Anna M. Henning

Background

About Anna M. Henning

I work in the commercialisation, tech transfer and investment towards science, innovation and research. At MBIE and within the Contestable Funds Investment team I manage the Commercialisation Portfolio, including PSAF/CPN, and work across the broader Contestable science investments in support of the team. MB's commercialisation investments support the sector to achieve knowledge transfer of innovative ideas to the market through new products and services. Historically - I received my Bachelor of Technology in Chemical Products and Processes at Victoria University, and completed PhD in Chemistry and Nanomaterials under Prof. Richard Tilley. I had the opportunity to travel to a variety of places for work - including Japan, Cardiff, Oxford, Delft Netherlands - and learn a variety of techniques on 'cool' instruments such as Transmission electron microscopes. After PhD I jumped in the deep end and began work as Operations for Boutiq Science Ltd, involving a small team trying to transfer our research from the lab to commercial start-up. In 2016 we successfully partnered with UniSA and gained investment from PowerHouse Ventures to spin-off a new company Ferronova Pty Ltd, developing medical devices for cancer staging. This gave me an array of new experience in commercialisation & business development, as well as regulatory and quality assurance. After a brief stint supporting VicLink (commercialisation office of University of Victoria) in research commercialisation, I moved to the tech transfer office of the University of Waikato, WaikatoLink, to take up a position as a Senior Commercialisation Specialist. There, I worked across various disciplines - from psychology and engineering, to aquaculture.