The fund is very fortunate in being able to call upon the expertise of a very experienced board, comprising:
Dr Bruce Smith CBE FREng (Chairman)
Dr Smith is Chairman of the Council of Smith Institute for Industrial Mathematics and System Engineering.
Until a management buyout in 1997 he was the Chairman and majority shareholder of Smith System Engineering Limited. Before founding that company in 1971 he worked in design engineering for Decca Radar Limited after a period in the
United States with Bellcomm Inc in the US Space programme. Prior to that he occupied a physics research post at the
University of Chicago. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Electrical Engineers and the
Institute of Physics. He is a Director of IP Group Plc, a Director of a number of private companies, a member of the Board of the British Antarctic Survey and a Domus Fellow of St Catherine's College,
Oxford.
Colin Whitehouse
Professor Colin Whitehouse is currently STFC's
Deputy Chief Executive. He joined CCLRC as Director of Engineering in
May 2003, before becoming Director of Daresbury Laboratory from April
2004 to December 2005. His personal field of research relates to
advanced semiconductor materials, nanotechnology and next-generation
device structures. At CCLRC, Colin is a member of the executive board
and also of the Board of CLIK, CCLRC's new commercial exploitation
company, and is also responsible for all of CCLRC's Knowledge Transfer
activities, including the development of the new national Science and
Innovation Campuses at Daresbury and Harwell, which were announced by
the Treasury in the March 2006 Budget statement. He is a visiting
Professor in the Department of Materials at Oxford University and in
the School of Engineering at Birmingham University. He is also a member
of the MoD-DTI National Advisory Committee for Electronic Materials and
Devices.
Mr David Ovadia
David Ovadia graduated in geology and physics at the University of Liverpool and did his postgraduate research at the University of Birmingham before joining the Institute of Oceanographic Sciences, now the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory, in 1978. He worked on air-sea interaction numerical modelling for a number of years and in 1987 he was appointed by NERC to manage NERC's computer services. In 1991 he transferred to the British Geological Survey where he is now the Director of International and Corporate Strategy.
Dr David Harris
Dr David Harris is Head of Technology Transfer for the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), with particular responsibility for developing and maintaining the policy interface with MOD and other Government stakeholders. He joined the Ministry of Defence (MOD) in 1974 and for eleven years pursued research interests in hyperbaric physiology at MOD laboratories in the UK and US. From 1985 new interests in operational analysis within MOD led to progressively senior technical and managerial appointments in naval warfare, equipment procurement and military counter-terrorism, front line support and high level studies. This culminated in a year as Director CDA (DERA), where he was responsible for 700 staff and a business turnover of £65m. David was appointed Director Communications and Corporate Affairs, Dstl in November 2000 and then studied at the Royal College of Defence Studies during 2002 before taking a career development secondment to DTI Office of Science and Technology to lead the Research Council Institute and PSRE Sustainability Study (RIPSS), returning to dstl in 2005.
Dr Geoffrey Randal, OBE
Dr Geoffrey Randal, OBE advises the AstraZeneca Board and businesses on safety, health and environment issues. He was formerly responsible for teams of specialists in a number of laboratories around the world including the Brixham Environmental Laboratory in Devon. In addition he is active at a high level in government and industry committees, including EPSRC/BBSRC and NERC in the UK. With over thirty years in management and corporate development he is also Deputy Chairman of the ECETOC Scientific Committee and the EMSG "Animals in the Wild" Group, he is an advisor to UNEP on endocrine disruptors and is an Honorary Visiting Professor of the University of Plymouth, UK.
