Luc Yao is an Academic Visitor at the Institute from 1st January 2018 to 31st December 2028. His research focuses on entrepreneurship, start-up ecosystems, and high-tech innovation, exploring how emerging technologies and collaborative ecosystems can address industrial challenges, enhance productivity, and support sustainable economic growth.

He is the founder of BeyondFence (since September 2025), a start-up pioneering fenceless automation solutions across sectors including food & beverage, logistics, life sciences, and automotive. BeyondFence technology enhances human-robot collaboration, flexible manufacturing, and sustainable industrial processes, supporting Industry 5.0 adoption while ensuring safety and operational efficiency. Luc is also actively engaged in projects with global high-tech companies, Taiwanese research institutes, and policy makers, fostering cross-border collaboration and the exchange of innovative ideas between Taiwan, the UK, and Europe.

He has extensive experience in the specialty materials and electronics sectors, as well as corporate venture capital, including leading innovation projects at Merck KGaA (2003–2020), a global science and technology company, where he evaluated emerging technologies and helped build ecosystems to effectively commercialise them. Luc holds an MBA from Manchester Business School, UK, and an MSc from HEC Paris and the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.