Dr Alison Campbell has been appointed as the Director of Technology Transfer, announced the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton, TD, together with the Minister for Research and Innovation, Seán Sherlock TD.
She will now head up the soon-to-be established central Technology Transfer Office, which is expected to be up and running by October 2013. The cTTO will be located in Enterprise Ireland.
Dr Campbell has a wealth of experience in the field of research and technology transfer having started her career as an industry scientist. As well as this she has acted as CEO of the UK Medical Research Council, Managing Director of King’s College London Business Ltd and a consultant to public and private sector organisations. Dr Campbell is currently non-executive Director of PraxisUnico – the UK technology transfer association, and was awarded an OBE in 2010 in recognition of her contribution to Technology Transfer.
The cTTO will act as a focal point for the development of commercialisation in the universities and wider public research system. Its primary goal being is to ensure that intellectual property (IP) arising from public research is captured and developed to spin off new jobs and new business.
Speaking about the importance of the new Office, Minister Bruton said:
“I believe strongly that effective industry-academic collaboration is essential for the successful translation of the best new ideas from the lab into innovative new products and services – and ultimately, the delivery of good quality sustainable jobs for our people.
He added: “The appointment of Dr Campbell and her team will establish a one-stop shop for businesses seeking to use ideas deriving from publicly-funded research. This will make it easier for companies to access and use ideas developed through publicly-funded research to develop new products and services and ultimately turn good ideas into good jobs.