Ian Oakes
Pro Vice-Chancellor University of Wolverhampton
Chief Executive University of Wolverhampton Science Park
Professor Ian Oakes is responsible for co-ordinating the University of Wolverhampton’s growing innovation and enterprise arena at regional, national and international levels as well as overseeing the strategic
development of the University’s Science Park and incubator activities. He has held a number of senior management posts in higher education before joining the University of Wolverhampton in 2008.
Throughout his career he has been involved in an extensive programme of academia/business collaborations operating across a range of sectors and countries. During this period, he has led the development of a number of initiatives focusing specifically on the transfer of technology from academia to both large and small firms including British Government funded Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs) and Carrier Technology Programmes, European Commission funded Framework V and VI RTD and CRAFT projects and EU structural funded business support initiatives.
These multi-million pound projects involving companies both nationally and internationally have focused on a range of sectors including; jewellery, giftware, automotive, creative industries, environmental, engineering and manufacturing. He has also been instrumental in leading the development and delivery of projects for multi-company and multi-university schemes in an attempt to promote collaboration amongst the UK West Midlands universities.
In recognition of his personal academic distinction, the contribution he has made to scholarly activity and his reputation as an academic leader he has been awarded Professorships of the University of Central England and the University of Wolverhampton.
He has travelled throughout mainland Europe, the Middle East, India, China and South East Asia to coordinate technology transfer projects as well as develop and maintain relationships with university partners.
His research interests have included developing models of world-class performance in small manufacturing companies and more recently have focused on the role of university-business collaboration in influencing regional innovation. He has published widely in the field of innovation and technology transfer in the small firm manufacturing sector.