Meet the Team
Damien McDonnell OBE
Bsc., PhD., Dsc., Cphys, FInstP
Damien is a distinguished scientist who led the research and development of liquid crystal technology for the UK government. Damien set up and developed the Defence Diversification Agency from a government white paper, commercialising defence research and technology for the benefit of the UK economy. Prior to that, he held a number of posts in the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency (DERA).
He has an honorary professorship and Doctor of Science degree from Hull University. He received an OBE in the 1997 New Year's Honours List. He has published over 70 scientific papers, & 200 patents on liquid crystal materials. physics and devices.
Peter Marlow
MIEE., Ftec.Dip
Peter has held senior posts in industry and consulting and as an experienced consultant he has particular expertise in the
Peter is also a practitioner experience in implementing Lean Approaches, IS-IT solutions, process redesign, Lean Transformation, Simulation, eProcurement, e'Design. He also has extensive experience in leading benchmarking studies in Research and Development and other wide-ranging studies across business sectors.Rail, Aerospace, Automotive, Pharmaceutical-Life Sciences, Service Industry and MoD sectors. Technically his experience spans areas of strategic positioning, business development, IS-IT, design, product development, manufacturing operations and supply chain redesign.
Nigel Banister
Bsc., PhD., MBA
Nigel is an experienced consultant with more than 15 years of management experience in both the private and public sectors. He has extensive expertise in product development, programme and project management, business planning, strategy and securing investment focused primarily on science and technology (especially life sciences).For the past 6 years he was responsible for creating investment programmes for the London Development Agency to boost business growth from London’s knowledge base. Previously, Technology Transfer Manager at King’s College London with broad experience of identifying, protecting and commercialising intellectual property.
Prakash Bhundia
Prakash is an economist and a Chartered Accountant, and as such is responsible for the financial analysis and feasibility studies for projects presented to Quantum Innovation Centre.
Where projects are developed to commercialisation, Prakash leads the finalisation of the commercial, financial, legal and tax structures.
He also runs his own property portfolio here in the UK, and has joint venture interests in Africa, for which he has a special passion.
Jan Burke
Jan is an experienced principal consultant working in the areas of strategy alignment and deployment, process management, process re-engineering and continuous improvement. She also specialises in customer/ supplier interface perception measurement in regulatory and sensitive environments and has managed a number of customer/ supplier studies in Utilities and Defence research. She has a proven track record of delivering improvement through process re-engineering and developing quality management systems in multi-sited and multi functional organisations. She has worked extensively in Utilities, the Criminal Justice System, Defence Research Agencies and Pharmaceuticals.
Danny Burke
Danny is an experienced principal consultant who has worked extensively in the Private and Public Sector. He specialises in working with Senior Management teams in the Areas of Strategy Alignment and Deployment, Process Management and Re-engineering. He has also led and managed major projects and studies in the areas of Partnership building, Customer Supplier Interface issues and Outsourcing. He has worked extensively in Utilities, the Nuclear Industry, Pharmaceuticals, Defence Research, Government agencies, National Offender Management Service including National Probation Service and Her Majesty's' Prison Service, the Outsourcing Sector, Telecommunications and the Food Industry.
Sarah Yar Khan
Sarah is responsible for keeping the team together, ensuring the smooth and seamless communication essential for success. She coordinates networking and other events including marketing issues, as well as handling Quantum Innovation Centre’s administrative matters, including accounting and statutory requirements. Sarah graduated from Staffordshire University with a degree in Multimedia Computing.
Professor David Hughes
FREng, CDir
David is a Chartered Director and consultant advising CEOs on innovation strategy. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and holds an MSc in Engineering and an Honorary Doctor of Technology, Loughborough University. He is a visiting Professor in Engineering Management at City University. He chairs advisory Boards at City and Loughborough universities.