
Job Titles:
- President
- Member of the Science Museum Advisory Board
Helen Sharman is the UK Outreach Ambassador at Imperial College London and a world-class inspirational speaker. She became the first British Astronaut in 1991, when she launched on a Soyuz rocket to carry out experiments on the Mir Space Station.
After her return from space, Helen spent many years communicating science and its benefits, winning prizes for radio and TV programmes and for her inspirational talks on STEM, leadership, teamwork and problem solving.
Following a degree in chemistry at the University of Sheffield, Helen started her career in industry in research and development of display screens at GEC before moving to Mars Confectionery, where she was part of the team that created the Mars Ice Cream.
More recently, Helen started a new career in management, leading a research group at the National Physical Laboratory and then as Technical Manager for Science, Engineering and Computing at Kingston University London. She was the Operations Manager of Imperial College London's Chemistry Department before moving into Imperial's Outreach Team.
Helen is also member of the Science Museum Advisory Board, an Ambassador for the Royal Osteoporosis Society and an active member of the Association of Space Explorers. She hosts the Zero Pressure podcast (available on https://linktr.ee/zeropressurepod), a relaxed conversation with people on the cutting edge, looking at how science and technology can contribute to solving complex, interrelated global challenges of today and tomorrow.
Helen was invited to join the Order of St Michael and St George in the Queen's 2018 New Year's Honours List.
Dr.Kranthi Maniam is the Marie Curie Fellow at the Materials Innovation Centre- University of Leicester, UK and also works as a Senior Project Leader -Technology at TWI limited, UK. His primary research and engineering activities revolve around electrodeposition of metal and metal alloys, ionic liquids, coatings, corrosion, fuel cells and surface finishing. He is the recipient of Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE) - Students Innovative Project Award at Doctoral Level and Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award (2015). He has 3 Patent Grants and worked extensively in electrodeposition, ionic liquids, authored more than 15 papers covering different fields of interest. I presented his work in various international conferences and is currently a member of Institute of Science and Technology (IST), Institution of Engineering and technology (IET) and the Institute of Materials Finishing (IMF). He is also active in the scientific community as peer reviewer and serving as an executive team member in IET-Tribology Network Community, Science Committee member in IMF, contributes to IST as common application process assessor, continuous professional development assessor, professional and personal development (PPD) audit reviewer. He is a Chartered Scientist and a Chartered Engineer in the UK.
Job Titles:
- AI Officer and EDI Coordinator
- Diversity & Equality Officer
Dr Marie Oldfield, CStat, CSci, APAI, FIScT, is the Chair and Founder of the IST AI Special Interest Group and Women in Tech Group. Marie is the CEO of Oldfield Consultancy and Senior Lecturer in Practice at LSE.
Marie is a recognised and published AI and Ethics Leader with a background in Mathematics and Philosophy. Marie is a trusted advisor to Governments, Defence, and the Legal Sector amongst others. Marie works at the forefront of Ethical AI, driving improvement and development.
Marie is frequently invited to speak on popular podcasts, panels and at conferences about her experience and research on the development of Ethics in AI as well as being invited to speak at Chatham House and at multiple companies on AI and Ethics issues.
Marie is passionate about giving back and has worked with many institutions including the UN, Nethope, MapAction, and various international bodies and governments to promote education, help in disaster relief and improve the life chances of the most poor and vulnerable across the globe.
Marie also operates as the IST's EDI Coordinator and is the founder member of the IST's AI Special Interest Group and is their Chair, and she is also the founder member of the IST's Women in Tech Group.
Michelle graduated with a degree in Biochemistry from the University of Manchester in 1991, followed by a PhD in biochemistry which was awarded in 1994. Over the next 9 years she worked in research labs as a post-doctoral scientist and technician in both Universities and the NHS. In 2003 she was appointed as a Technical Resources Manager (TRM) within one of three research sections within the Faculty of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester.In 2008 Michelle took up the post of Development Manager with the HEaTED project and as well as being actively involved in planning and directing the project, she developed their range of technical skills courses, Virtual Learning Environment, and set up the regional networking groups for technicians in HE. Michelle left HEaTED in 2011 to set up as a consultant and has been working on some challenging projects with S-Lab, the IST and a variety of universities since then.Michelle has developed technical knowledge across a wide range of disciplines including, clinical research, immunology, molecular biology, biochemical and biophysical science and cellular biology. In 2007 she became a Fellow of the Institute of Science and Technology and, with an A1 qualification, acts as an assessor for their Continuing Professional Development programme. Michelle worked as Technical Manager at the University of Nottingham which then led her to her current role in 2019 as Deputy Director of Operations at the University of Sheffield Faculty of Engineering.
