At a recent meeting of its Board of Directors, Advanced Applied Physics Solutions, Inc. (AAPS) confirmed the appointment of James D. Hanlon as Chief Executive Officer and President of the company. Jim Hanlon will serve in this capacity simultaneously with his role as Head of Business and Administration at TRIUMF, Canada’s national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics.
Edward A. Odishaw, chair of the Board, said, “Jim is a superb addition to our team. He brings commitment and integrity to the role and a great understanding of how to work with TRIUMF, its member universities, and the many physics-based technical organizations across Canada and around the world.”
Hanlon has over 25 years of experience working in the research and technology sector with national and international exposure. He earned a B.A. in Economics from the University of Ottawa and has been an active participant in the 4,500 member Society of Research Administrators International since 1992. He most recently served as president of SRA International from 2010-2012 and currently serves as Immediate Past President. At TRIUMF, Hanlon chairs the Innovation and Industrial Partnerships committee and heads the Business and Administration Division where he is responsible for revenue-generating activities and ventures that develop from the laboratory.
Asked about the new assignment, Hanlon remarked, “I am always eager to work with a great team, and bridging the research world of TRIUMF and the business world of AAPS is a challenge to which I look forward.”
TRIUMF’s director, Nigel S. Lockyer, added, “AAPS has advanced TRIUMF’s industrial partnerships and commercialization opportunities in several key areas. I am delighted to have someone as talented as Jim take the helm to ensure sustainability and overall success.”
Canada was recently credited with world-leading excellence in a half-dozen research areas, including physics and astronomy and especially particle and nuclear physics. Canada is ripe with opportunities in this sector, ranging from medical isotopes and accelerators at TRIUMF to radiation detection and control in the universities to novel underground imaging systems at SNOLAB and academic laboratories. Converting this intellectual leadership into economic competitiveness is increasingly challenging as physics-derived technologies often require a scale of time and investment larger than what individuals or traditional venture capital is willing to tolerate.
With support from the Government of Canada’s Networks of Centres of Excellence program, AAPS was formed in 2008 as a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research to address this opportunity and provide a business-development and commercialization resource for all of Canada.
--From a TRIUMF/AAPS press release