Scientists make good managers
Contrary to the popular myth of scientists being out of touch with the real world, they make good managers, maintains Sir Martin Wood, founder of the British company Oxford Instruments, relating his experience as a leading entrepreneur in the January 1999 issue of "Innovation & Technology Transfer". Oxford Instruments started some 40 years ago as a spin-out from the Clarendon Laboratories of Oxford University. It preserves its corporate culture by recruiting high-flying scientists, looking after them and training them to become good managers. Other articles included in the issue are: - Role models for an innovative Europe - describing the outcome of the First European Forum for Innovative Companies last November; - Boost to biotech - describing the new Directive (98/44/EC) on the patentability of biotechnological inventions; - Cleaner water - report of a conference reviewing European progress on wastewater control; - Managing to fulfil Europe's technological potential - a dossier on innovation management techniques; and; - Larger slices of PIE for local industry - reviewing the European Systems Software Initiative (ESSI) to improve the software development process.