Dr Lisa McFetridge is a senior lecturer in the School of Mathematics and Physics and is Thematic Lead for Statistics and Data Analytics. She first became involved in a KTP project in 2017, and has made the journey from supporting another academic to leading a project herself. She is now keen to support other colleagues in her School who are leading their first KTP projects.

How many KTP projects have you worked on, and what areas did they focus on?

I’ve worked on three KTP projects to date. On the first project, I supported a colleague and we worked with a company called Sensum. This work linked machine learning with psychological models to understand human emotions when driving cars. I learnt a lot from that experience, all of which has helped me in my future KTP projects.

On the second KTP project, I was the academic lead. This work was joint with Card Group Ltd, and ran during the pandemic, ending in 2022.  This project focused on consumer and market analysis using machine learning to get a better insight into the factors that influence a consumer’s purchase.

The third, a current project, is one I am managing jointly with a colleague from the School of Electronics, Engineering and Computer Sciences, with Bia Analytical – a spin out company from the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen’s.  The Bia Analytical project examines issues around food fraud using machine learning.

 As one KTP ends I like to have another KTP project ready to start. They’re great!

How did you find out about KTPs?

I was at an event run by the Research and Enterprise team at Queen’s for company leaders to outline to academics the areas they might need research support with. I met Lorraine Marks of the KTP Office, who subsequently introduced me to several businesspeople that she thought my research areas may be of help to.

What do you personally get from working on KTPs?

As a statistician, everything I do is about how statistics can help inform decisions in real world contexts. The KTP projects give me great and varied opportunities to put my work into real-life scenarios. Each KTP project offers a different application area that I probably wouldn’t be involved in otherwise. For example, a lot of my academic work focuses on medical statistics, working with NHS data, but the KTPs allow me to expand out my work and to identify and then apply which models are translatable and can work for other areas: it expands my interaction with a range of new disciplines.  It is great to see how the statistical models can help companies: from analysing other people’s emotions on the Sensum project, to consumer analysis with Card Group Ltd and around issues of food fraud with Bia Analytical.

I also enjoy working with a range of different people and it really helps my own personal development too.  I feel that the KTP involvement and publication of papers relating to it was a factor in helping me secure a promotion last year to senior lecturer. The experience I gain from using statistical models with companies can also help feed into how I use the models on the NHS projects – and even the models around consumer choice with Card Group Ltd can feed into how doctors and patients can make treatment choices.  Plus, it is great to see people in the companies really appreciate my contribution to the project and tell me how it has improved their business in some way.

How do KTP Projects Benefit the Academic School?

When publishing academic papers in statistics, it is common to present not just on a statistical theory, but to give examples of its application in a range of different areas. The work I do with companies naturally lends itself to such publications. Presenting this research and KTP findings at international conferences also helps to raise the University and School profile.

Following the conclusion of KTP projects, I like to keep in touch with the companies around the ongoing development and embedding of the work of the KTP project, for example with Card Group Ltd.  That KTP project has led to further joint projects, including a CAST PhD Studentship which commenced in September 2023 and the development of new statistical theory providing both academic and industrial benefits.

Such work is very helpful for inclusion in preparing impact case studies for the higher education, UK-wide Research Excellence Framework (REF) assessment.  To be able to prepare case studies with real-world evidence from the KTP company partners, including quantitative data on how a project has helped to grow their business turnover or other improvement measures is very helpful indeed. The School benefits by having real-world research and examples from outside academia included to make very strong REF Impact Case Studies, which are important in achieving a high School ranking in the UK-wide scheme.

A further exciting development is the academic connections I make. For example, I have recently been awarded an ICMS Knowledge Exchange Catalyst Fellowship in which I’ll be working alongside the co-supervisor from Computer Science whom I worked with on the Bia Analytical KTP. That project is around the intersection of statistical models I’ve developed in my research and computer science to create an early warning system for serious adverse events in Intensive Care Units in the NHS. 

Does your KTP Work Benefit your Students?

My experience of working with companies on KTPs means that I can talk about the projects and share what we learnt with the students I am teaching. It really helps the students to see statistics in a wide variety of real-life contexts and to get ideas for how they might use mathematics in their future careers.

It also helps me to identify great placement opportunities within the KTP companies for Master’s students, with the KTP project with Card Group Ltd advancing that further to a new sponsored PhD studentship joint with the company.

How would you encourage other Academics to become involved in KTP?

It is definitely worthwhile – there are SO many benefits from it! You can see the benefits of your work helping a business, meeting new people and getting different perspectives from a range of industrial approaches and contexts. There are also the benefits for students from my industry experience, helping make my lectures more engaging and providing opportunities for student placements. Also, an added bonus is that you get funding from the KTP to use for conference travel and relevant equipment purchase. I’ve learnt a lot from each project and met some great people – I’d thoroughly encourage anyone interested to get involved in KTPs!