New TenU President: Simon Hepworth from Imperial College London

Simon Hepworth, Director of Enterprise at Imperial College London, has taken on the role of president of TenU. He takes over from Paul Van Dun, General Manager of KU Leuven Research & Development (LRD).

Simon Hepworth, Director of Enterprise at Imperial College London, offering closing remarks at the USIT Guide Launch

TenU is an international collaboration formed to capture effective practices in research commercialisation and share these with governments and higher education communities. Its members work together to increase the societal impact of research. TenU members are the technology transfer offices of the University of Cambridge, Columbia University, University of Edinburgh, Imperial College London, KU Leuven, University of Manchester, MIT, University of Oxford, Stanford University, and UCL.

The president is TenU's representative on all policy matters and leads the way for all of TenU's activities. Through a fantastic programme of events and initiatives, TenU fosters collaboration between all those involved in the translation of university research into successful business and IP to tackle the global challenges of today and tomorrow.

Each TenU presidency lasts six months, offering all of TenU’s members the opportunity to take the helm of the busy organisation. Simon takes over from Paul Van Dun.

Thank you to outgoing president Paul Van Dun, who oversaw TenU’s work to support the government-commissioned Independent Review of Spinout Companies, that recognised TenU’s work on the USIT Guide and made further recommendations to create guidance for software spinouts.

Commenting on his appointment, Simon said:

“I am delighted to lead TenU’s international collaborative efforts to deliver on our collective ambition to maximise the societal impact of university research. I would like to thank Paul for his invaluable insights and strong leadership over the last six months.

“2023 was a fantastic year for the technology transfer sector, with the launch of the USIT Guide and the UK government-commissioned spinout review’s recognition of the importance of creating robust infrastructure to support the creation of impactful spinout companies.

“TenU will build on the momentum we have gained in championing and strengthening the technology transfer sector. I especially look forward to bringing the new USIT for Software Guide to the community, leveraging insights across our investor, university and founder stakeholders. TenU is unique in convening groups beyond the walls of the universities so that we align the interests of all the organisations that are needed to bring new technologies to society.”