We talk to Dr Ann McMahon at Queens University Belfast about her role as Business Alliance Manager for Agri-food and Nutrition Sciences
Over the past decade, increased collaboration between industry and research bodies has led to more impactful research and innovative product development. Dr Ann McMahon – whose role it is to encourage and support collaborative efforts between agri-food businesses and researchers at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB) – explains: “It used to be the case that the value of research was weighed against publication, but now it is about the impact of that research. Universities need to be engaging with public bodies and the private sector to ensure this is achieved. QUB sees considerable value in working with a whole range of external parties outside of academia to ensure the research that is happening in QUB is shaped by the end users: that it is impactful and has a role in society.”
Ann is Business Alliance Manager for Agri-food and Nutrition Sciences at QUB. Her role involves encouraging joined-up thinking between researchers within the university and partner organisations from the business community, the public sector, and voluntary and charitable sector. “I connect our researchers working in the area of agri-food and nutrition, and related areas, with businesses and organisations operating in the relevant sector to try to develop fruitful collaborations between the two. I have a good handle on what expertise each researcher in the university has, so I link up the right researchers with the right companies.”
Ann has established strong connections in the private sector and also meets up with food companies at events and conferences where she gets an insight into their needs regarding R&D. In some cases, companies also approach her with more specific requests. “I want to pair them with the right team and encourage them to start engaging together. Hopefully it will end in a piece of research going forward, but it doesn’t always. However, it is about getting the conversation going. We need to get researchers into the mindset of knowing what a company might want or need and the best way to do that is get them talking to each other. My job is almost like a broker.”
The second part of Ann’s job is to support these partnerships as they progress. “I look at funding opportunities that could help in moving a project forward and I also assist with the necessary legal items related to the agreement and facilitate negotiations here.” “It is quite a full remit,” she continues. “I work with businesses right across the food chain, from meat producers and seaweed farmers to large global companies and supermarkets. Some companies approach us with a very specific request where they have already identified what research they are looking to undertake; and other companies might come to us with a more open-ended query, such as maybe having a waste product that they think might offer some value to their operation.”
Ann notes that these partnerships are all mutually beneficial and drive further collaborations within the academic field. “What I find really rewarding is being able to bring different research teams together who wouldn’t normally work together. I am working with some food companies at moment and the areas of research include pharmaceutical, molecular biology and polymer processing.”
Discussing current trends, Ann explains that she is overseeing a number of projects that are focusing on developing opportunities into export markets beyond the UK. “If they can achieve a few days extra shelf life on a product that means they can move further out when it comes to market reach. We are looking into novel innovative methods to do this, dedicating a wealth of expertise and capabilities to come up with solutions."
The university also has close connections with safefood. “We have successfully been awarded safefood research projects and have provided research back to safefood. There is very good interaction between the two organisations and I have been involved in connecting that up"
Overall, Ann says that she has witnessed a growing appetite within the agri-food industry for increased collaboration in recent years: “it is clear to me that the agri food supply chain is very open to finding out how a university could help them in their sustainability as a company and in the sustainability of the supply chain they are a part of...they see the need, to ensure they remain competitive."
ABOUT ANN
Where did you grow up?
I grew up on a dairy farm in Minterburn - a tiny rural community in Co Tyrone.
What hobbies do you enjoy?
I enjoy hill walking and reading crime fiction.
Do you like to cook?
I love to cook and am currently working my way through Jamie Oliver's 5 ingredients cookbook.
What are you reading right now?
My favourite author at present is Peter James who wrote the best book ever - Dead Simple!
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