Dr Diarmuid O'Brien is Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Innovation at the University of Cambridge and Chief Executive of Cambridge Enterprise. In these roles he has responsibility for all elements of innovation, enterprise partnership, research commercialisation, investment, local and national government engagement on innovation, and innovation and place.
During his time at Cambridge, Diarmuid has led the creation of a number of initiatives to unlock innovation and offer enhanced support for translational funding and company creation, including Founders at the University of Cambridge and the Technology Investment Fund. He co-founded and continues to be an active leader in Innovate Cambridge, a highly collaborative initiative defining and delivering an inclusive innovation future for the Cambridge ecosystem.
Previously Diarmuid was Chief Innovation & Enterprise Officer of Trinity College Dublin and has held senior management roles in several university-founded start-up companies, including NTera, Xoliox, and Deerac Fluidics. Diarmuid was a Research Fellow at Princeton University. He has a PhD in Physics from the University of Sheffield and a degree in Materials Science from Trinity College Dublin.