Richard currently leads USW's involvement in Media Cymru, focusing on undertaking research in and creating bespoke skills and training for the screen and media sector in Wales. 

Since 2022 the USW team have provided training for over 350 people working in the screen sector in Wales, through 21 training programmes and events across a broad range of areas including CreaTech (Virtual Production, AI, 3D modelling, Game Engines, 2D animation), Content Development (Unscripted format development, Digital first format development) Sustainability (Sustainability Coordinators, Greenlancers) and Accessibility (DDN acting, Access Workshops, Accessible Futures, Family Futures, BSL for Screen). The training has been determined by industry demand, established through ongoing research and consultation.

Richard leads a team of USW researchers and professional staff to deliver this programme of work for Media Cymru.

Richard was previously the Course Leader for the MA Games Enterprise course. He also has been a Senior Lecturer on the BA (Hons) Computer Games Design course since 2008. He specialises in games design, development process and the Welsh video games sector. 

Between 2016 and 2023 Richard was co-ordinator for the UK Games Fund Tranzfuser, South Wales Hub. tranzfuser.com Tranzfuser is the first talent programme from UK Games Talent, it aims to provide an annual shot of top talent into the UK development ecosystem with a particular focus on creative team leaders of the future. It looks to supply a pipeline to enterprise and/or employment recognition for new UK games graduates, taking teams from concept and prototyping through to publishing. Teams taking part are awarded between £5,000 and £7,500 to showcase their games at national trade events (like EGX and Insomnia) and pitch to a panel of industry experts for continued funding of up to £20,000. USW was a founding hub in 2016, with a winning and runner up teams in 2017, and EGX public vote winners in 2017, 2018 & 2019. More that £175,000 of funding has been awarded to USW student & graduate teams. 

Richard is also actively involved in the development of the Computer Games Design alumni community and the games development community in South Wales as part of Games Wales.

Richard has a background in Computing and Interaction Design having graduated from the University of Wales, Newport postgraduate programme in 2005 with an MA in Design (New Media & Technology). Previously he studied for his BSc (Hons) Computer Science at Exeter University graduating in 2003.

After completing an MA in Design, he became Research Assistant for the Smart Clothes & Wearable Technology Research Group at the University of Wales. The research group was set up to undertake research into cutting edge clothing and consumer electronics technologies. Richard was involved in several research projects, which included developing New Product Development techniques along with concept design and the development of physical products and digital services. 

Responsibilities:

2022 - Present Project Lead for Media Cymru Skills and Training
2022 - Present Creative Industries Research and Innovation Group Lead
2021 - Present FBCI Faculty Research & Innovation Committee member

External Consultancy:

In 2007 Richard was invited to join the team at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios to work on several interactive web-based projects, exploring visual communication and digital rememberance.

In 2010 Richard was involved in the setup of WholeWorldBand (later Youdio) with Kevin Godley. WholeWorldBand was a mobile app providing novel promotion, collaboration and monetisation opportunities for artists, labels and publishers. It combined the intimacy of composition with the buzz of performance and the reach of social media. At WholeWorldBand the mission was to empower the creative community and marketplace to shape the future of music creation and personal experience. Though the creation of a mobile app which allowed for multiple artists and fans to create collaborative music videos (whithin a rights and revenue sharing framework built in).

Richard was involved in many aspects of the business including, concept, design, technical specification, marketing, IP. He was an Exec-Director for the company from 2012-2014, splitting his time between Cardiff and Dublin for the duration.

2021 - Present, Co-Investigator & USW Lead, Media Cymru (UKRI Strength in Places Fund 2)
https://media.cymru/
https://linktr.ee/mediacymruskills 

2019 - 2021 Co-Investigator, Clwstwr (UKRI Creative Cluster)
clwstwr.org.uk

2019-2021 Co-Investigator, Audience of the Future Demonstrator Programme
https://www.southwales.ac.uk/news/2022/march/audience-of-the-future-how-usw-helped-create-a-new-chapter-for-wallace--gromit/

Creative Industries Clusters
Creative Industries Sector Mapping
Screen Industries Research
Games Design, Development & Technologies
Digital Product & Service Development Process
Industry Collaboration & Partnerships