North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
Chris is an entrepreneur with a passion for the development of new materials technology to tackle global issues. Chris received his BSc from the Université Pierre & Marie Curie in Paris and a PhD in Materials Science from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). He has over 25 years of experience, spanning 3 continents, in developing and commercialising new materials and technologies for a wide range of commercial applications from high temperature superconductors, to blue-lasers, biosensors, solar cells and drug delivery. Having gained experience in world-class R&D organisations such as Dupont Central Research, the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology (ANSTO), he switched from science to innovation management when he created Ceramisphere in 2007. Over 15 years, he raised a cumulative $15 millions of private capital funding. During his time at Ceramisphere, he has instigated and managed a wide range of joint development programs with large multinational companies including Airbus (Fr), Zoetis (USA), Merck (USA), CSL (AU), Altana (D), Michelin(FR), Cadbury(USA), Troy (USA), SC Johnson (USA), Danisco(USA), Saint-Gobain(FR), Cabot (USA) totaling several million $ of contract research. He also launched a new range of innovative micro-encapsulated anti-corrosion products in 2017. This involved setting up a network of distributors in Europe, North America and Asia as well as hiring two sales representatives based in Australia and Cleveland USA. This also entailed building from scratch manufacturing plant capable of producing a micro-encapsulated product with a capacity of 50 metric ton per year as well as establishing and vetting a network of trusted suppliers in China. He has been the recipient of many selective innovation grants including Commercialization Australia, ATSE, AMGC and ARC linkage.