Executive Board Membership

Mike Colechin, Cultivate’s founder, has been a Executive Board member of IDCORE since it was set up in 2011. Since 2019 he has also been chairing the Centre’s Industrial Advisory Committee. Recently, Cultivate has developed a series of case studies of IDCORE research engineers and their projects.

Activities undertaken

• active participation in executive board meetings drawing on experience of working at the interface between public, private and academic sectors
• creative facilitation of discussions with partners as chair of the industrial advisory committee
• using interview skills, sector knowledge, design and communication capabilities to develop case studies of research projects
• mentoring research engineers and supporting them in progressing towards chartered engineer status
• delivery of Heuristic’s Power Trader workshop to each cohort of research engineers

“Cultivate have been an important partner in the development and delivery of IDCORE. In particular their work to interview our research engineers, their sponsor companies and academic supervisors and to develop case studies highlighting the impact of our research has been invaluable. The resulting book of case studies has been well received by UKRI, has helped inform the updating and redesign of our training programme and has helped attract new companies to join the ranks of our project sponsors. Everyone involved in the development of the case studies has found the process enjoyable and Mike and his team have helped identify key impacts for researchers and stakeholders alike.

Mike is also a key member of the centre’s executive board. His role as the independent chair of our industrial advisory committee is key to maintaining a strong link between the wide range of companies we work with – from the smallest of SMEs to large blue-chip companies – and the centre. His advice to the board is invaluable and insightful, and without it IDCORE would not be the highly regarded centre it is today.”