The speakers and their networks
Karen Brooks is the Special Projects Manager of the SETsquared Partnership. Karen has worked for the SETsquared Partnership in communications and project management roles for five years. She is part of the team that developed Europe’s most successful University collaboration, government funded incubation programme which has provided support to over 200 early stage technology companies and helped create over £200m of value. She also developed the SETsquared enterprise brand for the Universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey. Karen has been key in the development of the highly successful UK Science Bridge programmes with responsibility for the communication, operations and management of the programme. This programme has delivered enormous value to both start-ups wishing to access US markets and linking academics from SETsquared’s institutions with UCSD and UCI. She has also worked for Motorola and Compass Group involved strategic development of communications activities and project management. She has over 15 years of marketing, communications and PR experience in a range of industries including IT, Telecoms and FMCG. Karen holds a degree in Computer Science and is Prince2 qualified.
The SETsquared Partnership is the enterprise collaboration of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Southampton and Surrey and has developed a fully comprehensive and strategic approach to commercialisation. To support this, the Partnership is involved in a number of vertical and horizontal networks across Southern England. Through it’s UK US Science Bridge programme, the Partnership has been able to develop strong relationships with US networks through it’s collaboration of the University of California San Diego and the University of California Irvine particularly in research areas of bioengineering and stem cells, wireless, and sustainable environments and biofeuls. The programme also provides the opportunity to accelerate the development of technology start-up companies into US or UK markets through established networks and processes in Southern California and Southern England.
Chris Williams is the Director of the UK Displays & Lighting KTN. He is also a founding Director of Logystyx UK, a specialist consultancy in Displays and Plastic Electronics, and a Director of Ceravision, developers of Ecolumination, a microwave powered ultra efficient lighting technology.
The UK Displays & Lighting Knowledge Transfer Network (UKDL) is funded by the Technology Strategy Board. UKDL is the home for Industrialists and Academics working in Plastic Electronics, Flat Panel Displays, and Lighting technologies.