Innovation Journey - a path to commercialisation

Mike is the Executive Director for Net Zero at Innovate UK – with a vision to ensure the UK prospers from being the fastest transitioning economy to Net Zero. Between 2015 and 2020 nearly 6,000 companies received Net Zero related grants from Innovate UK worth £1.9bn which catalysed £4.8bn of private investment and created 67,000 new jobs. 

Net Zero is a race against time not against each other and more of the same won’t do. That means we must change the way we do things and that means we must innovate with urgency, because the clock is ticking.

Prior to this, Mike was Programme Director for the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to deliver the research and science that businesses needs to transform existing industries, create new ones and deliver economic impact, jobs and growth. 

Before joining Innovate UK, Mike worked in the photonics industry for 10 years after graduating with a masters in physics from Imperial College, London. He is a board member of the Advanced Propulsion Centre and Aerospace Technologies Institute and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics.

Andrew is a University of Birmingham graduate and a former electronic engineer. Since transferring to life as a patent attorney, he has spent over 20 years advising start-ups, SMEs and multinational technology companies on Intellectual Property protection. He’s worked with some of the world's leading innovators to help them obtain patent protection for their technology. 

Andrew also advises companies on IP strategy and has a particular interest in ensuring that IP strategy is aligned with a company's business goals. He works with innovators to help them understand how IP can support growth and realise value from their ideas. 

Andrew’s technology focus is electronics and semiconductors, and he’s worked with companies in the defence, telecommunications, automotive and healthcare industries.

Victoria Milne is a strategic innovation leader and the UK's Head of Delegation to ISO on Innovation Management Systems, with extensive expertise driving global commercial success across diverse sectors, through pioneering innovation management systems, emerging and advanced technologies, artificial intelligence open innovation and best practice methodologies. 

A true collaborator and at the forefront of thought leadership and strategy for innovation management systems, Victoria directly shaped international innovation standards, setting the global benchmark for innovation commercialisation best practice. Specifically, innovation management systems standards ISO 56000, ISO 56001, ISO 56002, ISO 56007, and others still under development. 

As Founder of Verity Merit, she specialises in innovation management systems consulting, training, and research, notably delivering high-impact programmes for Innovate UK, Public Health Wales, and the British Standards Institution (BSI). Previously, as Executive Director at Tenshi Consulting, Victoria successfully led global innovation initiatives, including managing the acclaimed £5M+ Safetytech Accelerator and the ICTomorrow challenge programme for InnovateUK, as well as formulating Design Thinking training for BEIS with Imperial College Dyson School of Design Engineering. 

Victoria holds an MA in Innovation Management (Distinction) from Central St Martins, a PGDip in Business Administration, an NDip Industrial Design and is Agile certified.   She has been a design mentor for the UK KTN Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and is also an ISPIM Body of Knowledge SIG Member and has published influential research on innovation management systems, innovation competencies, and innovation maturity assessment models.

Lindsay is an accomplished engineering professional with a proven track record of driving innovation and enhancing performance. Her early career spanned both the aerospace and FMCG sectors before she joined PA Consulting Group. At PA, she worked on projects across a variety of industries, where she developed a strong passion for innovation. 

Subsequently, Lindsay joined PepsiCo, where she led complex R&D programs and mentored technical teams in delivering insulated product and process innovations, successfully commercializing groundbreaking platforms. She also managed capital projects that introduced new capabilities across diverse regions and spearheaded the development of lean engineering design principles for food and beverage processing lines.

Renowned for tackling challenging problems, Lindsay leverages her operational expertise and Lean Six Sigma background to consistently identify simple, elegant solutions.

She currently serves on the management team at Scienta Group, a science and innovation consultancy dedicated to creating business advantages for both SMEs and large multinational corporations.

Deepak started his career working on world-leading innovations. As an electronic engineer at the Independent Broadcasting Authority, he helped design and engineer the world's first digital terrestrial TV system.

Moving on to Roke Manor Research, he developed its entry into digital TV and DAB. He helped build its portfolio of commercial, contract R&D work in technology areas, covering space, digital communications, software and hardware, working as Roke's account manager for well-known global organisations.

In 2007 he set up his own Technology Business Consultancy (Black Kite® Ltd.), in which he works with R&D organisations at the leading edge of new developments, supporting them with business strategy; technology market and economic studies; mentoring start-ups and SMEs; helping universities and small and large businesses bid for, and manage their, grant-funded projects.

He supports Innovate UK with its funding interventions.
His interest in innovation led him to found the Innovation Management Technical Network within the IET, with the aim of helping innovators and entrepreneurs succeed with their innovations.

Deepak is a Fellow of the IET and a Fellow of the APM (Association for Project Management).