Dr Pushkar Wadke is currently serving as the Interim Head of IP & Licensing at King's Innovation Catalyst.

He holds a PhD in embedded systems and process engineering from the University of Sheffield, complemented by postdoctoral research at the Scottish Association of Marine Science. During this time, he contributed to the development and commercialisation of the 'Sea Ice Mass Balance Buoys,' that was successfully brought to market and sold widely.

Over the past two decades, Pushkar has had the privilege of working across several Russell Group universities in the field of technology transfer. His experience includes supporting academic spinouts, serving as a board advisor/director, facilitating venture fundraising, and helping bring research-driven products to market. He has been involved in securing a number of IP licences and forging corporate partnerships. He’s also mentored start-ups extensively in the UK, US, India through various accelerator programmes.

With a background in strategic leadership and change management, Pushkar has held roles such as Chief Technology Transfer Officer at the National Oceanography Centre, where he was part of the executive team guiding its transition to charitable independence. At Imperial College London, he focused on developing initiatives to strengthen the university’s entrepreneurial environment. He is currently independent Non-Executive Director of SAMS Enterprise Ltd.

Pushkar joined King's College London in 2021 and continues to be inspired by the creativity and innovation emerging from the university community.