Dr Ian Buckley-Golder
Dr Buckley-Golder has a strong track record in developing and growing entrepreneurial and innovative businesses in the high technology sector. His positions as Chairman/MD/Director of USA, Japanese and UK businesses, within both major corporation and VC-backed financial wrappers, some from a turnaround-to-growth perspective, others based solely on IPR, have all been focused on developing people, technology and business value. He operates as a Business Angel and is also Chairman of a VC-based Seed Capital Fund in parallel with the Rainbow Seed Fund, as well as holding a Visiting Professorship in physics at University College, London and being a member of the Institute of Directors
Dr Doug Yarrow
Doug Yarrow is Director of the Corporate Science Group within the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Councils (BBSRC). In this capacity he is responsible for directing BBSRC's programmes in Knowledge Transfer and Innovation; Industrial Interactions; International Relations; Public Affairs; Interaction with Stakeholders; and Policy Development. Doug obtained his PhD from Cambridge University in 1972 and, following a period of postdoctoral research at Northwestern University in the USA, joined the Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) in 1974. He was Deputy Director for Biotechnology before being seconded to the Diplomatic Service from 1986-1990 as science attaché at the British Embassy in Washington. He returned to SERC as Head of Nuclear Physics, then Director of Biotechnology before joining the BBSRC upon its formation in 1994. He is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Human Frontier Science Programme, a Board Member of the Edward Jenner Institute for Vaccine Research, and a member of the Advisory Council of Partnerships UK.
Dr Alan Mawson
Alan is Chairman and co-founder of Clarendon Fund Managers a venture capital company managing early stage and start up investment funds. He is also a founding director of Innvotec ltd. Previous to his venture capital career he was Director of Group Development and Technical services at Wiggins Teape and has also held several other research posts. He completed studies in business at the Sloan School of Management at MIT in 1971 and also has a Phd in Polymer Chemistry. He is a Liveryman and is on the Court at the Salter's Company where he is involved in running Chemistry Clubs and summer schools for teenagers.
Dr Sue Foden
Dr Sue Foden holds a number of non executive directorships with both public and private companies and public funding bodies in the biotech and healthcare field. Prior to this Sue held positions in VC, technology transfer and UK biotech. From 2000 to 2003, she was an Investor Director with the London- based VC firm Merlin Biosciences Ltd. From 1987 to 2000 she was CEO of the Technology transfer company, CRCT, and from 1998 to 2000 also of Cancer Research Ventures [CRV]. From 1983 to 1987 Sue headed up the academic liaison function at what was then Celltech Ltd, dealing with some of the earliest tech transfer deals in the UK and the precedents that these set. Sue studied biochemistry at the University of Oxford from where she obtained her MA and DPhil degrees.
Dr Ed Dart CBE
Former Head of ICI's Corporate Biocience Laboratory and Research and Development Director of ICI then Zeneca Seeds, Dr Dart has had extensive experience of bioscience-based businesses. He held positions on a number of Research Council Committees and was a member of BBSRC Council. Currently he is a member of its Strategy Board. He is also chairman of Plant Bioscience Ltd and Novacta Biosystems Ltd and is a non-executive Board member of a number of other small companies.
David Owen OBE
After more than 20 years in Research and Development in the pharmaceutical industry, David Owen joined the Medical Research Council in 1990 to lead its IP management activities. During this time, the MRC developed the incubator concept (MRC Collaborative Centres), initiated development gap funding and created its own Venture Capital Fund (which raised more than £140 million for investment in MRC derived and other biosciences companies). Since "retiring" in December 2001, David works part-time in various roles including non-executive Chairman of a number of biosciences companies, advisory roles for technology transfer activities at universities, research organisations and PSREs, and as an advisor to a number of investment funds. David Owen was appointed OBE in the Birthday Honours list of June 2001 for services to medical research and technology transfer.
Pam Liversidge OBE
Pam Liversidge is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering. She was President of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in 1997/98. Her career has been primarily in manufacturing companies both large and small. She held positions in technical strategic planning, marketing and managerial functions. During her career she has created two engineering manufacturing businesses and one diagnostic venture as well as managing a variety of other SMEs. She served on one of the subsidiary committees of the EPSRC and was a Senator of the Engineering Council. She has served terms as a Governor of Sheffield Hallam University, Visiting Professor to the University of Sheffield and as Chairman of Sheffield Business Link. She currently chairs the National Advisory Group of the UK Resource Centre and is a member of the Executive Committee of the City & Guilds Institute of London. Pam Liversidge was awarded the OBE in 1999 for her services to mechanical engineering.