Cliff is a successful executive with more than 25 years of leadership experience in academia and business. He is passionate about commercialisation of university discoveries to improve the quality of life. He founded three companies (Biomechanics Corp., UTEK & Tekcapital) which subsequently listed, where he served as CEO and Chairman and co-founded or founded numerous private companies including HumanCAD, MicroSalt, GenIP, Guident and Vesari. Previously he was President and CEO of Innovacorp, the provincial venture capital fund of Nova Scotia. Cliff served as Acting Director of the graduate program in Biomechanics and Ergonomics at New York University, Chairman of the Nelson Rockefeller Department of Biomechanics at the New York Institute of Technology and Research Professor at the University of South Florida. He has authored or co-authored several books including Springer: “Too Good to Fail: Creating Marketplace Value from the World’s Brightest Minds“ and is a named inventor on approximately 59 granted patents and 19 pending applications. A number of the ergonomic products he has help to develop became significant commercial successes including the DeWalt Cordless Drill for Black & Decker, The Parachute Chair for Knoll, the first ergonomic mouse for Logitech, HumanCAD, the first PC based human CAD software and the flexible back belt, which has been used to help reduce back stress for individuals worldwide. Several of his products were included in a Smithsonian exhibit on ergonomic design. Cliff is a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors.  He received his M.A. and Ph.D. from New York University and an MBA from Oxford University.