STARLIMS Academy Maximises Long Term Benefits of LIMS

STARLIMS Corporation, a global supplier of LIMS, has established 'STARLIMS Academy', an international technical training program designed for STARLIMS employees, users and partners.

Jeff Ferguson, COO of STARLIMS, explained that, 'STARLIMS Academy was created to support our rapidly growing customer base, while also facilitating the establishment of new partnerships. The aim is to ensure the consistency and excellence of all consultancy and implementation work, enabling our customers to maximize and protect the long-term benefits of their STARLIMS investments. STARLIMS customers will be fully confident, knowing that all work done by certified STARLIMS professionals will meet the required standards.'

To head STARLIMS Academy, STARLIMS hired Dr. Simon Wood, a leading authority in laboratory informatics. Dr. Wood's experience includes creating the LIMS industry's largest consultancy, implementation and support team. 'We are delighted to report that Dr. Simon Wood will direct this new training program,' said Ferguson. 'He is the ideal candidate for the position: a born teacher as well as a renowned expert in full-cycle LIMS implementation. I am certain that under his direction, STARLIMS Academy will be an exceptionally effective training ground.'

Dr. Simon Wood has over 15 years experience in the implementation of business-critical IT systems in the area of laboratory informatics, as well as extensive experience in LIMS implementation, support and training at both the technical and management level. In his position as Global Services Manager of Thermo LabSystems, he was responsible for creating the industry's largest global LIMS implementation organization, employing 100 people.

Dr Wood said, 'This is an extremely exciting time to be joining the STARLIMS organization. The recent release of STARLIMS V10, the entirely Web-based LIMS, is a major advance in the LIMS industry. However, to completely meet the needs of our customers, such technological advances must be supported by effective professional services. The establishment of the STARLIMS Academy is a major step in ensuring that we continue to provide a world-class service to support our world-class products.'

Dr. Wood has worked with a multitude of customers across a broad spectrum of industries-in both regulated and non-regulated environments-to help ensure successful implementation of their LIMS. Prior to joining STARLIMS, Simon was with Labformatics Ltd, a consultancy specializing in laboratory and laboratory informatics performance management and improvement. He is a Prince2 Project Management Certified Practitioner and has written and presented numerous papers on the subjects of system implementation, applications support and laboratory IT project performance measurement.