MACOE was founded in 2009 and has expertise in business, process and product development of cosmetic, pharmaceutical and other chemical manufacturing enterprises.
The principal consultant, Dr Matthews honed his innovation skills at the interface between molecular research and industry. He completed a PhD in organic chemistry then became an Industrial Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Birmingham working with Nobel Laureate Sir J. Fraser Stoddart FRS and the Company Research Laboratory of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL). When this project was completed he moved to an Industrial Post Doctoral Fellowship in the Process Technology Department of Syngenta in Yorkshire working in process R&D as part of a technical team responsible for process development, product protection and manufacturing support. Dr Matthews returned to Brisbane with his family and started work as the Technology Team Leader at Crop Care Australasia which was the crop protection division of Australias largest chemical company Orica. In this role he worked closely with research, manufacturing, marketing, regulatory, supply chain and quality departments and regularly reported directly to senior management on key projects. In 2003 Dr Matthews moved into the role of General Manager of Dermcare.
MACOE works with a wide range of research and development staff and is able to identify, protect and exploit IP. This requires strong relationships with patent and trademark attorneys as well as managing and developing other forms of IP (trademarks, brands, know-how). Dr Matthews has also had experience defending IP rights (trademark and patent) against infringement activity in Australia and overseas. He has worked with legal advisors on the interpretation, negotiation, execution, modification and management of a wide range of agreements. These include product distribution agreements (import- and export-); IP licensing (in- and out-) with royalty, milestone, performance payments; collaborative research and development agreements; confidentiality agreements; HR employment agreements; supply agreements; manufacturing agreements; credit account applications; trading terms.
Dr Matthews has been trained in several project management approaches to successfully develop registered cosmetic, pharmaceutical and other chemical products. He has highly developed negotiation and communication skills and thoroughly enjoys the process of reaching and executing an agreement then ensuring commercial benefit to both partners. He is a member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, the Society of Chemical Industry and the American Chemical Society.
Owen is married to Cheryl and is a very fortunate father of Elena and Alistair.