Dr. Mercedes Crego Calama is currently the Head of Open Innovation Europe in Philips Lighting since September 2014. Main activities are structuring the Open Innovation activities in Philips Lighting including scouting for breakthrough technologies, crowd sourcing, partnership and ventures.

Until August 2014, she worked in the Dutch Polymer Institute as Program Area Coordinator. She was also DPI operations manager.

From 2006 until 2012 she worked as Program Manager & Sr. Principal Scientist at imec-nl/Holst Centre in the Netherlands. She worked in innovation-driven R&D activities related to emerging markets in Life-style, Personalize Health and Food/IAQ Monitoring electronic devices.  Here Mercedes had also several senior leadership positions including general management of the Low power wireless sensors and Energy harvesting groups.

Prior to joining the Holst Centre in 2006 Mercedes has held different scientific/Professorship positions at Universities in Spain, USA and The Netherlands.

Dr. Mercedes Crego Calama is author of more than 150 publications in highly rated scientific and technical international journals, 18 patents and 8 chapter books. She is also the principal editor of 1 book.

Mercedes won several awards and prices among which Best Professor in the Chemical Engineering Faculty, Twente University, Netherlands and the YOUNG LECTURER AWARD in the Royal Society of Chemistry, University of East Anglia, England.