Paul may be joining us to head up R&D full time from January 2021, but he’s not fully cutting ties with academia just yet. The former Director of the Centre for Health and Environmental Management Research & Innovation will continue to be a spokesperson for Swansea University on the subject of (no points for guessing here) Air Quality. Paul has been heavily involved in research an innovation at the university since he became a professor at both the Medical School and School of Management in 2015. By 2017 Paul was Director of the Centre for Health and Environmental Management Research & Innovation (CHEMRI), which carries out research into how air pollution impacts on health and wellbeing.  Sound familiar?  It should do. This is what led to us collaborating on Think Air  – which is heavily influenced by Paul’s scientific interests and expertise. Paul’s role as spokesperson means he’ll continue to lend his expertise on air quality to press and publications – so you can expect to see and hear him across media outlets when the subject of air quality pops up. As well as this spokesperson role, Paul will also continue to sit on a number of Welsh Government panels and committees – where his expertise is helping to shape objectives, awareness and policies related to air quality. But back at Vindico, you can catch Paul’s signature work from January 2021. Got a project that needs Paul’s professional input in 2021? Drop us a line to see how we can take transform your next idea, concept or product into

Paul will head up R&D at Vindico on a full-time basis from January. Bringing with him a wealth of experience and expertise, Paul – who became a Professor at both the Medical School and School of Management at Swansea University in 2015 – will be helping us kick off the New Year in true Think Purple fashion. This new role expands on Paul’s existing work with us – which involved lending his expertise to develop Think Air. In case you haven’t already heard by now, Think Air  is on track to becoming the largest live air quality network in Wales – and you can find out more about that here . But back to Professor Paul… Think Air was hugely influenced by the Paul’s specialist interest in air pollution – and its impact on our health and wellbeing. In fact, Paul is a Geneticist by degree, and carried out his PhD at Swansea University (which was a mixture of research into evolutionary Genetics, cancer genetics and molecular modelling). After his PhD, Paul began a career in genetic toxicology, modelling how nasty chemicals in cigarette smoke actually cause cancer by attaching to our genes and damaging them. I was also a martial arts instructor in the university and interested in the importance of lung health, breathing techniques and the whole concept of ‘good air’ required for peak performance. As Paul puts it: “My entire career since has mainly focused on studying the air that we breathe through respiratory health diagnostics, data analytics and technology development. I went on to work in the University of Wales College of Medicine as well as Cardiff University before returning to Swansea as a Lecturer in the new Medical School in 2004, where I led the Respiratory Diagnostics Group. “In 2015, I became a Professor at both the Medical School and School of Management. In 2017, I became the Director of the Centre for Health and Environmental Management Research & Innovation (CHEMRI) where we carry out research into how air pollution impacts on health and wellbeing.  “I first met Jo about two and a half years ago at the university’s Centre for Research Innovation and was blown away by Vindico’s whole philosophy. I was heavily involved in innovation at the university and had already spun out a diagnostic company as well as an air pollution technology company with my son, Sam, so was looking to partner with external companies. “I met with Ryan as well, there was an obvious synergy with what we were all doing, and real potential to develop sensor technologies and networks. “They ended up sponsoring Sam as a PhD student, developing new environmental sensors and Think Air was born. Vindico has provided a huge commitment in taking Think Air forward towards commercial success and after many happy years in academia I’m jumping ship to help them deliver it! “I’ll be heading up R&D, so I’ll be well in my comfort zone. We’re heading for a busy year developing the environmental management arm within the company so that will be my main focus. “I’ll also be bringing health technology IP into the company, and we’ll be looking at ways to further develop new healthcare management systems. “Aside from the technology development, my real interest is building the AI, data analytics and modelling capabilities within the company to provide new services and products. “What I love about Vindico though is the whole Think Purple approach to developing ideas and being able to literally visualise the pipeline from concepts to solutions – it’s very different to the slow slog of innovation from academia! Best of all though I get to work in Parc Y Scarlets. My boyhood dream was to play for the Scarlets and now I can go and play there every day!” Speaking of Paul joining the team, Vindico MD Jo Polson added:  “We’ve worked with Paul for 2 years now and he’s been instrumental in the evolution of Think Air. “He’s brought in a level of expertise you almost can’t buy, and we are blessed to have him join our team officially and full time on January 1st, 2021. “It’s quite a coup! “But it’s not just in Air Quality, Paul brings an extra Secret Sauce of Statistical Analysis and R&D expertise to our Defence and visualisation work too. “He’s going to be a busy boy!” Keep your eyes peeled for some of Paul’s signature work from January 2021.   Got a project that needs Paul’s professional input? Drop us a line to see how we can take transform your next idea, concept or product into

