Heriot-Watt University has appointed Professor Gabriela Medero as associate principal for enterprise.
The new role has been created to help to drive engagement with entrepreneurial talent, as part of the university’s Shaping Tomorrow Together strategy.
An experienced professor of geotechnical and geo-environmental engineering, she is also renowned for developing the K-Briq, the world’s first sustainable brick made from 90% construction and demolition waste.
As co-founder of her own successful spin-out company called Kenoteq, which should scale up to commercial production later this year, Professor Medero will help build a pipeline of academic entrepreneurs.
She will additionally be responsible for supporting academic colleagues to engage in new entrepreneurial initiatives, as well as attracting global partnerships across Heriot-Watt’s ecosystem of global campuses.
Deputy principal for business and enterprise Dr Gillian Murray said: “We’re building a vibrant entrepreneurial community that inspires both our students and academics to pursue the commercial potential of their creative ideas and research.
“This new role encapsulates our collective ambition to drive economic growth and social opportunity through creating entrepreneurial minds of the future.
“Professor Medero will provide inspiration and guidance to others which will build the pipeline of new opportunities within Heriot Watt.”
Medero added: “Advancing emerging technologies, building interdisciplinary partnerships and commercialising research are key strands of Heriot-Watt’s long history of promoting entrepreneurialism.
“I relish the challenge of supporting both academic and student entrepreneurs to realise their creative potential and using my personal experience to guide them as they pursue their own ambitious paths.”
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