Ruth Mallors, director of Aerospace, Aviation and Defence KTN

Director, Knowledge Transfer Network (KTN) for Aerospace, Aviation and Defence

Education
PhD in Chemistry from the University of Edinburgh
BSc in Chemistry from University College, London

Previous Employment
Senior Manager of Knowledge Transfer Coordination, Ernst & Young

The sharing of information and ideas is, historically, one of the most important drivers of innovation. There’s an argument that it should be an informal process, without undue influence from the state. But the nature of innovation today is a complex and fraught process. As a consequence a rather elaborate web of support organization has grown largely from the Technology Strategy Board which delivers the UK’s innovation strategy at arm’s length from the Government.

We now have Launchpads, Catapult Centres, a Biomedical Catalyst, Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), and Knowledge Transfer Networks (KTNs). Some have accused the TSB of creating ‘too many cooks’, but the KTNs have undoubtedly proved popular. That’s probably because the basic premise sounds very familiar, namely to ‘drive the flow of knowledge within, in and out of specific communities.’