In 2008 Michelle was elected to the IST Executive and continued in that role until 2013 when she became the IST Registrar. As Registrar Michelle oversees the new professional registration scheme offered by the IST which is licensed by the Science Council. Along with members of the Executive committee Michelle was instrumental in setting up the new registration scheme run by the IST, and now coordinates the scheme and its assessors.
Job Titles:
- Laboratory Manager
- Chartered Manager
- Manager for the National Laboratory Site at Starcross
- Mgr - IST Industry Liaison Advisor
James is the Laboratory manager for the National Laboratory Site at Starcross in Devon. The NLS is a national service of the Environment Agency and provides analytical data for a range of sample types. The NLS has four sites in Nottingham, Leeds, Caversham and Starcross each with their own specialism.
As Laboratory Manager James is part of the team who run the NLS and set the vision and strategy for the business. He is responsible for around 90 members of staff and the delivery of sample data to customer agreed targets and to ISO17025 quality standards.
James is a Chartered Manager and a Director of Newton Abbot University Technical College. He will be helping the IST develop industrial and government links and promoting frameworks for professionalising science/technical staff working in those sectors.
Job Titles:
- Finance Officer / Deputy Chair
Having started her career as a trainee technician at the University of Manchester, with minimal science qualifications, Joan worked in a number roles in their bioscience labs whilst gaining additional qualifications in science subjects up to degree level (Open University). Following on from her basic grounding in teaching/research she then spent 10 years as a Lab Superintendent/Manager, during which time she secured approaching £1m in grant income (over a number of years) to support the development of trainee technician programmes (in collaboration with a local FE College). In addition she also helped develop and roll-out a bespoke software package designed to handle HE departmental/faculty accounts and research grants - the software ultimately becoming adopted by over 400 departments across the country/HE sector. As a consequence of departmental/faculty restructuring she moved into a Finance/Admin role where she set up a new faculty finance, purchasing and research administration unit - also completing an MBA (Open University) during this time.
After spending several years consolidating the new integrated finance/research grants unit, and helping to roll-out the model to other faculties, she decided to take advantage of a University early retirement scheme (having over 30 years University service) and ‘jumped ship' to set up her own consultancy company, which she continues to run today. Her company provides consultancy support for admin systems development and website design/development.
Having joined the IST during her time as Lab Manager she continues to support the work of the Institute as Finance Officer, Deputy Chair and Administrator. Within her roles within the IST Joan was part of the team that obtained funding for, and facilitated the setup of HEaTED. She was also heavily involved in the IST team that gained a Science Council Licence for the award of CSci, RSci and RSciTech registration. Joan has a strong commitment to the development of technical staff career opportunities and the enhancement of the professionalisation of the technical community, and this is exemplified in her support for a variety of initiatives that work towards those aims. She is currently on the Board of Trustees of the National Technician's Development Centre.
Lee began his career in a veterinary analysis laboratory in Derby after graduating with a degree in Applied Biology. This was followed by a move into immunology research as a technician in Sheffield before spending several years a Clinical Scientist in microbiology at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.
From there Lee moved to the University of Nottingham as a senior research technician before taking on the management of the Fungal Biology research group for eleven years. During this time he built experience of wider development and management through taking on infrastructure, internal procurement and safety management projects and outside consultancy work.
Lee gained Chartered status in 2017 and moved into the engineering field as Technical Manager of the Electronic and Electrical Engineering department of the University of Sheffield in 2018. Lee is now the manager of the Department of Neuroscience in Sheffield, based in the Sheffield Institute of Translational Neuroscience (SITraN) and is a past member of the University's Technician Commitment group. He is an assessor for professional registration at CSci level and sits on the Science Council's Registration Assessment Committee.
Job Titles:
- Secretary
- Trustee and Member of the Royal Society of Biology
Lucy is the IST Secretary, and has responsibility for ensuring that we comply with legislative requirements and that we maintain suitable official records, and also for the coordination of our Executive meetings and documentation.
