Dr Aga Iwasiewicz-Wabnig

Biography

Dr Agnieszka (Aga) Iwasiewicz-Wabnig FRSA is the Director of the Maxwell Centre, Industrial Strategy Lead for the Cambridge Zero initiative, Blue Sky Lead for Cambridge NeuroWorks ARIA Activation Partnership, Fellow of Hughes Hall, Cambridge Enterprise Champion, and Senior Associate of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. She is also a Fellow of Chapter Zero, Fellow of the Durham Institute of Research, Development and Invention, and Member of the Institute of Physics.

Aga’s foundational training in science, with a PhD in Physics, is complemented by executive education from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, where she received the Impact Award for her cohort in the Stanford LEAD program. She serves on several advisory boards within academic and industry settings, and has mentored numerous Cambridge startups.

Aga’s academic background spans quantum optics and quantum information processing, condensed matter physics, and materials science, with experience of research and teaching in interdisciplinary nanoscience at Umeå University in Sweden, as well as at the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge. Since 2009, she has held various roles at the University of Cambridge, all unified by her role as a super-connector and knowledge broker.

As the Director of the Maxwell Centre, Aga leads initiatives that foster knowledge exchange between academia and industry, harnessing the role of science and technology in delivering a robust, healthy society of 2051. She drives a diverse program that spans physical sciences, technology, and beyond, facilitating connections between partners and disciplines. Her work involves identifying and matching needs and solutions, showcasing the groundbreaking research of academic groups, and enabling companies and entrepreneurs to collaborate meaningfully with academics.

She is a firm believer in power of serendipity, having seen some of the most impactful insights and projects starting from open conversations over coffee. As such, Aga welcomes a range of approaches – from exploring new academia-industry collaboration opportunities, discussing strategic initiatives, entrepreneurial endeavours, through metascience, importance of minority perspectives inclusion and critical analytical thinking, to mentorship and career advice based on her own experience.