Daniel Tackley trained as a chemist, gaining a BSc (Hons) and MSc (Research) from York University and a PhD from Strathclyde University. His MSc involved the use of multiple spectroscopic techniques and gave rise to challenges in collecting and analysing large, often time-resolved, analytical datasets. He then moved to Strathclyde University in Glasgow to join the world-renowned Raman spectroscopy group led by Prof Ewen Smith. His PhD, an industrial CASE award funded by Zeneca Specialties, combined both infrared and Raman spectroscopies with computational chemistry predictions to investigate the materials and processes involved in electrophotographic charge generation and charge transport.
On completion of his PhD, he started work for Avecia at their R&D headquarters in Blackley, Manchester as a computational chemist, working with and supporting all of the internal business units. Due to the diverse nature of the Avecia businesses (which included inkjet printing materials, electrophotography and displays, biocides, metal extraction products, resins, proteins and oligonucleotides), the types of problems he worked on were extremely varied. Over time, the nature of the work changed becoming less focussed on computational chemistry and moving more into data management, visualisation and custom coding for both specific projects (such as DNA fragmentation to aid in the identification of oligonucleotides in mass spectrometry) and more general data integration.
In 2004, Avecia was fragmenting into many parts as each business unit was sold and he transferred to Intertek, along with the rest of Avecia’s computational chemistry, analytical chemistry and measurement and control groups, forming Intertek ASG (now Intertek Pharmaceutical Services Manchester). Intertek operates thoughout the world offering inspection, product testing and certification services and this opened up the potential client base from the internal Avecia businesses to any company, university, organisation or individual anywhere in the world. He continued to maintain close working relationships with the other ex-Avecia businesses (now operating as companies including Fujifilm Imaging Colorants, Merck, Lonza, Cytec and Lubrizol) as well as developing new customers.
In 2014 he left Intertek to form his own company, Informata Limited, to provide informatics and scientific IT consultancy, support and services directly to customers.
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