探花直播 探花直播 of Cambridge announces the appointment of Dr听Diarmuid听O鈥橞rien as the new Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise, effective September 2021.
探花直播 探花直播 of Cambridge announces the appointment of Dr听Diarmuid听O鈥橞rien as the new Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise, effective September 2021.
Dr O鈥橞rien takes over one of the world鈥檚 most successful university centres for technology transfer from outgoing chief executive Dr Tony Raven, who has grown Cambridge Enterprise into an innovation powerhouse with a portfolio of spinout companies that have raised billions in follow-on funding and help power the UK鈥檚 thriving innovation economy.
Dr O'Brien comes to Cambridge Enterprise from his role as Chief Innovation & Enterprise Officer at Trinity College Dublin, where he had overall responsibility for the development and enhancement of the college鈥檚 innovation and enterprise strategy. In particular, he led the establishment of a new innovation campus鈥擳rinity East鈥攁nd the creation of the Grand Canal Innovation District.
Prior to this Dr O鈥橞rien was Director of Trinity Research and Innovation with responsibility for both the Research Development Office and the Office of Corporate Partnership and Knowledge Exchange. In that role he led the establishment of the 探花直播 Bridge venture fund, which is ranked in the world鈥檚 top five collaborative university funds.1
While at Trinity Dr O鈥橞rien was also the Executive Director of CRANN, an internationally recognised centre of excellence for nanotechnology and materials science research.
He has held senior management roles in several university-founded start-up companies, including NTera, Xoliox, and Deerac Fluidics.
Dr O鈥橞rien was a Research Fellow at Princeton 探花直播. He has a PhD in Physics from the 探花直播 of Sheffield and a degree in Materials Science from Trinity College Dublin.
Professor Stephen J Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the 探花直播 of Cambridge, said: 鈥淚鈥檓 pleased to announce the appointment of Dr O鈥橞rien as Cambridge Enterprise鈥檚 new Chief Executive. He has an impressive track record of working in higher education and with business and government, and his expertise in innovation will be an enormous asset to the 探花直播.
鈥淯nder the direction of Dr Tony Raven, Cambridge Enterprise has thrived and grown into one of the most vibrant knowledge transfer centres in the sector鈥攇enerating innovation, commercialisation and employment, and contributing to society through research. I am delighted that听Dr O鈥橞rien will drive forward this extraordinary success story.鈥
Ajay Chowdhury, Chair of Cambridge Enterprise, said, 鈥淒iarmuid鈥檚 great ability to bring together government, industry, and academia鈥攁mply demonstrated by his leadership on the establishment of the Grand Canal innovation district in Dublin鈥攃oupled with his university background and his operational experience at Irish and Swiss spin-outs, make him the ideal candidate to lead Cambridge Enterprise in the years ahead.鈥
Dr O鈥橞rien said, 鈥 探花直播 探花直播 of Cambridge is one of the world鈥檚 top research universities with a global reputation for the impact its discoveries have made. It will be a great privilege to support Cambridge academics in applying their research to some of the world鈥檚 most challenging problems and to work to enhance the broader Cambridge innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.鈥
探花直播 探花直播 established Cambridge Enterprise in 2006 to support its academics, researchers, staff, and students in licensing their inventions, facilitating their work as external consultants, and spinning out companies based on 探花直播 intellectual property. Cambridge Enterprise has invested 拢29.8 million in 139 companies since inception. Its portfolio companies have cumulatively raised 拢2 billion in follow on funding. Over the past 15 years, Cambridge Enterprise has provided 拢178 million to the 探花直播.
