About me
I am a founder, entrepreneur and commercialisation specialist. For more than 25 years, I have worked where frontier science, markets, capital, policy and industrial deployment meet.
Executive profile
Tim Harper at a glance
Leadership
Founder, co-founder, former CEO, Chair, operator, board advisor and technology advisory board contributor across science-based ventures and infrastructure.
Companies founded
Cientifica, Element 2, G2O Water Technologies, Evove and NanoSight, spanning market intelligence, hydrogen infrastructure, water technologies and scientific instruments.
Core engagement areas
Board and strategic advisory, commercialisation, technology due diligence, market assessment, independent expert analysis and, where appropriate, expert-witness support, communications and speaking.
Industries and technologies
Hydrogen, energy transition, advanced materials, graphene, nanotechnology, water, semiconductors, scientific instruments, robotics, sensing and space systems.
International experience
Technical, commercial, policy and M&A work across Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East.
Public authority
BBC News, TEDx, World Economic Forum, Parliamentary evidence, international conferences, executive briefings and more than two decades of published analysis.
The connecting thread
I build bridges between technical capability and commercial reality
My career has crossed scientific instruments, semiconductors, space, nanotechnology, advanced materials, graphene, industrial water treatment, hydrogen infrastructure, robotics and sensing. That can look like a broad collection of technologies. In practice, it is one repeated problem: how do you turn a difficult technical capability into a useful product, a viable company or a deployable industrial system?
I have approached that problem as an engineer, market analyst, founder, operator, Chair, investor and advisor. I have built businesses, helped shape markets, designed funding programmes, worked on policy, challenged investment assumptions and explained emerging technologies to boards, governments, investors and public audiences.
The result is a systems-level view of commercialisation. The science matters, but so do the customer, manufacturing, infrastructure, regulation, supply chain, organisation, capital and timing.
Companies I have built
From scientific instruments to infrastructure
Cientifica
I founded Cientifica during the early commercial development of nanotechnology. It became a vehicle for market intelligence, investment analysis, international events, research programmes and commercialisation work with companies, investors, universities and governments.
Public Cientifica presentations document global business-intelligence work, coordination of EU research programmes, the World Nano-Economic Congress and international advisory projects.
Element 2
I co-founded and formerly led Element 2 to address a practical barrier to zero-emission heavy transport: hydrogen-refuelling infrastructure.
The company’s public record now includes more than 1,500 refuelling operations. Its Tees Valley programme covered seven projects, 20 vehicles and three locations; its Inverness bus trial travelled more than 1,100km. Those examples show the system-level work required to bring vehicles, fuel, sites, operators and data together.
G2O Water Technologies and Evove
I co-founded G2O Water Technologies around graphene-coated membranes and later founded Evove. The work connected advanced-material capability with industrial water and separation problems.
It reinforced a central commercialisation lesson: a material is not a product. It must improve a process enough to justify integration, risk and capital.
NanoSight
I co-founded NanoSight, a nanoparticle visualisation and sizing company. It turned nanoscale measurement into an instrument scientists and industrial users could apply to real samples.
NanoSight is a useful example of application-led deep tech: begin with a difficult measurement problem, create a usable product and give customers evidence they could not obtain before.
Technologies I have helped commercialise
Different technologies, recurring commercial questions
Scientific instruments and measurement
My early work in scientific instruments and NanoSight showed how better measurement can unlock research, applications and markets. Reliability, usability and customer evidence turn an instrument from clever engineering into a useful product.
Nanotechnology and advanced materials
Through Cientifica, I mapped markets, funding and industrial applications while challenging inflated forecasts and weak definitions. The archive contains at least 134 nanotechnology-titled articles plus reports, interviews and international presentations.
Graphene membranes and water
Through G2O Water and Evove, I worked on translating graphene and membrane science into industrial separation and water-treatment propositions, where energy, fouling, throughput, integration and economics determine adoption.
Hydrogen infrastructure
At Element 2, the commercialisation problem involved much more than a refuelling station. It required vehicles, fuel, sites, permissions, operators, customers, utilisation, capital and policy to align.
Robotics and industrial sensing
My current work applies the same discipline to physical AI: impressive intelligence is not enough without sensing, dexterity, reliability, integration and an operating return.
Semiconductors and space systems
My engineering work at ESA focused on identifying failure mechanisms in semiconductors and materials used in space. It established the reliability and systems thinking that still shapes how I assess frontier technologies.
Governments, investors and organisations
Technology strategy beyond the company
I have advised universities, the European Commission, large companies and national governments including Austria and Singapore. My public record includes chairing national nanotechnology initiatives, designing funding programmes and working with public-policy organisations, investors and international businesses.
Through Cientifica, I worked on the wider systems around emerging technology: how governments fund it, how investors value it, how companies identify applications and how research programmes connect with industrial outcomes. My World Economic Forum contributions addressed emerging materials, energy, graphene, water and materials-by-design.
Parliamentary evidence
In 2016, I submitted written evidence and gave oral evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee’s graphene inquiry. I addressed market development, SMEs, public investment and what the UK needed to do to capture economic value from its science.
Funding and industrial strategy
My global nanotechnology funding work compared public investment with corporate R&D and economic impact. Historical presentations in Tokyo and Pune examined how nations, investors and firms could connect technology funding to industrial outcomes.
Governance and commercial relationships
I understand how businesses, partnerships and boards succeed or fail
Technology businesses do not fail only because the science is weak. They also fail when ownership is unclear, incentives diverge, agreements do not reflect operating reality, boards lack reliable information or stakeholders stop communicating effectively.
