Research Development and Innovation

Applicants for stage 2 funding are required to present the outcomes of stage 1 to the panel of experts and the Office of Industry and Innovation.

The panel is comprised of:

Dr. Ian Harrison

Dr Ian Harrison, BSc (Hons), PhD, Grad Dip Management, Fellow RACI.   Director R&D Alcoa, Global Refining.

Dr Harrison is a graduate of UWA who is the Director of Alcoa’s global refining research and development team.  In this role, Ian is responsible for the development and implementation of new and improved technologies for the world’s largest alumina manufacturing system.  Although based in Kwinana Western Australia, Ian’s multi award winning team provides technology to Alcoa’s 9 refineries situated in 6 countries and is WA’s largest industrial employer of PhDs. 

Ian’s base degree is in Chemistry and Soil Science and his PhD in Photoectrochemistry (from UWA).  Ian has held research leadership positions in Kodak, CSIRO and Alcoa and his experience includes a period of operations management at Alcoa’s Wagerup refinery.  Ian has long standing external scientific relationships including a Directorship of the Parker Centre (Hydrometallurgy), Chair of the Alumina Technical Panel (advisory panel for the International Aluminium Council) and prior membership/leadership of a number of Industry Advisory Panels (such as the CSIRO Minerals, CSIRO Light Metals Flagship and AMIRA alumina panels).

In his current role, Ian is responsible for the development and execution of Alcoa’s global refining technology strategy and associated technology roadmap along with the delivery of the associated R&D program.  Ian is passionate about the role R&D plays in advancing Australia’s competitiveness.

Mr Paul Kristensen

Paul Kristensen, B.Sc. (Hons.), Mech. Eng., CPEng., MIEAust., is the owner and Executive Chairman of Capital Technologies Pty Ltd, a seed capital firm he established in 1986.

For a decade Paul was project manager on a series of major nuclear and particle physics research projects at the Swiss Paul Scherrer Institute and at CERN in Geneva. He has co-published research papers with world-leading physicists and engineers.Subsequently he established his own consulting business in the Geneva area, assisting technology companies with R&D management and international licensing and commenced his venture investing activities.

In 1983 he moved to Perth, WA, where he has been an active founder investor and director of a number of technology companies, including ERG Limited, Arbortech Pty Ltd, Kinetic Limited, Xenotech Inc. / Dynamic Digital Depth Inc., Structural Monitoring Systems Ltd, Add Venture Capital Ltd, Live Technologies Ltd, Lumitex Ltd and Optimiser IP Pty Ltd. He was involved in taking some of these start-up companies through to public listings in Australia, Canada and the UK.

For some years Paul served as a Governor and Chairman of Central TAFE in Perth (now Central Institute of Technology) and he holds or has held many other voluntary positions in support of venture capital, science and innovation in WA.

Paul is an advisor to London-based Imprimatur Capital Ltd and an Associate of AADI Defence Pty Ltd. He is a member of the IT Industry Innovation Council.From 2002 Paul has been the non-executive Chairman of DDD Group Plc (www.DDD.com), listed on AIM of the London Stock Exchange, and is a director of most of the DDD Group companies in North America and Australia.

Dr. Ian McDonald

Ian McDonald has 35 years experience in the pharmaceutical industry; the last 25 years in senior management roles in drug discovery and development.  Until August, 2012 he was Chief Scientific Officer at the Sydney-based Pharmaxis Ltd.  Prior to that he was vice president of drug discovery at Structural GenomiX and he held a similar position at Structural Bioinformatics. From 1993 to 2000, Ian was first Director, then Vice President of Chemistry with responsibilities for medicinal chemistry and biochemistry at SIBIA Neurosciences, which is now part of the Merck Research Laboratories. Before joining SIBIA, he spent a total of 15 years in Strasbourg, France, then in Cincinnati, Ohio, at Merrell Dow which is now part of Sanofi. In these positions, he has been responsible for the design of mechanism-based enzyme inhibitors, receptor agonists and antagonists targeted towards a range of diseases with the focus on respiratory, inflammatory, CNS and oncology targets. Under his leadership, six compounds have been developed and evaluated in clinical trials.  Prior to his first position in the pharmaceutical industry he was a Senior Research Officer in the Toxicology Division of State Health Laboratory Services in Perth.

