Technology and Knowledge Transfer

Emma is a Commercialisation Manager for Ceres Agri-Tech where she works to help academics develop and commercialise their agri-tech innovations for to the agriculture and horticulture industries to help drive productivity, sustainability, and net zero.

Previously, as Head of Research at G’s Growers, Emma pioneered applied research, building and leading successful high impact farm-focused projects including InnovateUK. In addition, Emma held various research agronomy and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) roles in leading farming supply companies, Chaired the British Leafy Salads R&D committee, was on Waitrose CTP Board and Waitrose Agronomy Group and led the Collaborative Training Partnership for Sustainable Agricultural Innovation (£3.6M PhD programme).

Emma is a Nuffield Scholar, is a qualified and experienced agronomist (BASIS and FACTS) and holds an MSc in Horticulture from Reading University.

Outside Cambridge Enterprise, Emma runs an independent consultancy business, working for fresh produce growers, agri-tech start-ups, is on the VEGIN advisory board and Business Board for the CPCA. Emma is a member of the UKRI BBSRC Special Advisory Group for Sustainable Agriculture and Food.

She joined Ceres Agri-tech Team at Cambridge Enterprise in February 2024

Catherine is a Commercialisation Manager for the Ceres Agri-Tech team where she works to help academics develop and commercialise their Agri-Tech innovations for the agriculture and horticulture industries to help drive productivity, sustainability and net zero.

Before joining Cambridge Enterprise Catherine worked for ADAS as Associate Director in the Horticulture team. There she designed and managed applied research projects across a diverse range of subjects including peat-free growing media, tree propagation, biostimulants, pesticide reduction strategies, non-chemical weed control and crop protection. This included collaborations with growers and retailers funded through Innovate UK, Defra, AHDB and industry clients. Prior to that she worked as a molecular plant pathologist as part of the Global R&D breeding team for Driscoll’s Genetics Ltd. focussing on soft fruit breeding for Europe, Middle East and Africa based in Kent.

Catherine has a PhD in Molecular Ecology from Cardiff University where she studied fungal interactions. This was followed by postdoctoral research at the University of California, Berkeley studying population genetics of forest pathogens.

Catherine joined the Ceres Agri-tech Team at Cambridge Enterprise in February 2024.

Tim works with Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) Department of Research and Development and Cambridge Enterprise to identify and commercialise intellectual property originating from research carried out within the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, a partnership between Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the University of Cambridge.

He works closely with academics and clinicians to build business opportunities, paving the route to market and securing translational grant funding and other activities to ultimately license or spin-out the technology opportunity.

After an early career in scientific publishing at Cambridge University Press and the Royal Society of Chemistry, Tim joined UCL Business (UCLB), UCL’s technology transfer company.  Working primarily with academics from the Physical Science and Engineering faculties and the London Centre for Nanotechnology he led on the protection of new IP, helped secure proof-of-concept funding and managed commercialisation activities.  He transacted numerous patent and know-how licences and led on the creation of two spin-outs including a company developing a microencapsulation technology for production of multi-layered drug capsules. Tim also co-led the early development of E-Lucid, an online licensing platform for the management of contracts for low-cost, high-volume IP assets, which is now in use across the sector.

After UCLB, Tim moved into the NHS.   As Head of Technology Transfer at Health Enterprise East (now HeathTech Enterprise) he worked closely with clinical innovators from NHS Trusts across the Eastern region and London.  He helped secure significant translational grants from funders such as the NIHR and the MedtechAccelerator and licensed a number of novel medical devices on behalf of host NHS Trusts.

More recently Tim was Head of Professional Development and Membership at PraxisAuril, the UK’s professional association for Knowledge Exchange.  Here he managed the training portfolio helping to develop, upskill and network the UK’s knowledge exchange and technology transfer community.

Tim has a BA in Chemistry and D.Phil. in Materials Science from Oxford University.

Tim joined Cambridge Enterprise in January 2024

Venkatesh “Venky” Ramaning is a Commercialisation Associate in the Physical Sciences team at Cambridge Enterprise. In this role, he is instrumental in identifying and evaluating new technologies emerging from University research. He supports academics in protecting their intellectual property and commercialising research.  

Before joining Cambridge Enterprise, Venky amassed a blend of experiences, including over five years (part-time + full-time) in technology transfer in the United States and roles at Zimmer Biomet and Tesla Inc.

Venky holds a master’s in mechanical engineering from the US and is a Certified Licensing Professional (CLP) certified. Venky was recently awarded the Volunteer Service Award from the Association of University Technology Managers (AUTM) in 2022. AUTM is a well-known Tech Transfer association in the US. Besides his expertise in Tech Transfer, Venky enjoys adventure sports like skydiving and traveling.

Venky started working at Cambridge Enterprise in January 2024.

