On Friday I accepted the invitation of CEMAS to visit their company and the meet their staff.
Cemas is a privately owned business based in south Wokingham. It employs 72 people and specialises in preparing test data for the agro chemical and pharmaceutical industries. It can monitor trace substances in air, water and animal tissue, identify active ingredients in products and their concentrations, and prepare large independent dossiers of tests of product approvals and monitoring. This work is vital to ensure product safety, to limit damage to the environment and to help companies produce innovative new products and treatments.
The company has strong links with our local University at Reading. Some of the younger staff are also working on degree courses at the university, and some of the more senior people are Reading graduates and postgraduates who have specialised in relevant subjects.
The company works for a wide range of global businesses. It seeks to maintain high levels of accuracy and independence, as it needs to do to satisfy its own standards and its Regulator. It has grown steadily over the last three decades from its Wokingham home base. I wish the staff and the owners every success with their venture.
December 13, 2017
I am very interested to read this comment and very pleased to understand that you had a productive and enjoyable visit to CEMAS. I am the academic in the Chemistry Department at University of Reading who has done most to develop the relationship with CEMAS. The interesting thing is that this collaboration is not specifically about research but more about student experience and training. What the Chemistry Department has gained is some excellent training for some of our students and good employment opportunities, alongside partial sponsorship of some students on MSc and PhD courses. What CEMAS has gained are some very good employees who I am sure have contributed strongly to the company’s continued success. I believe that this is a very good and rather unusual example of collaboration between a university department and medium-sized private industry.