Team

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Our team of permanent and part-time staff members ensures the streamlined day-to-day functioning of InnovUS, and assists inventors and investors with all queries and processes related to our services.

Permanent staff
	Anita Nel Chief executive officer Anita is the CEO of InnovUS Technology Transfer (Pty) Ltd, the wholly-owned technology and short courses commercialisation company of Stellenbosch University. She started out her career as a maths and science teacher at Paul Roos Gymnasium, and went on to work at Thawte, one of the most successful and well-known South African IT companies which was sold to VeriSign in 2000. Upon leaving Thawte, Anita was one of the founder members of HBD Venture Capital where she worked as Investment Manager. At HBD Anita gained very valuable experience in investing in technology start-ups and serving on the boards of these companies post investment. During this time, she also managed a socially responsible investment fund and a small research company. With vast experience in human resources, marketing, negotiations, strategy and general management, Anita is well equipped to understand entrepreneurship and the many challenges facing start-up companies. She holds a BSc (Physics) degree and MSc (Psychology) degree as well as an HED.
	Doris Peters Senior Admin & Financial (IP) Officer Doris Peters is currently the Senior Intellectual Property and Financial Officer at InnovUS, the TTO of Stellenbosch University which she joined in September 2000. She was responsible for setting up business procedures and processes for the office and has been instrumental in the development and testing of the RIMS/InfoEd Tech Transfer Module for South Africa. Through this role she has successfully built relationships with other officials in university technology transfer offices throughout the country. Doris is responsible for the administration of the University’s trademark and intellectual property portfolio. She is also responsible for providing financial support for InnovUS. She also manages the processes within InnovUS and has an in-depth understanding of the operations of a technology transfer office and its stakeholder management. Doris is a Certified Professional Secretary (CPS) and completed the WIPO-UNISA Specialisation Programme in Intellectual Property. She is currently busy with her certificate in Entrepreneurial Business Management at Stellenbosch University Business School and finished the AUTM TOOLS course recently in the USA. Doris is probably one of the most experienced technology transfer individuals on the African continent.
	Carol Kat Senior copyright and short course official Previously the copyright officer for a publisher and supplier of course material in the Naspers Group, Carol has been in the employ of Stellenbosch University since March 2003. She started out as the copyright officer for the University’s publishing initiative and transferred to InnovUS in 2004. Carol holds a B Rad Degree from Free State University and is currently busy with a WIPO-UNISA Specialisation Programme in Intellectual Property. She is married and the mother of two daughters.
	Elmien Lovell Copyright and Short Courses Administrator Elmien joined the InnovUS team in July 2012 as Copyright and Short Courses Administrator, after having worked at other faculties at Stellenbosch University for the previous eight years. Elmien’s responsibilities include among others managing all the administration of and queries about the short course systems, managing copyright applications and also the marketing of short courses. In her spare time Elmien enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, and also loves to read and go for walks.
	Venessa Williams Administrative officer and PA for CEO Venessa joined the InnovUS team in September 2008. She is responsible for managing the office and is the personal assistant to the Director. In addition, Venessa maintains InnovUS's databases of researchers, industry partners and funders. She is currently qualifying as a Certified Professional Secretary (CPS). Venessa loves working in InnovUS’s stimulating environment, and in her spare time enjoys partaking in road races with her husband.
	Saberi Marais Business developer Having studied Management Advancement at WITS Business School, Saberi is well versed in business theory across all business disciplines. He started his career as a research scientist with a British biotechnology company after which he was Technology Transfer Manager at the South African Medical Research Council’s Innovation Centre. During this time he evaluated freedom-to-operate issues in projects, protected intellectual property, identified licensing opportunities and developed business cases for technologies. At InnovUS, Saberi will identify new invention disclosures and be a point of contact for Stellenbosch University’s researchers. He is motivated by the potential opportunities of extracting value from Stellenbosch University’s researchers, their ideas and their inventions. Saberi holds an MSc (Molecular and Cell Biology) degree from UCT and has completed several commercial legal courses at Unisa and the South African Institute of Intellectual Property Law. His wife Nailah and baby boy Zaahid are very dear to him and he loves spending time with them outdoors. He enjoys kickboxing and hiking and will try his hand at painting soon.
	Daniell Jacobs Admin (IP) Assistant Daniell started at InnovUS in October 2012 as acting personal assistant for the Director: Innovation and Business Development. She is now assisting Doris Peters as an administrative officer, responsible for the upload and maintenance of the electronic filing system (RIMS – Tech Transfer Module). Daniell studied BA Sport Science at Stellenbosch University and although working at InnovUS is very far from what she is used to, she enjoys the challenges and is excited to work with the University’s inventors and researchers. She enjoys reading and loves watching rugby on weekends. She is also an entrepreneur – she teaches swimming lessons in her spare time and specialises in holistic massage.
