Email: einarm[at]ttoiceland.is

Einar Mäntylä is the CEO of Audna TTO Iceland. He has a PhD in Molecular Genetics and an MBA in Innovation & Business creation from the Technical University in Munich, Germany. Einar has over three decades of international experience in Life Sciences, Biotechnology and the Biomedical industry, and has worked as an entrepreneur and manager on innovation management, strategy and business development within the start-ups, NGO´s and academia.

As the Innovation Manager of University of Iceland (UoI) he led the establishment of TTO Iceland and is a past Board member of The Science Park of UoI, Icelandic Startups and several spin-offs. Einar is an entrepreneur and the co-founder of Orf Genetics hf. And DISACT ehf.

“Scientific innovation is our only sustainable way forward”.

Email: sverrir[at]ttoiceland.is

Sverrir Geirdal is Business Development Manager at Audna TTO Iceland. He has an MBA-degree from the Copenhagen Business School (CBS), a diploma in Business and Economics from the University of Iceland Along with a diploma in Systems Engineering fromm the EDC school in Odense. 

He has many years of experience in financing innovation projects, first with the New Business Venture Fund and later on his own. Sverrir operated his own consulting firm for many years, where he consulted on information technology, policy making, business developement and operations. His speciality is ICT and the financial sector. 

After undertaking several auditing- and data management projects, Sverrir returns to innovation with the goal to bridging the gap between science in Iceland and the business sector. It is his firm belief that this can enhance the quality of life and prosperity in the country.

Email: lydur[at]ttoiceland.is

Lýður Skúli Erlendsson is Science and innovation Manager at Auðna TTO Iceland. He has a PhD in microbiology from the University of Lund in Sweden. 

After graduation, Lýður worked at ORF Biotechnology for several years before he started working at the Icelandic Research Center (Rannís). There he worked as a team leader in the research and innovation department, which runs the largest publicly supported programs for innovation in the country, the Technology Development Fund and Tax Deductions for Research and Development. 

Lýður therefore has a lot of experience with financing and cooperation with entrepreneurs, start-ups, and the scientific community. He sits on the board of Nordic Innovation, which supports innovation and increased competitiveness of Nordic innovative companies. 

Lýður has also been actively involved in the preparation and implementation of international collaborative networks sch as Blue Bio Cofound and the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance (AORA). He is one of the founders of the Marine Microbiome Forum, which is a collaboration platform for scientists and policymakers in the EU, USA, and Canada in the academic field. 

Lýður believes that innovation is undoubtedly the key to prosperity in society and that science is one of the main sources of new opportunities. Technology Transfer from the academic environment to the industry is therefore important for the formation of a strong innovative society.

Ólafur is an internist/pulmonologist, serving as managing director of the lung and allergy services at the Karolinska University Hospital. In 2000 he discovered novel effects of the antibiotic azithromycin on airway epithelia paving the way for the development of medications capable of strengthening lung defense against infections. 

Ólafur is co-founder and a scientific advisory board member of Epi Endo Pharmaceuticals, a startup company focusing on building a new class of drugs to augment lung defense. 

Kristinn is the chairman of Auðna's board of directors. He is a professor at the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Iceland. Kristinn is also the chairman of the Intellectual Property Committee of the University of Iceland and the National University Hospital of Iceland. Before joining UI, he worked for over 20 years in applied research and product development, together with patent work, on an international level.

Tatjana is board member at Audna TTO Iceland and Vice President of Intellectual Property at Össur, the global leader in non-invasive orthopedics. Tatjana coordinates and supervises the worldwide intellectual property portfolio of the company, consisting today of over 1500 patents and 500 trademarks.

Anna Kristín Daníelsdóttir completed a Ph.D. in Population Genetics, University College Dublin, Ireland. Now Deputy CEO and Director of Research & Innovation at Matis Ltd.. Before she was Head of Department at the Marine Research Institute, Iceland and Senior Advisor at Icelandic Centre for Research (Rannis). Experience in coordinating National, Nordic and European RTD collaborative projects. National delegate in Programme Committees of the European Commission since 2006 and before an Icelandic delegate in Scientific Committees and member of advisory boards. Supervisor and evaluator of M.Sc. and Ph.D. theses. Received the young scientist award by the board of the Rannis in the year 2000. 

Guðbjörg is managing director at IceTec (Tæknisetur), which provides expertise and support for tech companies and entrepreneurs by providing expertise and access to tech facilities. IceTec is also a valuable partner in domestic and international projects focused on applied research in material sciences, building materials, energy, and life sciences.

Sigurður is the CEO of the Federation of Icelandic Industries and chairman of the Norwegian Business Innovation Fund. Before that, he worked in the financial sector for ten years, most recently as the managing director of asset management at Kvika and before that as the managing director of Júpíter opsorfélag. He was an advisor to the government on the loosening of budget controls and the Reform in 2013-2015. Sigurður has a PhD in mathematics from Oxford University.

Dr. Ólafur Eysteinn Sigurjónsson is the Dean of the School of Technology at the University of Reykjavik. Ólafur Eysteinn has been a professor in biomedical engineering at RU since 2017, previously serving as an associate professor from 2014 and a lecturer from 2008. He has taught, among other subjects, molecular and cellular biology, tissue engineering, and biomaterials science. Ólafur Eysteinn has been the head of research, innovation, and stem cell processing at the Blood Bank of the National Hospital since 2006 and concurrently serves as a clinical professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Iceland. Ólafur Eysteinn has been a member of the board of the Scandinavian Society for Biomaterials since 2013 and served as its president from 2016 to 2019. Ólafur is the chairman of the innovation working group at the European Blood Alliance.