Visiting Professor Terry Wilkins

Profile

Career Profile & Impact

Professor Terry Wilkins has 33 years industrial and 15 years’ academic experience at CTO, COO and CEO Director levels in GE Healthcare; the Nobel Laureate Christian De Duve Institute, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels: ICI and University of Leeds respectively, as an innovator in high-value manufacturing for the medical device, biotechnology, nanotechnology, advanced materials and environmental engineering industry sectors, yielding substantial economic and societal impact worldwide. Examples of his innovations include:

1. Nanoparticle free-analyte radioimmunoassay for metabolic diseases launched in 1982 yielding €1.7billion of sales per year in 2020 (Note: 92% exported globally outside the UK). Thyroid diseases affect ~12.5% of the world’s population but with early detection are treatable thus prolonging health and life. The invention lives on, approved by NICE (2014), for early detection and management of prostate cancer measuring free-PSA yielding €2.8  billion sales per year in 2020 (CAGR=13.2%). Prostate cancer effects 11.5% of men worldwide.
    
2. High-throughput chemiluminescence immunoassay system launched in 1985. Applications include oncology, gynaecology, haematology, metabolic and infectious diseases. The business was acquired by J&J in 1991 for $1016 million and currently earns $1.7 billion sales per year.
    
3. Trade sale of nanoparticle clinical immunoassay robotics spin-out SME in 1988 for $12 million, from ACADE (academic developments SA), Nobel Laureate Christian de Duve’s Institute of Cellular & Molecular Pathology, Brussels, Belgium. His team secure licences to US, German and Japanese multinationals for use of 141 immunoassays/  His research also led to world firsts for HIV, MS and Lyme disease clinical diagnostics.
    
4. World’s first and most successful DNA fingerprinting business (Cellmark). Huge societal impact on policing, paternity resolution and immigration since 1990. Current world sales are $2.1billions per year.  [NB: Innovation built on collaboration with Sir Alex Jeffries and Sir Alex Markham’s world-beating science]. His team also developed the first clinical assays for infectious and inherited  diseases. This business is currently a $6.2billion global market.
    
5. Also in ICI Diagnostics together with Sir Alex Markham, developed a novel fast gene hunting methodology based on PCR gene amplification. Our combined teams found the Cystic Fibrosis gene in 6 months.  The world human genome consortium was unable to find this single point gene mutation by cloning methods in 10 years. I [NB: A major step in shortening the race to sequence the human genome].  The CF gene testing market is $14.3 billions/year in 2020.  This innovation provides the basis of all RNA/DNA PCR clinical diagnostic tests for Covid-19 used in the current pandemic.
    
6. In total, his GE-Healthcare, UCLouvain and ICI innovations generated >160 clinical diagnostic products for all branches of medicine including infectious diseases, cancer, endocrinology, genetics, foetal-maternal well-being and neurology.
    
7. His team re-engineered ICI’s nano-crystallite Titanium dioxide manufacturing worldwide on or consumer products, using on-line Raman spectroscopy and multivariate process control. It returned a €3 billion/year business to £300 million profit/year after several years of near zero profits. The invention increased product purity to ~100% but also substantially reduced energy use, CO₂ emissions and solid waste emissions (~zero) to the environment. 
    
8. His team invented a novel FTIR on-line measurement and control system essential for the success of global 1,1,1,2-Tetrafluoroethane (KLEA 134a) HFC refrigerant gas manufacturing plants replacing CFCs. In 2014, 2016 & 2018 the UN, EU, NASA, WMO, NOAA 2014 joint climate change panels showed HFCs have now reversed ozone layer thinning. The sector currently makes $17 billion HFC sales/year.
    
9. His engineering team reduced the organic chemical pollution into the river Tees, UK by 99% in 18 months from ICI’s giant Teesside manufacturing complex by developing low cost on-line total organic carbon sensors, environmental engineering and large chemical complex business management.  These devices are used worldwide (Sales= $1.3billion/year) to protect rivers from pollution from the chemical industry, petroleum industry and from airport fuel spills.

10. He was the Founder & Director of ICI’s global High-Throughput Product and Process innovation centre. A global Open Innovation Ecosystem (OIE), benchmarked as world class. It was built on a hub & spoke model with leading universities, robotics and AI engineering companies around the world plus ICI’s 8 global operating businesses, to enable them to outcompete their competitors in advanced materials. Combined product sales Post ICI where in excess of many €billions in 2019. The centre lives on as the UK’s National Formulation Centre, Teesside, UK.

11. He was appointed Europe’s first professor of Nanomanufacturing on joining Leeds University in 2005. His Chair was endowed by Yorkshire Forward. He established the Nanomanufacturing Institute operating across the faculties of Engineering, Physical Sciences, Bioscience, Medicine and Business as an Open Innovation Ecosystem (OIE) ranging over: a) nanomedicine, b) industrial nanomaterials, c) nanoelectronics d) EHS risks of engineered nanoparticles and e) management science and policy making for emergent technology manufacturing.