Our partnership with K Sharp has come a long way since a chance meeting in Llanelli. We’ve collaborated on several high-profile projects, we’ve joined forces to carry out top secret work for the MoD, and now we’ve taken our (business) relationship to the next level by moving in together. But who exactly are K Sharp? And why are we so proud of our partnership? Here’s why they’re kind of a big deal. K Sharp is a Human Science Research and Human Factors consultancy founded by husband and wife team, Barry and Amanda Kirby. They’re all about understanding and optimising the relationship and interaction between people and technology. “We believe in bringing interesting people to work on fun projects,” says Barry. They’ve got experience in everything from Blue Sky Research (which explores what soldiers will look like in the future) through to the design of next-generation systems (including how can we control an armoured vehicle or a submarine), and also lend a cultural and behavioural understanding of cyber and social media, smart cities and wearable technologies. K Sharp works mostly in the defence industry, and their clients include Dstl, the MoD, BAE Systems, GD UK, and QinetiQ. Sound cool? It really is. Our first collaboration was the MoD’s UKDEf500 project. For Vindico, it’s been our first experience in the military domain, and for K Sharp it’s meant working with a similar mindset, but from dramatically different background. Our collaborations don’t end there. K Sharp continue to bring their expertise to a number of our projects. They’ve most recently lent their expertise to our SWAPP app – our very own safe workplace application that’s proven so successful that we recently rolled out a bespoke version on behalf of the WRU. So how exactly does Human Factors lend itself to design? Well, we’re all about our #ThinkPurple mantra here at Vindico. It means asking better questions to deliver the best outcomes, and Human Factors (HF) provides a vital human focus that helps us do just that. “It’s surprisingly easy to forget just who you’re designing your product or service for,” says Barry. “But HF methods allow you to step back, gain a common understanding of the problem space, and develop measurable requirements that keep the project focused on providing the best output for the end user.” And the benefits of HF don’t stop there. Focusing on what’s really needed leads to cheaper product development, less rework and, and most importantly, greater customer satisfaction. We continue to develop our partnership from our new joint home at Parc Y Scarlets , so expect to see even more collaborations led by HF methods over the coming months. But for now, we’ll be adopting those same tools to optimise our office space. You can find out more about K

We’ve officially moved into our new home at Parc Y Scarlets – and we couldn’t be more excited to be back. Our MD Jo has built a 20-year working relationship with the Scarlets – and we love them so much that we originally moved the Vindico HQ to Parc y Scarlets  back in 2014. We stayed until 2018, when we had to admit that we’d outgrown our office space. But we’ve now returned to the stadium. Our team has doubled since we left, so this time around we’ve filled a new, bigger workspace with even more tech talent and innovation experience. We’re also bringing our partners, K Sharp along with us. Speaking of the move, Scarlets COO Phil Morgan said: “Our relationship with Vindico MD Jo goes back to Stradey Park, before the game turned professional. He’ll be the first to say that, back then, it was held together with ‘yogurt pots and string’. “As Jo’s team grew, we benefitted from this accumulated skill and experience, and we like to think we also played an important part in the development of Vindico. “It was a symbiotic relationship that produced some wonderful innovation, and Vindico are still a crucial part of the delivery team here at Parc Y Scarlets. “We are delighted to welcome Vindico back to the Parc, and we have already begun planning even more innovations to work on together. We are equally delighted to welcome K Sharp, and it will be exciting to see what effect this Human Factors expertise can add to our already first-class development and processes. “Parc y Scarlets is at heart of the community within the region, so to bring in-house one of the leading tech innovation companies in Wales is a great fit for the Scarlets, while adding the potential of high-tech job roles to the area. In these challenging times it’s great to play a part in a local success story.” You can find out more about our 20-year partnership with the