Malaysia startup adviser to head university research company

Viraj Perera, a former top adviser to the Malaysian government on global technology transfer, has been appointed to head research commercialisation at the University of South Australia in Adelaide.

Perera will be chief executive of UniSA Ventures, the university’s technology commercialisation and investment management company. He will take up the role in mid-July.

Announcing the appointment, deputy vice-chancellor Simon Beecham said Perera would bring “a breadth of experience both as a researcher and innovator but also as someone who has been able to work across sectors from universities and government agencies, to consultancies working at the business end of innovation projects”.