Susan Helliwell Memorial Award

Susan Helliwell was one of the founders of the ISBQPIP organisation. She joined the team of volunteers who worked on setting up examination and certification for patent information professionals in 2009, first as member of the team that designed exams in the chemical area, in 2011 she joined the team of “coordinators” that was responsible for setting up the certification body.

Susan had a long career in patent information. After graduating in chemistry, she joined what was then known as Derwent (now Clarivate) as trainer and chemical coder. In 1990 she started working as a patent information professional in industry, first at Montell, then at Unilever and finally at Reckitt Benckiser. Apart from her many contributions to the certification project, she was also chair of the British Patent Information Professionals Group from 2010 to 2016. In this capacity she joined the Board of the CEPIUG in 2015, and became chair of this organisation in 2017.  In addition she was a member of the Standing Advisory Committee before the EPO on Patent Documentation and Information (SACEPO/PDI) since 1995. She was a well-known person in the patent information community, always a cheerful, enthusiastic, dedicated and driven person, aiming for the best quality.

Susan passed away in 2018, about half a year before the ISBQPIP was officially established. She remained involved until her last days and would have loved to become one of the Supervisory Council members. The Susan Helliwell Memorial award was established in 2021, the year when the first exams were held, awarded each year to the candidate who passes all six parts of the QPIP examination with the best overall results. The award commemorates Susan Helliwell, her dedication and her many contributions to the search profession in establishing the QPIP certification.