NanoScienceWorks

David Tolfree Ph.D.

Position	Department / Business Unit
Founder and Executive Director
Institution	Disciplines
Technopreneur LTD.	Physics
City	State / Provence
Daresbury, Warrington	Cheshire
Country	Website
UK
Fax

Founder and Executive Director of Technopreneur Ltd, a consultancy company for the commercial exploitation of micro and nanotechnologies. David Tolfree is currently the European Vice-President of MANCEF (Micro and Nanotechnology Commercialisation Educational Foundation), an international body.

David Tolfree is a Chartered Physicist, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics with a Masters Degree in Nuclear Instrumentation. He is the author of over 120 scientific and technology papers, articles, chapters for books, conference reports, and has been interviewed on TV and radio programmes on micro-nanotechnology issues.  He is an internationally recognised authority on the applications and market exploitation of micro-nanotechnology, and has authored and co-authored chapters in the MANCEF International Microsystems and Nanotechnology Roadmap. He is on the advisory boards of a number of international conferences and frequently gives presentations and chairs sessions at those conferences.  David gained over 40 years’ experience in nuclear research, project management and the marketing and commercialisation of research facilities while working as a physicist for the UK Atomic Energy Authority, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and later the Council of the Central Laboratory for the Research Councils’ (CCLRC).

During the period 1960-98, when David was employed as a Physicist by the UK Atomic Energy Authority and the (CCLRC), he worked on experimental nuclear and particle physics projects, specialising in nuclear detector instrumentation. Later he established and managed research facilities at the CCLRC’s Daresbury National Laboratory and was appointed Senior Business Manager and Head of the European office at the Laboratory.

In 1994 he was the first to exploit the use of X-ray lithography using the Daresbury Synchrotron for fabricating precision microstructures and led a UK team in the first European- funded R&D Network in Microtechnology co-ordinated by Germany with partners from nine other European countries. During this time he established an industry-led UK consortium, known as the LIGA Club, for the industrial use of German LIGA technology and acquired over £500K  funding for the development of prototype microstructures.

In 1996, David was appointed member of a new body set up by the Government known as ‘The North West Faraday Network’. In 1998, the Network Board recommended the setting up of the company, Faraday Foresight Northwest Ltd (FFNW) to implement regional technology transfer policy. David was initially seconded from the CCLC to the company and later became a full-time Executive Director. In 1999, FFNW Ltd created the SMIDGEN (Small Microengineering-Intelligence-Design-Generation-Exploitation-Network) Consortium to drive the commercialisation of microsystems technology.  This was acknowledged by the UK Government’s Department of Trade and Industry as an example of best practice and became the precursor to a number of other Government initiatives.

Through his consultancy company Technopreneur Ltd, David has provided consultancy to Government Departments, companies, and universities on micro-nanotechnology. This included submitting written evidence to a Government Committee set up to review the issues of nanoscale science and nanotechnology in the UK.

In 2004, David initiated a proposal to the UK Northwest Development Agency to create a National Microsystems Packaging Centre. This was accepted by the Agency and endorsed by the UK Government. Recent approval has been given to build the facility in the UK. (see www. elecdesign.com/articles)  

David was the Co-Director of the international COMS2005 conference at Baden-Baden in Germany and will have a similar role at COMS2007 in Melbourne Australia. He was a UK delegate at the Micromachine Summit held in Dallas in May 2005.

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