After a career in scientific research and engineering management, Julian began developing optical platform technology for industrial uses in 1998. His first company OTM limited won a DTI SMART award to develop a novel optical sensor for the semiconductor manufacturing sector.Following on, in collaboration with Prof. David Richards (HOD, Physics, KCL), he founded genapta in 2001 to use the cost and scale advantages of telecoms fiber optic technology to make better life science based analytical equipment. As genapta grew, the team worked with major pharmaceutical companies to develop new instruments and techniques for drug screening. In 2006 this work culminated in a platform design that combined micro-optical technology with state of the art microfluidic technology.Due to the nature of the market segment, in 2007 genapta devised a strategy to fully exploit the potential of its work and as a result, the company negotiated a profitable trade sale to an established player in the analytical equipment market in December of that year.
In 2009, he co-founded Skalene Limited to develop and commercialise new technologies and approaches in the industrial printing sector.
Julian has been a regular mentor on i-Teams projects since the early days of the programme in Cambridge.