Richard Farrow is the UK Head of Industrial Liaison for CERN. Whilst an electronic engineer by training, his career since the 1980’s has spanned roles in areas such as technology innovation, business support, product manufacturing, strategy development and scientific research. He has formed and led teams in universities, large commercial organisations, start-up SMEs and government funded ‘big-science’ research. His central focus in all these roles has been the ambition to bridge the gap between academic research and industrial manufacture.