Loch to address Awards presentation

Cambridge University’s increasing stature on the world stage will be brought into focus when the director of its Judge Business School, Christoph Loch, addresses the Business Weekly Awards dinner at Queens’ College on Tuesday, March 19. He will be accompanied by University Chancellor, Lord David Sainsbury, who is presenting the prizes.

Professor Loch has promised to outline some “truly exciting” initiatives set to be spearheaded by Judge Business School. “It is a fitting occasion with our Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning sponsoring the Cambridge Graduate Business of the Year Award,” he said.

Prior to joining Judge Business School, Professor Loch was the GlaxoSmithKline Chaired Professor of Corporate Innovation (2006-2011), Professor of Technology and Operations Management (2001-2011) and Assistant and Associate Professor (1994-2001) at INSEAD, Fontainebleau, France.

From 2009 to 2010 he was Visiting Professor of Operations Management at the Stockholm School of Economics in Sweden, and in 2002 and 2003 was Visiting Professor in the Information Dynamics Lab at Hewlett Packard Labs in Palo Alto, California. His research interests span six broad areas:- • Concurrent engineering and coordination in complex systems • Managing highly novel, uncertain and ambiguous initiatives • Resource allocation, portfolio management, and strategy deployment • Performance measurement in R & D and uncertain projects • Incentives, motivation and cultural evolution (behavioural economics) • Manufacturing management and strategy deployment

Lord Sainsbury is also keen to continue his engagement with leading technology entrepreneurs attending Business Weekly’s Awards dinner. He said: “The science and technology cluster in Cambridge is known globally as a great success story and as an engine of growth in the East of England. I am determined that while I am Chancellor the links between it and the university will become even closer and more productive for both parties.”

Insurance, property & charity vie with hi-tech

The sheer variety of contenders for the eight trophies at stake in the Business Weekly Awards has set the judges an unprecedented poser. As expected in a technology-dominated region, S & T-based businesses figure large across all the categories. But, for the first time since the Awards were launched in 1990, there is also a nice B2B, academic and social enterprise bent to the shortlist.

For example, S-Tech Insurance, which provides cover for technology, industrial and other business clients with equal aplomb, is in the frame. As is The Howard Property Group, which has a large portfolio in the cluster.

CBM, the Cambridge based overseas disability charity, has helped raise and deliver millions to distressed individuals and communities in least developed countries and is a front runner in the Social Enterprise Champion category.

Steinkrug has a novel play that crosses several strands of the Awards criteria. It involves new medical imaging technology from Cambridge that inventor Peter Kruger hopes will literally change the face of dementia care in the UK and globally. The technology morphs a mother’s facial image from the present day back to how she looked as a young girl. Kruger believes the subtle trigger will drive home the message to a whole generation of baby boomers that they are now the carers – and that responsibility has shifted to them from the mother who used to tender all their needs.

Business Weekly Awards – shortlisted companies: Adder Technology Ltd, AlertMe, Amino, APC, ARM, Aurasma, Azuri Technologies, Bango, BlueGnome, CBM, Cambridge Communication systems, Cambridge CMOS Sensors, Cambridge Temperature Concepts, CRFS, CSR, Eagle Genomics, Eight19, Featurespace, The Howard Group, Nujira, PneumaCare, Raspberry Pi, S-Tech Insurance, Sepura, Steinkrug, Ubisense

• PHOTOGRAPH SHOWS: Christoph Loch