Governance and Board Experience
As a founder, operator, Chair and advisor, I have worked with the decisions that sit between strategy, capital, evidence and execution. My published governance work covers board structure, decision cadence, risk, controls, shareholder dynamics, succession and conflict.
Commercial Agreements and Partnerships
Building emerging-technology businesses requires alignment between founders, investors, universities, research partners, customers, suppliers and infrastructure providers. I understand how technical assumptions and commercial incentives shape whether those relationships work.
Intellectual Property and Licensing
My Parliamentary evidence records 25 years working with academic institutions around the world, managing research projects and licensing intellectual property. I have examined patents, ownership, technology transfer, first-refusal arrangements and the commercial consequences of IP decisions.
Shareholder and Founder Matters
I understand the pressures that arise when capital, control, technical ambition, time horizons and individual objectives diverge. Independent analysis can help separate evidence and commercial consequences from personality and position.
Dispute Resolution and Independent Advice
I can provide independent commercial and technical analysis where a complex issue involves technology readiness, ownership, value, performance, commercialisation, governance or partnership expectations. This can include support to boards, investors, founders, shareholders and legal teams. I do not provide legal advice.
Negotiation and Strategic Decisions
My work across company building, research programmes, infrastructure, investment and international technical and M&A projects has required reconciling different objectives and making the controlling assumptions explicit.
Strategic communications
Clear communication is a core commercial capability
I have spent decades explaining complex technologies and their commercial consequences to investors, boards, governments, customers, journalists and public audiences. That includes written and oral evidence to Parliament, BBC News, TEDx, the World Economic Forum, international conferences, investor forums and a long public record of technology analysis.
In straightforward situations, this helps people make better decisions. In contentious or high-pressure situations, it helps establish what is known, what remains uncertain, where interests differ and how the issue should be explained without losing accuracy or credibility.
Investor and Shareholder Communications
Explaining technical progress, risks, value drivers and strategic choices in language that supports informed decisions.
Board Communications
Creating a shared understanding of the evidence, decisions, responsibilities and consequences.
Stakeholder Engagement and Public Affairs
Connecting technology to policy, infrastructure, markets and economic impact for governments, partners and public bodies.
Media, Reputation and Strategic Messaging
Explaining complex or contested issues clearly, consistently and credibly when public understanding matters.
International work
A global view of emerging-technology markets
I have advised on large technical and M&A projects across Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East. My work has included international market intelligence, research programmes, government strategy, company building and technology forums.
Historical Cientifica material records activity in London, Mumbai and Singapore and projects ranging from national technology strategy to nanomaterials facilities, display production and fund management. My archive tracks the development of nanotechnology markets across Japan, Korea, India, China, Singapore, Europe and North America. More recently, I have applied that international perspective to hydrogen supply chains, clean transport, industrial strategy, semiconductors and robotics.
Research and publications
A public record spanning more than two decades
The site’s most recent inventory contains 991 published posts dated from 2004 to 2026. That record includes early nanotechnology market and policy commentary, water and energy applications, investment analysis, hydrogen infrastructure and economics, industrial policy, semiconductors, robotics and physical AI.
Nanotechnology Archive, 2002-2019
Selected reports, papers, interviews and talks, including the Nanotechnology Opportunity Report, NanoWater, global funding analysis and the 2019 Physics World article on seven rules for nanotech innovation.
World Economic Forum contributions
Articles on emerging materials, nanotechnology and energy, graphene and clean water, and materials-by-design.
Seven rules for nanotech innovation
Lessons from the long gap between remarkable material properties and commercially useful applications.
Technology Commercialisation
My current Seven Barriers to Deployment framework, connecting technical readiness to infrastructure, economics, regulation, supply chains, capital and adoption.
Selected milestones
Experience accumulated across technology cycles
Engineering foundations
I began in scientific instruments and worked at the European Space Agency on failure mechanisms in semiconductors and materials used in space.
Early nanotechnology market
I founded Cientifica, helped establish the European NanoBusiness Association and worked internationally on markets, policy, investment and commercialisation.
Products and ventures
I helped build companies around nanoparticle measurement, graphene membranes and industrial water treatment, moving from broad technical capability towards specific applications.
Public and policy engagement
I contributed to the World Economic Forum, designed funding programmes, advised public bodies and gave written and oral evidence to Parliament.
Infrastructure and energy transition
I co-founded Element 2 and worked on the practical system required to deploy hydrogen refuelling for heavy transport.
Current frontier technologies
I now apply the same commercialisation discipline across hydrogen, energy systems, advanced materials, semiconductors, robotics, sensing and physical AI.
Media and public engagement
Explaining complex technology in public
My public appearances include TEDx, BBC News, MIT linQ, EmTech Spain, the Forecourt Summit, Z/Yen’s China-UK green-hydrogen forum, Parliamentary evidence and international nanotechnology workshops and conferences. I have published in Nanotechnology, Nature and Microscopy and Analysis and contributed to the World Economic Forum.
See the recordings and source links on my Speaking & Media page.
Work with me
Working on a technology where the science is only the beginning?
I work with boards, investors, founders and operators who need commercialisation experience, systems thinking and independent challenge.
Selected external references
- My written evidence to the UK Parliament Graphene inquiry
- My oral evidence to the House of Commons Science and Technology Committee
- My World Economic Forum articles and contributor page
- China-UK green hydrogen webinar and speaker details
- Element 2 operating record
- Cientifica emerging-technology workshop
- Global nanotechnology funding analysis