Cranfield University head to lead Knowledge and Innovation group
29 October 2012
Professor Sir John O’Reilly (pictured) has been appointed as the new Director General of Knowledge and Innovation at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS).
Professor O’Reilly has been vice chancellor at Cranfield University since December 2006. Before that, he spent five years as chief executive of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
BIS’s Knowledge and Innovation Group leads the department’s relationships with the higher education sector. It also fosters links between the UK’s university, science and research base and industry to support economic growth, both through the development of a skilled workforce and through the transfer of new technologies and innovation.
The Group works with three executive agencies – UK Space Agency, Intellectual Property Office and the National Measurement Office – as well as Non Departmental Public Bodies including the Research Councils, Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Student Loans Company and the Technology Strategy Board.