| Bill Day, UniCom Investment Committee Chairman |
 | Mr Bill Day, who is one of New Zealand’s leading entrepreneurs, is founder and chairman of Seaworks, a multimillion-dollar global marine technology company. His company has pioneered techniques for seismic surveying, underwater salvage and the repair and laying of underwater cables and is regarded as the world leader in its field. He is a former Ernst & Young, New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner and is vice chairman of the New Zealand Business Roundtable. |
| Hon. Ruth Richardson, Independent Advisor |
 | The Hon Ruth Richardson, the former New Zealand Minister of Finance, has considerable involvement in the local and international business community chairing the Jade Software Corporation Limited, SYFT Technologies LTD, and the KULA Fund. Ruth Richardson is also a director of the LECG Corporation, Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyards Limited, Synlait Limited and Ruth Richardson (New Zealand) Limited. |
| Andrew Turnbull, Independent Advisor |
 | Andrew has spent the last 15 years working in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries in the UK and has extensive experience in most aspects of these businesses, including compliance, manufacturing, research and development and licensing. He spent from 2002 to 2006 as a Board Director of AIM listed company Allergy Therapeutics plc, which he helped to take to market. He is an experienced angel investor and and also a Director of The OpShop, which helps provide strategic options and opportunities for start-ups and SME’s. |
| Mark Stuart, Chief Executive Officer (President), WaikatoLink Limited |
 | Mark Stuart is Chief Executive Officer at Waikatolink Limited and gained his MBA at the University of Otago. He has started and subsequently sold several technology driven businesses. As well as CEO of WaikatoLink Mark is also a Director of ZyGEM Corporation Limited, Graftoss Limited, Novatein Limited, Obodies Limited, Nouvoa Limited, Solenza Limited, RuralLink and Chairperson of Khipu Systems limited. He is also a Council member on the New Zealand Angel Association and a member of the NZBio Advisory Council.
Mark has been involved in making commercialisation and technology transfer an accepted function of the University of Waikato, establishing WaikatoLink as a world class commercialisation company (consistently performing in the top 5% compared to US universities). He has been involved in the launch of various start up companies featuring university intellectual property: including Ectus - e-Learning and video streaming technology, ZyGEM - bioreagents and DNA extraction, ClimSystems - climate change modelling software, Khipu Systems – predictive modelling using artificial intelligence, RuralLink and Datamining Components. |
| Kevin Pryor, CEO AUT Enterprises Ltd and Director Commercialisation, AUT |
 | Kevin’s commercialisation team facilitates the development and growth of AUT’s knowledge and intellectual property into commercial opportunities. Kevin’s career, which has spanned both academic and commercial environments, has positioned him ideally for the role of CEO AUT Enterprises Ltd and Director Commercialisation . Prior to joining AUT, Kevin had a successful career in a number of commercial companies, in various roles that covered strategic and business planning, project management and international marketing. |
| Peter John, Director of Research and Commercialisation, Lincoln University |
 | Peter has been Director of Lincoln's Research and Commercialisation Office since 2005. Prior to that he was Chief Executive Officer at Lincoln Ventures Limited, a research, development and consulting company owned by Lincoln University. Peter has led the commercialisation of agbiotech products, electronic and bio-sensors, CAD systems and specialist fee-for-service businesses. |
| Nigel Johnson, Director of Research & Innovation, University of Canterbury |
 | Nigel is an internationally recognised expert in the management of textile research and commercialisation; in the past holding a number of senior positions at the Australian-based Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the NZ-based WRONZ and Canesis Network Ltd. In his current role as Director of Research & Innovation at the University of Canterbury, Nigel’s unit is responsible for providing services for the facilitation and support of every stage of research and innovation development. |
| John Errington, Chief Executive Officer, VicLink |
 | John is CEO of Viclink. He is also governing director of Blue Marble Polymers, and until its sale in 2003, was managing director of Gough Technology. John is on the executive committee of the Manufacturer’s and Exporters Association and has served as president. A professional engineer with extensive experience in the management and governance of manufacturing businesses and in the development and commercialisation of intellectual property, John is co-inventor of a unique process for making biodegradable foam for cushioning applications and is named as a co-inventor on three patents covering the process. The product is now under further development and commercialisation in Europe. John is also a director of Magritek Ltd, Wetox Ltd, Mancan Foundation Ltd and Manufacturing Solutions Ltd. |