Alex Navarre as its new Director of Technology Transfer at UWO.

The University of Western Ontario is extremely pleased to welcome Alex Navarre as its new Director of Technology Transfer. Dr. Navarre’s experience in university, federal government and private sector environments provides him with a unique perspective in approaching issues related to technology transfer. A graduate of both McGill University – where he received his PhD in Chemistry – and The University of Western Ontario – where he earned his MBA – Navarre is recognized nationally as a leader in university technology transfer. By developing the resources necessary to increase its team from four to 19 members, and licensing revenues from $400K to $3M, Dr. Navarre built a national reputation for McGill University’s commercialization program, and also contributed to the creation of over 30 spin-off companies. As Director of the Office of Technology Transfer, he developed extensive collaborations with hospital research institutes in Montreal, and has effectively worked with industrial partners and funding agencies in their commercialization initiatives. Dr. Navarre also contributed to the concept of MSBi, a McGill-led $26M Seed Fund Limited Partnership. Prior to moving to McGill in 1998, Dr. Navarre was the Manager of Development and Strategic Initiatives for the Federal Office of Regional Development for Québec. Here, he assessed the viability and financial structure of private and institutional projects in information, aerospace and environmental technologies, as well as in biotechnology and medical devices. He also assumed the financial management of a $20M fund and contributed to the negotiation of a collaborative agreement between FORD(Q) and the financial sector. Dr. Navarre has also served in a variety of other roles in the private sector and in government, including Senior Analyst for the federal Department of Finance, where he directed specialized studies, including “The Venture Capital Evolution in Canada”, and recommended policies and fiscal measures. Dr. Navarre is currently a member of the NSERC selection committee for the Idea to Innovation (i2i) program, which accelerates the pre-competitive development of promising technologies and promotes their transfer to Canadian companies, and has served as a member of a variety of boards throughout his distinguished career. Dr. Navarre’s experience with technology transfer and commercialization at a major university, combined with his entrepreneurial outlook and mindset, is exactly what Western has been seeking to build upon its successes. The Search Committee – with members from the community, the London Economic Development Corporation, the Robarts Research Institute and the Lawson Health Research Institute, as well as Western’s Faculties of Engineering, Science and Medicine – was unanimous in its recommendation that Alex Navarre be recruited to London.