Royal Society announces 2021 Entrepreneur in Residence scheme award holders

The University of Wales Trinity Saint David’s (UWTSD) Visiting Professor Jessica Leigh Jones is one of 16  entrepreneurs, senior scientists and business leaders awarded a place on the Royal Society’s Entrepreneur in Residence scheme for 2021. 

The Entrepreneurs join a growing network in universities and research institutes across the UK, helping translate cutting-edge research into industrial success. Alongside their host institution, the award holders will develop projects that build the entrepreneurial skills of staff and students, as well as their understanding of the scientific challenges being addressed by companies in the region.

Jessica Leigh Jones, MBE, co-founder and Chief Executive of the CareerTech company iungo solutions, is a Visiting Professor at UWTSD supported by the Royal Academy of Engineering to develop the next generation of intrapreneurial graduates to drive innovation in manufacturing in Wales.

This latest appointment will strengthen that collaborative role further through the development of a new Degree Apprenticeship in Engineering Entrepreneurship to cultivate a start-up culture within manufacturing to create a centre of excellence for engineering entrepreneurial education in Wales.

Through the Enterprising Engineers Programme, which will be delivered by the University’s Wales Institute of Science and Art from March, Jessica is already working closely with the School of Engineering to ensure Engineering apprentices and students have the knowledge, entrepreneurial skills and expertise needed in a Post Covid-19 world.

Aligning to the Welsh Government’s Manufacturing Future for Wales: a Framework for Action, Enterprising Engineers will focus on developing engineering students and apprentices to become intrapreneurs within the industry whilst strengthening university-industry collaboration for innovation. Enterprising Engineers forms part of a long-term strategy for developing sustainable competitive advantage within the Welsh manufacturing industry.

Jessica said: “It’s a privilege to be able to extend my relationship with UWTSD through the Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence scheme. We are working on an exciting programme that will deliver ground-breaking support to the manufacturing industry in South Wales. It’s inspiring to be working with forward-thinking academics and industrial partners and I look forward to what we can achieve together.”

Programme Director Richard Morgan said: “This appointment, funded by the Royal Society, will allow UWTSD to work closely with Jessica to further enhance our enterprise and innovation activities. Whether working within the structure of an established organisation or within a new ‘start-up” entrepreneurial thinking and innovative, creative problem-solving approaches can be critical to developing and maintaining a competitive advantage. UWTSD ranks no 1 in Wales and 2^nd in the UK, for graduate start-ups that remain active after three years. This is a testament to the ongoing work undertaken by our Enterprise Team and academic staff to support learners during their studies at UWTSD and beyond. Jessica’s appointment as Entrepreneur in Residence will certainly be instrumental in enhancing our enterprise provision within the Engineering disciplines and will provide our learners with excellent opportunities to develop highly sought-after skills.”

Barry Liles, OBE, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Skills and Lifelong Learning said: “The University is privileged in having the support of the Royal Academy enabling our collaboration with such an inspirational individual as Jessica. Our collaboration with Jessica is, in many ways, ground-breaking as we develop new models of inter disciplinary learning. It is incumbent upon us as a University to develop our students as flexible, resilient, lifelong learners able to adapt, at a pace, to the rapidly evolving changes to workplace environments. This initiative will provide huge benefits to our students and help in their quest for sustainable and worthwhile employment.”

The Royal Society says that with expertise from across aerospace, sustainable finance, digital life sciences and beyond, this year’s cohort can help graduates develop skills that will be at the heart of a fair and green recovery from the pandemic.

Through the scheme, Entrepreneurs in Residence are funded to spend one day a week with the partner institution. Since its inception in 2018, the scheme has funded 65 placements in 38 universities across the UK. 

The Royal Society is a Fellowship of many of the world's most eminent scientists and is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.

The Society’s fundamental purpose, reflected in its founding Charters of the 1660s, is to recognise, promote, and support excellence in science and to encourage the development and use of science for the benefit of humanity.

The Society has played a part in some of the most fundamental, significant, and life-changing discoveries in scientific history and Royal Society scientists continue to make outstanding contributions to science in many research areas.

Its priorities are:

• Promoting excellence in science
• Supporting international collaboration
• Demonstrating the importance of science to everyone

Further Information

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