Mon 11 May 2026 — Phase 1 Day 1
Mon 11 May 2026 — Phase 1 Day 1
Send the IP Strategy Memo to Portsmouth Tech Transfer. Nothing else moves until they engage.
Tasks
Task 1 — Send IP Strategy Memo to Portsmouth Tech Transfer
Stream: A — IP & Brand
Time: 60 min
What: Email the memo at 05_IP_Strategy_Memo_Portsmouth_TechTransfer to Portsmouth Research & Innovation Services (RIS) Tech Transfer team, attaching the Trade-Mark Applications pack at 04_UK_Trademark_Applications_RAIDT_RAIT. Request a 30-minute meeting in the next 10 working days.
Why this matters: Owner-of-record decision is the #1 critical-path block. Until Tech Transfer confirms whether RAIDT/RAIT IP belongs to the University, you, or a future spin-out, you cannot file trade marks, sign NDAs, or talk commercial terms. Every day delayed pushes the entire programme back.
Practical example: The recipient is typically titled "Innovation Manager", "Research Commercialisation Officer", or "Technology Transfer Officer" at Portsmouth. If you don't have a name, address it to the RIS Director and CC your supervisor. Subject line: "IP strategy for RAIDT — request for guidance and meeting (PhD researcher Akeel)". Attach both files. Body should be 5 sentences max — the memo does the heavy lifting.
Done when: Email sent, meeting request in calendar, both attachments confirmed in sent folder.
Link: Critical_Path
Task 2 — Brief supervisors and book sign-off meeting
Stream: D — Partnerships
Time: 30 min
What: Send a short email to Mark Xu, Awais Shakir Goraya, and Salem Chakhar with (a) the master plan attached, (b) a 3-bullet summary of the next 4 weeks, (c) request for a 30-min meeting this week to confirm support.
Why this matters: Supervisors are co-authors of the trilogy and partners in the RAID Lab proposal. They need to know the commercialisation pivot is happening, what their role is, and that you aren't going rogue. Their endorsement underwrites every Big-4 conversation.
Practical example: "Dear Mark, Awais, Salem — I've drafted a commercialisation plan for RAIDT (attached, 18-month horizon). Key next steps in the next 4 weeks: (1) trade-mark filings via Tech Transfer, (2) ICURe Explore application, (3) first KTP outreach. Could we find 30 minutes this week for a brief? — Ali"
Done when: Email sent; ideally one supervisor has replied with a slot by EOD.
Link: 00_Project_Plan_Master
Task 3 — Set up tracking infrastructure inside this vault
Stream: All
Time: 45 min
What: Create your live working trackers from the templates: Outreach-Tracker, KPI-Dashboard, Decisions-Log, Risk-Register (these will be created automatically when this vault is built). Pin them in Obsidian's left sidebar (right-click → Pin). Set Obsidian's "Daily Notes" core plugin to point at 01-Daily-Tasks/ and the Daily-Task-Template.
Why this matters: You cannot manage what you don't track. Trackers must be ready before outreach begins (Friday) — otherwise replies arrive into a void.
Practical example: Open Obsidian → Settings → Core Plugins → enable "Daily notes" → set "Template file location" to 04-Templates/Daily-Task-Template. Now hitting the daily-note shortcut creates a new note from your template.
Done when: Trackers exist and are pinned; daily-notes plugin configured.
Link: _MOC
Task 4 — Document Sovereign AI £9m round go/no-go decision
Stream: E — Funding
Time: 15 min
What: Open Decisions-Log and record the decision not to bid on the Sovereign AI Strategic Assets £9m round (closes 5 June 2026). Reason: insufficient time to assemble credible consortium with signed-letter partners; better fit for the £160m larger programme later in 2026.
Why this matters: Logged decisions become defensible reasoning when supervisors, investors, or future-you ask "why didn't we apply for X?" — the answer must be in writing.
Practical example: Decision entry: 2026-05-11 — DECISION: skip Sovereign AI £9m round. EVIDENCE: closes 4 weeks from today, asset classes don't fit RAIDT cleanly (datasets/lab automation), no committed partners. ALTERNATIVE: target the £160m larger programme (Q4 2026 expected) with proper consortium time. OWNER: MAA.
Done when: Entry logged with date, decision, evidence, alternative, owner.
Link: Sovereign-AI-Strategic-Assets in 02-Funding/UK-Public/
End of day check
Tomorrow
UKIPO clearance searches for RAIDT and RAIT — first protective IP work. ~90 minutes.