She is Operations Manager of the Department of Biology at University of York, where she has worked for 30 years. Lucy manages the technical support, services and facilities of the Department, with more than 11oo undergraduates, 150 researchers, 70 academics & 90 technicians.
Lucy is also a trustee and member of the Royal Society of Biology, a Fellow of the IST and an external advisor for the National Technician Development Centre
Job Titles:
- Scotland Network Coordinator
Russell started his career as a trainee Sport and Exercise Science Technician at Edinburgh Napier University in 2004. There he studied part time whilst working full time his in his role graduating with a degree in Sport and Exercise Science in 2013. Throughout this time Russell provided technical support across all undergraduate and postgraduates programmes as well as academic support within a multi-disciplinary team. This meant supporting multiple laboratories which included research, exercise physiology, sports Injuries, and biomechanics facilities, gathering expertise in the associated instrumentation within. As well as providing technical assistance for teaching and research studies, Russell has also supported commercial work with sport teams/individual athletes by conducting fitness testing and screening, heat acclimation, rehabilitation/injury screening, GPS load monitoring and biomechanics testing.
After 18 years at Edinburgh Napier University, he moved to Heriot-Watt University in 2022 to take on a Senior Technician role within a newly established sport and exercise science programme. This exciting development has meant engaging with colleagues to plan and develop new laboratory facilities and the equipping of these spaces. The programme is based within Oriam, Scotland's national sports performance centre which ensure our students have access to high end facilities whilst also being immersed in an elite sporting environment with partners including Scottish Rugby Union (SRU), Scottish Football Association (SFA), Scottish Squash, Tennis Scotland, Netball Scotland and Heart of Midlothian Football club working within the facility.
Russell first joined the IST in 2019 and sought to expand his technical network, and at the beginning of the COVID pandemic lockdown the IST technical network and wide technical community offered support and guidance. Joining the IST, attending good practice sessions and joining Techs Connect marked a turning point in his career. The mentorship and informal career guidance gained during this period led Russell to engage more actively with continuous professional development, which started a chain of events leading to future opportunities. Due to this Russell is keen to champion a more professional approach to the training and development of the technical workforce, encouraging others to engage within technical community.
In his career to date, Russell has worked with several other associations including the National Technician Development Centre (NTDC), Technicians Commitment, and the Science Council. Previous and ongoing projects include collaborating on a NTDC/LEAF Pilot Project, virtual exhibition encouraging future generations of technicians, Edinburgh technical collaborative (ETC) group, and acting Vice-Chair of routes to registration (RTR) committee.
Much of this work led to Russell being gaining institutional based awards, a Science Council CPD award and a nomination/shortlisting for THE Awards 2022 Outstanding technician of the year award.
Terry began his career as an Analytical Chemist for a multinational mining company, where he developed new analytical techniques and procedures as instrumentation technology advanced. He moved to the University of Sheffield to work as the Chief Technician in the Botany Department. Over the next eight years he continued to advance, becoming Departmental Manager of the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences. All the while championing the need for a more professional approach to the training and development of technicians in the HE sector; Terry received several more promotions before undertaking the role of Faculty Director of Operations.
For many years, Terry has been an active member of his professional body, the Institute of Science and Technology, (IST). In May 2012, he was elected as Chair of the IST, a position he still holds today.
Terry's passion and commitment to the Technical Community lead to his appointment as Director of Technical Development and Modernisation at the University of Sheffield in 2013. In 2014, he was awarded a three-year Catalyst Grant by HEFCE to undertake the TDM Project, which covered a variety of issues affecting Higher Education Institutions. In December 2017 he was awarded £1.125m to launch the National Technician Development Centre (NTDC) for technicians and their employers. After a highly successful three years for the NTDC, Terry retired from his Director's role in January 2020 and remains as the NTDC's Founding Director.
Terry was awarded an MBE for services to humanity after he rescued an academic colleague and his family from the violence occurring in Iraq in 1992. He was named ‘One of the Top 100 Leading Scientists 2014' and awarded Chartered Scientist status by the Science Council. He is also the current Chairman and CEO of the Institute of Science and Technology.
Terry's new role is as Founding Director of the National Technician Development Centre; a one-stop shop, providing organisations and their technical communities with access to information, expertise and a range of research and tools.