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Brent Watts - Operations Manager
Brent has thirteen years of experience spanning across industry, government and research sectors. Prior to joining bluebox, he consulted to a portfolio of technology based companies on strategic planning and capital raising. Brent also held positions with the Australian Government's AusIndustry division, where he managed the delivery of a range of innovation funding programs, and with the Global Private Equity division of Queensland Investment Corporation.
Brent's career has also included engineering roles in research and development with RWTH in Europe, design and planning with Burchill Partners VDM and John Wilson & Partners (now WorleyParsons), and construction and project management with Golding Contractors. He holds a BEng with first class honours from Central Queensland University, a MEngSc and MBA from Queensland University of Technology, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
At bluebox Brent holds the position of Operations Manager, which in which he oversees company operations and leads the commercialisation of technologies developed in the physical and life sciences.
Hunter Walkenhorst - Commercialisation Manager
With a background in E-commerce and E-business, Hunter has over a decade of experience spanning industry, government, research, and academic sectors. Before joining bluebox, his career has included consulting roles for a global management consulting company in the disciplines of process analysis and development, project management and design with a leading national Internet development and design firm, and teaching and learning positions within academia.
Hunter holds a BIT in E-commerce, with first class honours and is currently in the final stages of acquiring his PhD, specialising in the field of electricity price modelling, both from the Queensland University of Technology.
At bluebox Hunter is a commercialisation manager in the physical sciences team, which provides commercialisation support for technologies developed in the physical sciences.
Dr Samantha South - Commercialisation Manager
Samantha has a background in basic medical research and preclinical drug development. After completing her PhD, she held a fellowship at Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York. Samantha was awarded a prestigious fellowship from The University of New South Wales (The Vice-Chancellors / NewSouth Global postdoctoral fellowship) to return to Australia, before becoming a manager with the Efficacy section of a preclinical contract research organisation. In this role, Samantha was involved in patent enablement and the pre-IND process, and gained many years exposure to the commercialisation processes within the pharmaceutical and biotech environments.
Samantha received her PhD from the University of Queensland, for which she was placed on the Deans List for Excellence. She is currently acquiring an MBA from the Australian Business School.
At bluebox Samantha is a commercialisation manager in the life sciences team, which provides commercialisation support for technologies developed in the life sciences.
Dr Denise Hodge - Commercialisation Manager
Denise brings a variety of experience in molecular biology research, scientific policy, and intellectual property law to her role at bluebox. On the completion of her PhD studying the role of glycosyltransferases in Arabidopsis, Denise took the position of Science and Society Strategy Officer within the University of York to provide a strategy for improving the public perception of science. After travelling to Australia in 2004, Denise then held a Post-Doctoral Research Officer role researching the regulation of globin gene expression at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB) located at the University of Queensland.
Leading on from this position, Denise worked at a major Australian patent and trade mark attorney firm and gained four years experience training in many aspects of intellectual property law, particularly in the field of biotechnology. She aims to become qualified and registered as a patent attorney by the end of 2009 through the completion of a Masters of Industrial Property at the University of Technology Sydney.
At bluebox Denise is a commercialisation manager in the life sciences team, which provides commercialisation support for technologies developed in the life sciences.
Sarah Ward - Marketing and IP Coordinator
Sarah holds a BCI (Media Communication and Film and Television) from QUT and has studied law previously. Before coming to bluebox, Sarah worked as a film and entertainment publicity coordinator for The PR Company, and prior to that as Creative and Administrative Manager for digital signage firm 4UTV (formerly Ferry TV). She also has experience in corporate training and quality assurance from a range of employers, including international IT outsourcing firm EDS, GE and Hutchison Telecoms.
Sarah has a keen interest in research in the fields of intellectual property and copyright, including a collaboration with Creative Commons Australia on the topic 'Revitalising the Australian film industry through Creative Commons'. Sarah also has a passion for film and has worked as a film and DVD critic for numerous outlets over the past nine years, including community radio station Planet Radio and Australian DVD portal DVD Bits.
At bluebox, Sarah is responsible for all marketing and communications activities, as well as the coordination of intellectual property and patents. Sarah also administers bluebox's extensive database used to track the commercialisation process and the IP generated by the University.
