U2B Issue 3 Page 7

Unilever, who produce well known home and personal care brands such as Dove, Sunsilk, Lynx, Cif, Persil and Domestos, has recently been using the University to assist with a research and development project.

Dr Stephen McClean, Biomedical Sciences Research Institute, explained: “Unilever has been interested in studying the response of the human skin to various stimuli, and in particular the profile of molecules the skin produces. However, the very low amounts of molecules being expressed make them difficult to analyse. Unilever obtained the samples in their labs and then approached the Institute to carry out mass spectrometric analysis.

“The Institute offers an extensive range of mass spectrometry analysis for client projects, which is used to identify known and unknown compounds by the mass of the compound and its fragmentation profile.

“The focus of the analytical strategy turned to the use of quadrupole time of flight (QToF) mass spectrometry interfaced with capillary chromatography, also available within the Institute. Following a period of method development and validation it was possible to achieve some level of molecular profiling within the samples which allowed tentative identification of the compounds present.”

If your company is interested in using the mass spectrometry facilities within the Biomedical Research Institute please contact Dr Stephen McClean, telephone 028 70324406, or email s.mcclean@ulster.ac.uk

Get the Message

The University’s School of Communication offers expertise in communication auditing, communication skills training and working with management in communication strategy formulation.

The School has provided services to top performing organisations in the private and public sector, including leading aerospace organisations in the UK and Europe and the largest distributors of IT equipment in the world. Fred Morrison, Course Director, School of Communication, has provided management selection and development services in partnership with Talentquest of Atlanta, USA, a global market leader in the area. In addition with colleagues he has delivered communication training, auditing and strategy planning projects for a number of organisations.

Fred said: “Achieving organizational potential requires the building and developing of exceptional leadership and creating organisations that maximise communication. The first factor has long been accepted as a truism; the need for first class communication is less well established. Improved internal and external communication directly impacts on the bottom line. Measurement and evaluation of communication are essential diagnostic first steps to the design and implementation of communication training and strategy development programmes.”

For further information, please contact Dr Fred Morrison, School of Communication, telephone 028 9036 8860 or email
f.morrison@ulster.ac.uk

Vision for Workforce Management

A software company based at the University’s Science Research Park on the Magee campus has won a contract to help one of the UK’s leading motorist assistance companies plan the effective use of its workforce.

RAC Rescue will use a programme developed by InVision Software Ltd, a subsidiary of InVision Software AG in Germany. InVision’s Enterprise Workforce Management Product will enable RAC Rescue to draw up rosters for its 2,500 staff which meet the organisation’s comprehensive rules and fairness guidelines.

InVision is one of 25 companies based at the University’s Research Parks on the Coleraine and Jordanstown campuses, as well as Magee, which between them employ over 350 people. The Parks were established by the University in 1999 to support the clustering of knowledge-based companies.

At Coleraine, the focus is strongly on bioscience, software for the healthcare sector and bio-informatics applications. Magee concentrates on software development and advanced IT and at the Jordanstown campus the emphasis is on advanced engineering, medical devices and software development.

For further information about the Science Research Parks and how they can help your business, please contact Sean McCaul, telephone 028 7129 5901 or email sa.mccaul@uusrp.com