Karl Jessen, MBA serves as the Director of Venture Catalyst at the University of California, Davis. In this role, he focuses on driving the commercialization of UC Davis research innovations and fostering venture creation to generate meaningful impact and support economic development. Previously, Karl was Executive Director - Faculty of Science at The University of British Columbia, where he lead innovative research and commercialization efforts with corporate collaborators and government partners. Prior to this, he was responsible for leading the development and achievement of the Stewart Blusson Quantum Matter Institute. Karl is experienced in building and leading complex scientific organizations with innovation and commercialization agendas. Before UBC, Karl was the Director of Innovation Management at OSRAM, where he worked on achieving and accelerating development of innovative lighting and 'smart' technologies. Karl holds an MBA in International Business from the Franklin W. Olin Graduate School of Business at Babson College and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.