Ian was awarded his B.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Chemistry from the University of Western Australia, then undertook post-doctoral studies at the University of Zurich and the Australian National University.  He has co-authored over 80 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, and is an inventor on 37 issued US patents.  He was on the editorial boards of a number of drug discovery focused scientific journals and was the founding Editor-in-Chief of Current Drug Targets – CNS & Neurological Disorders.  Ian is also a non-executive director and chair of the scientific advisory group of Cancer Therapeutics, CRC, Pty Ltd, and advises a number of academic groups and biotechnology companies.

Dr. Chris Vernon

Chris Vernon graduated from The University of Western Australia with a PhD in Physical and Inorganic Chemistry, gained in conjunction with supervisors at the AAEC (now ANSTO).  While at the university he served as postgraduate student representative on the Academic Board and on the university Senate.  He has published broadly, in areas such as kinetic and spectroscopic studies of radiation-induced excited states, laser modification of biopolymers and on a number of mineral processing topics.  Chris has accumulated considerable experience in the mineral processing industry.  He worked for 5 years in Alcoa’s technology delivery group on a variety of laboratory and pilot plant projects, contributing to and resulting in efficiency upgrades, new unit operations and new product lines.  For the past 15 years Chris has worked in CSIRO on a variety of mineral processing research and technology transfer projects for Australian and international clients.  These include participation in process audits at client refineries overseas, development of flowsheets for new ore feedstocks, leading significant environmental projects for industry clients,  and in pilot studies of the recycling of rare earth metals from waste products.  He is currently a Research Program Leader in the CSIRO Division of Process Science and Engineering, and also leads research in the extraction of rare and refractory metals from their ores for the Minerals Down Under National Research Flagship.  Chris was a member of the Aluminium Task Force for the Asia Pacific Partnership on Clean Processing and Climate, representing Australian interests in the seven-nation forum, and instrumental in obtaining funding for a number of research projects from this source.  He has also recently represented the Australian lithium and rare earths industry in Europe, and is often invited to comment on these industries to governments and in business circles.

Chris has significant experience in developing multidisciplinary collaborative research partnerships, and delivering applied research outcomes to industry. 

Dr. Paul Watt

Professor Paul Watt, D. Phil

A leading graduate from The University of Western Australia, Paul Watt completed his doctorate in Molecular Biology at Oxford University before taking up postdoctoral appointments at Harvard and Oxford. As a Research Fellow at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research, he was appointed Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia. Professor Watt has published 50 peer reviewed scientific papers (including several highly cited papers) and is primary inventor on 22 patent applications, many of which have been granted in the US and Europe.  He has held the roles of CEO, CSO and Director of two public biotechnology companies. 

Professor Watt founded InfaMed Ltd., now owned by Avita Medical, which is commercialising a drug delivery device he invented, which is marketed internationally.  Professor Watt is currently CSO of Phylogica, a drug discovery company which he founded to commercialise a novel, structure-rich class of peptide known as Phylomers.  Simce December 2009 he was responsible for business development, negotiating discovery alliances with large Pharmaceutical companies such as Jansen, Medimmune, Pfizer and Roche/ Genetech as well as smaller companies such as Cubist Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. James Williams

James is a co-founder and Investment Director of Yuuwa Capital LP, a Perth-based early stage Venture Capital fund.

James has been CEO of medical device companies Argus Biomedical Pty Ltd and Resonance Health Ltd (spin-out companies from the Lions Eye Institute and UWA respectively); in both cases he oversaw regulatory approvals and market launch of first products. He co-founded, and is the former CEO of Dimerix Biosciences Pty Ltd (a spin-out from the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research). In 2003, James conceived the business concept behind UWA spin-out iCeutica. He held various Executive and non-Executive roles with iCeutica until the company was sold in April 2011 for 10 times return on investment at the time of first financing.

Prior to becoming involved in technology commercialisation, James was a Senior Research Officer at WAIMR where he was researching the molecular and cellular biology of cancer. He has numerous publications in leading international journals and is named as inventor on patents covering a range of disciplines that are being prosecuted as part of Australian company’s technology portfolios. Noteworthy examples are patents describing iCeutica’s core technology for developing nano drugs, and the HLS5 tumour suppressor gene he cloned during post-doctoral studies and which is being commercialised by ASX-listed Biopharmica Ltd.

James is currently a Director of Dimerix Bioscience Pty Ltd, AdAlta Pty Ltd and OzSonotek Pty Ltd. He completed his honours degree in Biochemistry at Aberdeen University, doctorate in Medicine at the University of Melbourne and Masters of Business Administration at the University of Western Australia.