Prizes, Awards & Medals

UK & EU Research and Innovation Policy

​Success as an industrial innovator has led to service pro bono as a high-level expert advisor (and committee chair) to the UK government since 1992 (BIS, DTI) including the Minister of Science & Universities (2011-to date); the European Commission (since 1994) and EU Parliament (since 2008) covering i) Nanotechnology, Materials,  Biotechnologyproduction technologies (NMBP) R&I program;  ii) the Marie Curie mobility program and iii) Europe’s Metrology 3 Article 185 R&I programs (FP7, H2020 & Horizon Europe). His economic analysis for the EC’s NMP Directorate’s in the FP6 Expert Advisory Group (2002-6) led to it becoming the EC’s lead directorate for nanotechnology in FP7 and the EU’s annual R&I investment for nanotechnology exceeding that of the US National Nanotechnology Initiative (€2.0 billion & $1.6 billion respectively) in 2013. More recently, 2019, Lux Research Inc., New York has shown the EU now has 36% and the US 32% of a $4.4 trillion/year market for nanotechnology. More recently, as chair of the NMP Expert Advisory Group 2007-2020, he created a new general theory of open innovation ecosystems (OIEs) and led the preparation of 10 EU R&I policy papers tackling the critical success factors for best practice in innovation to maximise the economic benefits from the €6.7 billion Key Enabling Technologies R&I programme in Horizon 2020 (2014-20) and Horizon Europe (2021-2028). Current UK government policy work includes: Royal Academy of Engineering advisor for Covid-19 clinical diagnostic testing; international collaborations in innovation; EU/UK innovation collaboration.

EU Research & Innovation Projects Track Record

He has led large collaborative industrial engineering research and innovation projects in all 8 EC framework programmes from 1982 -2020 which is an UK and EU unique record.  He has won for the UK a total EU grant income ~€139 million, all invested in the development of large numbers of able young engineers and scientists to work on high-value product and manufacturing technology innovations in his chosen fields of commercial applications.  

New Engineering Disciplines Created

He is a pioneer of 3 new engineering disciplines: [i] process analytical technology (PAT) and [ii] nanomanufacturing. By combining both recently, he and his colleagues have made major breakthroughs in Nano-QSARs and developed [iii] “Safe/Green by design” manufacturing of engineered nanomaterials,

Definitions

[i] Process Analytical Technology: Engineering of on-line ‘high information content’measurement devices together with advanced control systems to optimise product quality, yield, process economics and accelerate regulatory approval e.g. a) REACH for chemicals & materials in EU and b) FDA & EMA for medical products in the US and EU.

Nanomanufacturing: Manufacturing of materials and devices wherein one or more dimensions of the products are at a scale of <100 nanometres.

Responsibilities

• Nanotechnology Manufacturing Director

Research interests

He became Europe’s first professor of Nanomanufacturing on joining Leeds University in 2005, an endowed chair, where his personal research ranges over:

1. Nanomedicine,
2. Industrial nanomaterials,
3. Nanoelectronics
4. Environment, Health & Safety (EHS) risks of engineered nanoparticles
5. Management and policy making for emergent technology manufacturing including:
   -   New models of innovation ecosystems for key enabling technologies (KETs)
   -   Best practice in innovation
   -   Accelerating innovation
   -   Innovation training
   -   Frugal innovation
   -   International cooperation in innovation

Current Research & Innovations Projects

These include: a) EU H2020 BioRIMA project for “Safe-by-Design” of nano-enabled artificial hip joints and nanmedicine targeted drug delivery of biopharmaceutical agents; b) EU H2020 NanoCarb ITN MSCA project; c) Royal Academy of Engineering international R&I collaboration policy development; d)  new theory of Alzheimer’s disease based on cytotoxicity and reverse bioengineering principles at the nanoscale and e) developing the EC’s new Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI) framework for all Horizon Europe 2021-2028 R&I.

Royal Academy Advisory Roles

Covid-19 Research & Innovation Projects (2020-to date)

These include: a) UK Government policy for Covid-19 clinical diagnostic tests – based on the  pioneering industrial immuno- and DNA-tests developed in his industrial career above; b) collaboration in Oxford/Suzhou Oxsed SME and trade sale of its successful development of rapid “POC Covid-19 PCR test for use in airports world wide; c) with EU BioRIMA and NanoCARB project partners, investigating the nanotoxicoligy risks from the PEGylated lipid nanocapsules for delivering mRNA vaccines; d) development of catalytic systems for deactivating Covid-19 nanoparticles in hospital and public transport air management systems. 

Royal Academy of  Engineering Policy Development (2020 -to date)

Development of international collaborations in engineering at the bilateral level and with the EU’s Horizon Europe R&I Programme (2021-2028)

Qualifications

• BSc Chemistry, University of London
• PhD Chemistry University of London
• Honorary DEng University of London

Professional memberships

• Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering
• Fellowship of the Royal Society of Chemistry
• Chartered Chemist
• Fellowship of the Institute of Measurement & Control
• Chartered Engineer
• Liveryman of the Worshipful Company Scientific instrument Makers of London

Research groups and institutes

• Complex Systems and Processes
• Functional Materials