André Catana

Biography

André joined the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale, Lausanne (EPFL), in 1992 and was one of the co-founders of the Technology Transfer Office of EPFL in 1995. As a Technology Transfer Manager, he is in charge of IP evaluation, protection and licensing in the fields of optics, electronics, medical devices and material science. He completed and managed multiple collaboration and technology licensing agreements with start-ups and industry. André is leading the Enable program of EPFL which aims at enhancing the technology transfer from university to industry through funding feasibility studies and prototyping in close collaboration with faculty inventors, external developers and industrial partners. He is teaching the licensing module within the MINTT course which provides PhD students with an accelerated training in invention evaluation, IP rights management, licensing and start-up creation. Prior to joining EPFL, André did postdoctoral research in the field of laser science and superconducting materials at IBM Research Laboratory in Rüschlikon, Switzerland. He holds an MSc in EE from the ETH Zürich and a PhD in physics from EPFL. During his PhD, André was a visiting scientist at Stanford University and Arizona State University. He is member of the AUTM, Licensing Executive Society and swiTT.