Tom is Head of the Technology Investment Fund (TIF) at Cambridge Enterprise.

Prior to joining Cambridge Enterprise, he spent more than 10 years at PA Consulting where he led the Life Science Technology Strategy and Product Development teams. During this time, he advised businesses from early-stage translational companies to global corporations on the evaluation of new commercialisation and market opportunities for novel technologies. Tom has brought a number of technologies to market and has experience working across the full product development life cycle, with deep expertise in medical devices, diagnostics and advanced therapeutics.  

Tom has a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the University of Exeter, where he worked on characterising effector protein delivery and cell biology of host-pathogen interactions. 

Tom joined the Cambridge Enterprise team in November 2023.  

Mei is a Commercialisation Associate in the Physical Sciences team where she identifies and evaluates new technologies arising from University research, supporting academics with the protection of their intellectual property and commercialisation of their research outputs.

Prior to joining Cambridge Enterprise Mei worked for a number of deep tech start-ups spun out from the University of Cambridge, where she ran the operations to get the companies to reach scale-up stage. Mei also has considerable experience in working in semiconductor manufacturing in the Far East.

Mei studied Physics for her undergraduate in Nanjing University, focusing on Magnetic Materials and then followed by an MBA later.

Mei joined Cambridge Enterprise in January 2024.

Hannah is a Commercialisation Associate in the Life Sciences team, providing support for the identification and evaluation of new technologies, protection of intellectual property and developing commercial opportunities arising from University research.

Prior to joining Cambridge Enterprise, Hannah worked for several years at a MedTech company in Cambridge who specialise in Breath diagnostics. Here she acted as both Project Manager for their Oncology diagnostics development programme and Intellectual Property Manager.

Hannah holds an MRes in Oncology from the University of Manchester, and completed her BSc (Hons) in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Warwick.

Hannah joined Cambridge Enterprise in July 2023.

Kate is a Commercialisation Associate in the Life Sciences team, where she identifies and evaluates new technologies arising from University research, supporting inventors with the protection of their intellectual property and commercialisation of their research.

Prior to joining Cambridge Enterprise, Kate worked in the commercialisation team at The Babraham Institute where she managed the intellectual property portfolio and supported industry and academic relationships.  She developed her scientific background in virology and immunology during her PhD in Virology from the Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London. She also has an MScR in Infection and Immunity from the University of Edinburgh and has co-authored five academic publications.

Kate joined Cambridge Enterprise in June 2023.

Dom is a Commercialisation Associate (Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences).

His role is to provide support in the identification and evaluation of new technologies, protection of intellectual property, and developing commercial opportunities arising from Arts, Humanities, and Social Science research.

Prior to joining Cambridge Enterprise, Dom spent two years as a Strategic Communications Associate at a leading global public relations and communications consultancy. He holds an MPhil in Digital Humanities from the University of Cambridge. He completed his BA (Hons) in History at the University of Warwick.

Dom joined Cambridge Enterprise in March 2023.

Anna Davies is an Academic Relations Manager for Life Sciences. She is focused on growing relationships with researchers working in the life sciences and developing impact through commercialisation.

Before joining Cambridge Enterprise, Anna worked at the University of Cambridge in a variety of roles, co-ordinating a cross-University interdisciplinary network of infectious disease researchers, facilitating research strategy and impact at the Department of Veterinary Medicine. Through a secondment, she also worked closely with academics from across the life sciences to deliver impact case studies for the 2021 Research Excellence Framework (REF) exercise. She joined Cambridge after several years working at the public health laboratories in Porton Down, where she undertook research on aerosol disease transmission and biosafety.

Anna has a degree in Microbiology from the University of Warwick.

Anna joined Cambridge Enterprise in February 2023.

As a Commercialisation Associate Elena helps inventors and academics commercialise their exciting discoveries.

Elena spent some time trying to commercialise her own PhD work which first exposed her to the sensational enterprise ecosystem around Cambridge. During her PhD, Elena developed transparent and flexible sensors, largely for consumer electronics applications, in the Materials department at Imperial College London. Her master’s and bachelor’s degrees are in Chemistry with Nanotechnology from Heriot Watt University in Edinburgh.

Elena joined Cambridge Enterprise in January 2023.

Aditi is a Commercialisation Associate working with Cambridge Enterprise and Cancer research UK, providing support for the evaluation of new technologies, protection of intellectual property and developing commercial opportunities arising from University research.

Prior to joining Cambridge Enterprise Aditi worked for a consulting start up assisting SMEs receive European Innovation Council funding. Aditi has also worked as a Technology specialist for a leading patent law firm in Japan.

Aditi received here PhD in Chemical Biology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Her PhD work focused on studying RNA protein interaction. During her PhD, she also interned as a Commercialisation Analyst for the Office of Technology Management at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.

Aditi joined Cambridge Enterprise in September 2022.