	JD Labuschagne Junior Business Developer JD joined InnovUS at the start of 2012 as an entrepreneur intern. JD was initially one of our 100-hour interns and wished to stay on after its completion. As young entrepreneur he started several small businesses and intends another one in the near future. JD obtained his BCom (Investment Management) at the Stellenbosch University and is currently studying towards a CFA qualification in portfolio management. His diverse interests include nature and outdoor life, as well as choral singing, jogging and cooking a great Durban curry.
	Warren Engelbrecht Sport Scientist Warren started working at InnovUS in February 2013. He is responsible for the football projects and development at InnovUS and is very excited about the future of football in Stellenbosch. He has been involved in football as a player, coach, manager, performance analyst and sport scientist. He had the exciting experience of working with the South African Ladies National Football Team (2010-2012), assisting them in their qualification for their maiden Olympic Games in London. He completed his Masters programme in Sport Science in 2010. The topic of his research was a performance analysis of South African professional football, with specific focus on the penalty area entrances of a PSL team. Warren enjoys spending quality time with his wife, surfing, playing sport and being outdoors.
	Christina Harvett Project Coordinator Christina is the part-time programme coordinator for InnovUS’s entrepreneurship activities. She has recently returned to South Africa after living in Silicon Valley for 12 years where she gained valuable experience with her own start-up company and working at Stanford University’s entrepreneurship centre, Stanford Technology Ventures Program. She wants to encourage entrepreneurship as a life-skill on campus. Christina holds a B.Com(Economics) degree from UNISA, a Food & Beverage diploma from UJ and a diploma in international wine studies from the Cape Wine Academy. She is also the wine and tastings coordinator for the Platter Wine Guide. Christina is a wife, double mom, foodie and open-water swimming enthusiast who has survived the Escape from Alcatraz swim in the San Francisco Bay.
Part-time staff
	Philip Marais Part-time business developer An accredited Mentors and Business Coaches International Facilitator, Philip has a unique technical and business background. He started his career in the software development industry after which he became one of the founding members of HBD Venture Capital. While at HBD, Philip also started and managed Upstarts Business Incubator and was responsible for mentoring and coaching incubator tenants. His passion for mentoring and coaching led him to start his own consulting company and he continues to assist small businesses in pursuing long-term sustainable success. He is actively involved in the transformation of South African business through enterprise development initiatives. Philip holds an MSc (Engineering) degree from UCT. His wife Nikki and his children Joshua, Jemma and Noah are very dear to him and he loves spending time with them. He also enjoys outdoor activities, especially mountain biking.
	Dr Charles Marais Part-time business developer Dr Charles Marais has more than 25 years experience providing both analytical expertise and thought leadership to senior and executive levels in a variety of sectors. With a PhD in Chemistry and a lifelong passion for computing mechanisms as foundational skills, Dr Marais’s career has produced an unusual combination of skills and competencies. His love for futurist and strategic thinking coupled with his technical training allow him to simultaneously understand, manage and balance the contextual, bigger picture issues and the operational details of any enterprise. While much of his experience is in academic Chemistry and Computing, Dr Marais’s ability to think laterally, work across subject boundaries and to conceptualise and design unique solutions for extraordinary problems, have enabled him to play a key role in environments that present very high levels of complexity and which demand exceptional clarity of thought. His creativity, passion for entrepreneurial thinking and ability to identify extraordinary opportunities have been a recurring theme and source of pleasure throughout his life. On several occasions he had anticipated future trends and opportunities which were adopted in the marketplace. Dr Marais is primarily a generalist, but with a notable capacity to obtain depth in any field which requires his attention. His activities have ranged from academic science through alternative energies, communications technologies and IT. He has served as business catalyst and architect and has implemented a variety of projects. He regards this versatility as a key strength. He is the former CEO of Wits Commercial Enterprise (Pty) Ltd, the commercialisation company of Wits University.
Interns
	Tony Chang Chuma Intern (TIA) Tony is an intern from the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) who joined InnovUS at the beginning of February for three blocks of three months. He comes from a life science background and spent most of his postgraduate studies in the field of molecular biology and biochemistry. He holds a PhD in medical biochemistry from UCT. Tony’s family came to South Africa twenty years ago. He grew up in Port Elizabeth before he started his studies at UCT in 2000. He is a keen basketball player and used to play and coach for the Western Province Chinese Sport Association. He is also a casual runner and has completed three half marathons so far.
	Dirk van Dyk Von Seidels Intern Dirk is an intern from Von Seidels Intellectual Property Attorneys. He studied Mechatronic Engineering at Stellenbosch University, and is currently studying towards a law degree at UNISA. He started his internship at InnovUS in January, and will be here until the end of May. He is married to an industrial engineer, loves to cycle in his spare time and likes to watch rugby and cricket on TV.

Click here to contact a member of the InnovUS team.