Warwick Ventures appoints new Chief Operations Officer
30 November 2011
Warwick Ventures Limited has announced the appointment of Kevin Marks as its new Chief Operations Officer.
Kevin, who joined Warwick Ventures as a Business Development Manager in 2009, will be responsible for managing the company’s team of BDMs and will oversee all major contracts negotiated by Warwick Ventures.
In addition, he will play a leading role alongside the CEO, Quentin Compton-Bishop, in developing Warwick Ventures as a technology commercialisation company, cultivating key relationships with industry, potential licensees and investor groups, as well as developing and delivering services and support to academics and departments within the University.
Kevin will also continue to act as BDM on a number of projects, including Anvil Semiconductors, a company developing Silicon Carbide (SiC) Power Semiconductor technology that Kevin helped to set up in 2010.
He says: “This is an exciting time to be working for Warwick Ventures as we continue to develop and grow as a separate business. I’m very much looking forward to playing my part along with our excellent team of BDMs in providing an excellent service to the University’s researchers and to industry.”
Kevin’s expertise in research commercialisation spans both academia and industry. He worked as lecturer at the University of Birmingham before moving to set up an Automotive Electronics Department at T&N Plc’s central research facility in Rugby. He then worked for several years as Manufacturing Director of Lec Refrigeration plc, before joining a management buyout of the commercial refrigeration company Caravell (UK) Ltd, which was sold to an Austrian trans-national Company.
He received his first class honours degree in Engineering Science and MBA (with distinction) from the University of Warwick and his MPhil in electronics from the University of Birmingham. He is a chartered engineer and fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) and is currently studying for a part-time LLB (Bachelor of Laws) degree.