David is a Chartered Engineer with a BSc in Physics, MSc in Digital Systems, Diploma in Marketing and an MBA. He is Chairman of Governance at the UK Intellectual Property Regulation Board, responsible for regulating UK patent and trademark professions. In his current role as Founder and SETsquared Programme Director, Southampton, David helps early stage businesses to create a business plan, supporting them through the process of gaining funding and helping them develop the commercial skills to drive the business forward. The SETsquared Partnership is the enterprise collaboration between five leading research-intensive universities and is now no.1 worldwide.

David spent his early career working in R&D in signal processing and high performance computing technologies before moving into the mainstream computing industry where he progressed through various sales and management positions. Prior to joining SETsquared, David was founder and MD of a consultancy and solutions company operating in the field of enterprise application integration software.

For Catalyst, David is a member of the judging panel and he leads a workshop on the value proposition. He says: “It’s absolutely key to the development of a first-rate high tech business to have an understanding of the commercial landscape, as well as the technological excellence that drives innovative ideas. Most entrepreneurial people are either business-minded or technically-focused but I believe equal importance should be attached to both and this is what helps me to identify suitable candidates for the Catalyst programme.”