Professor Trevor McMillan named as new Midlands Innovation Chair

Professor Trevor McMillan, Vice-Chancellor of Keele University, has been announced the new chair of Midlands Innovation (MI), a partnership of our region’s top eight research-intensive universities that collaborate on research, development and innovation.

Professor McMillan has been at the forefront of enhancing knowledge exchange across the country, in his national role as Knowledge Exchange Champion for Research England.

He has led the development of the Knowledge Exchange Concordat with Universities UK, GuildHE and Research England, and also recently published a report on technology transfer from universities, the recommendations of which have been supported by Government.

In 2020, Professor McMillan was part of the National Centre for University and Businesses’ R&D Taskforce to advise on the future of UK Research and Development (R&D).

The Taskforce, requested by UK Research and Innovation, considered how partnerships between universities and businesses can be strengthened and maximized to drive growth and prosperity.

Succeeding Professor Alec Cameron, the Vice-Chancellor of Aston University, whose two-year term as MI Chair has now ended, Professor McMillan will also become the Midlands Innovation representative on the Executive Board of Midlands Engine.

Professor McMillan said:

I am delighted to named as Chair of the Midlands Innovation and to lead the partnership over the next two year together with MI Director, Dr Helen Turner.

I would like to thank Alec for driving our partnership forwards over his tenure. Midlands Innovation has achieved so much over the last two years, including our Energy Research Accelerator (ERA) – which is the UK’s largest green energy research partnership – demonstrating in 2020 that in year four (of a five-year programme) it had already delivered its original objectives.

ERA is putting a compelling case forward, backed by businesses, LEPs, MPs and Local Authorities in the region, that, with further investment, it can not only help to deliver leveling-up in the Midlands by creating nearly 7,000 jobs and delivering £1.5 billion GVA to the regional and national economy, it can also undertake the fundamental research needed to drive green energy innovation.

Professor Cameron has also successfully steered the partnership through the enormous challenges to date of the coronavirus pandemic, which has not only seen our health research arm, MI Health at the forefront of the UK’s research efforts to defeat the virus, it has also seen a fundamental and rapid shift in how our partnership, our collaborative research, and our academic networks have had to undertake their work.

To read the full press release go to the Midlands Innovation website.

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