People
Board of Directors
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Brian FinnChairman |
Brian spent 35 years in IBM and has lived and worked in the UK, USA, India, Hong Kong and Australia. His early IBM career was in the UK, in technical support and in marketing ... |
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Professor Ned PankhurstDirector, Representing Griffith University |
Professor Pankhurst is Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research) and Provost Gold Coast at Griffith University. Previous to this appointment he was Pro Vice Chancellor (Science, Environment, Engineering and... |
Jeff McDermidDirector and Company Secretary |
Jeff is a Current Board member or Company Secretary for a number of private companies and unlisted public companies covering a broad spectrum of industries including intellectual property... |
Executive Staff
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Andrew LochChief Executive Officer |
Andrew has been highly involved in technology-based ventures for over 20 years. He has gained valuable knowledge, experience and networks across a range of industry areas ... |
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Michael MurtaghBusiness Development Executive |
Michael Murtagh has more than 25 years experience in the seed and venture capital sector, helping many Australian and international companies to commercialise... |
Advisory Panel
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Richard AnsteyPartner, IQ Capital Management Pty Ltd |
Rick has a career which spans almost 40 years, initially from the U.K, entering the emerging information technology and telecommunications industry in 1971, moving to Australia in 1976, establishing his own group of companies in 1983 and subsequently transitioning his activities... |
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Mark BathieFounder, Freegler |
Mark Bathie runs Freegler, a Collaborative Consumption site allowing anyone to rent their possessions to their neighbours. Mark advises a couple of QLD startups including Appointuit, Australia's first mobile app for... |
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Gregory BeaverFound/Director, Pioneer Development Fund (Aust) Ltd |
Greg is the founder and executive director of The Pioneer Development Fund, a Federal Government registered Pooled Development Fund, specialising in investing and supporting seed, start-up and early-expansion companies... |
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Dr Alan John BlackmanWork Integrated Learning Convenor & Senior Lecturer, Griffith Business School |
A Churchill Fellow, Alan holds a PhD in management from Griffith University, Master Degrees in Business Administration and Law (LL M) from Bond University and is a Certified Management ... |
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Grant ChathamDirector and Partner, PKF Business Accountants and Business Advisors |
Holding a Bachelor of Economics and being a certified Chartered Accountant, Grant has local and international experience in audit and assurance, corporate ... |
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Dr Peter William ClarkExecutive Director, Medigard Limited |
Dr Clark's qualifications include a Doctorate majoring in Chemistry from the University of Indiana and a Master of Business Administration ... |
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Barry EagarB. Eagar Patents Trade Marks Designs |
Barry Eagar specializes in the preparation of mechanical, electromechanical and software related patent specificationss ... |
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Peter EmeryCEO, Medigard Limited |
Currently, Peter is Chief Executive Officer and Company Secretary for Medigard Limited, a medical devices company which he helped to commercialise and list ... |
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Adam GallagherPartner, DG Capital |
Since entering one of Australia’s largest banking institutions as a Commercial banking graduate in 1999, Adam has assisted ... |
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Dr Laurence HammondDirector, IQ Capital Management |
Dr Laurie Hammond manages early-stage venture capital investments in new technology-based enterprises. He is a founder and director of Timsco ... |
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Dr Carrie HillyardCo-Founder, CM Capital |
Carrie is a co-founder of CM Capital and led its Life Sciences group for over 10 years. Her experience ranges from medical research to products on the market ... |
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John Maxwell JonesOAM |
John currently operates as a contract consultant in the fields of sales, marketing and business development. He enjoys a successful record ... |
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Colin KinnerManaging Director, Spike Innovation |
Colin is Managing Director of specialist tech industry consultancy firm Spike Innovation and also a mentor and Innovation Evangelist at River City Labs, a start-up co-working space in Fortitude Valley... |
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Paul LunneyHead of Business Development Group Qld, Westpac Group |
Paul Lunney holds a Masters of Business Administration, Diploma of Financial Services, Cert IV Financial Planning... |
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Martin L MankowskiEntrepreneur |
Martin’s time is divided between developing new interests in Australia and continuing to leverage his expertise ... |
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Richard McElhinneyManaging Director, Mechpart Pty Ltd and Chairman, Founders Forum |
Working initially as a civil/structural engineer with Sinclair Knight and Partners in Sydney and Newcastle... |
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Philip MendesPartner, Innovation Law |
Philip Mendes is a lawyer practising exclusively in the area of commercialising intellectual property, and has been in practice for 25 years... |
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Neil MillerAssociate, Cullens Patent & Trade Mark Attorneys |
Prior to joining Cullens, Neil was a senior associate in a leading Australian patent attorney firm... |
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Geoff OConnellDirector, Geoff OConnell Consulting Pty Ltd |
Up until recently Geoff was the National Operations Manager, Export Grants, for Austrade. He has extensive experience (over 30 years) in the administration and ... |
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Dr Margo PooleDirector, Paradigm International Pty Ltd |
Margo gained extensive experience in the business world as the founder, proprietor and executive of businesses in the import, export and retail... |
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Geoff ProvestSolicitor, Provest Law |
Geoff Provest practises primarily in the areas of commercial litigation and commercial law. He is also the chairman and co-founder of ... |
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Michael SherlockEntrepreneur, Author |
Michael Sherlock transformed leading Bakery Franchise Company Brumby’s into an Australasian success story taking it from... |
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Wayne SlaterPartner, IP Gateway |
Wayne is a principal of IP Gateway and is a patent and trademark attorney with 20 years’ experience... |
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Scott StandenPartner, Hynes Lawyers |
Scott is a partner in the corporate group at Hynes Lawyers, prior to this he was general counsel at Billabong for 4... |
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Dr Clarence TanCEO, Bond Wireless & CEO, Austanco Pty Ltd |
Clarence N.W. Tan is the founder and Executive Chairman of Bond Wireless, a Queensland-based award-winning wireless ... |
One of the key components of the GCIC program is its mentoring stream. Each client is assigned at least one mentor who work with them on an ongoing basis for the duration of their membership providing our clients with access to decades of highly qualified skills and experience. Mentors are drawn from the GCIC Executive Team and GCIC's Advisory Panel which includes seasoned entrepreneurs, expert service providers and senior managers from multinational corporations. GCIC considers these mentors a key and highly valuable resource.
The mentors are drawn from a wide range of business professions and industries, possessing extensive professional experience and knowledge across many business areas including: law, financial management, investment funding, accounting, intellectual property management, marketing, technology innovation, international business development, product R and D, sales, , etc.
GCIC mentors can be called on from time to time to:
- participate in the process of screening membership applications
- provide mentoring services to GCIC members
A GCIC mentor/advisor may at his/her discretion provide on a volunteer basis mentoring services to GCIC members. The mentoring services can include:
- Meeting with the GCIC members to discuss the strategic options available to the member and challenge such options so that the member has some understanding of such options
- Offering alternative options that may not have been previously considered by the member and/or
- Assisting the member to overcome specific challenges or achieve key commercial objectives





























