AGSM and UNSW announce Innovation Centre

14 November 2005

AGSM and the Faculties of Engineering and Science at UNSW are joining forces to accelerate the commercialisation of research. AGSM and UNSW today launched an Innovation and Entrepreneurship Initiative with plans to establish a Centre for Innovation, Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship.

Announcing the initiative, AGSM Dean Rob McLean said fast-tracking capabilities in innovation and commercialisation is vital as it relates directly to future economic prosperity. Despite Australia’s great strengths in science and abiding interest in entrepreneurship, he observed: “we have struggled to get to the end point of commercialisation of technology. The new centre will forge a close connection between the worlds of business and technological research.

“This is an exciting first step towards establishing an inter-disciplinary centre that links business skills for innovation and commercialisation with outstanding technical research,” says Mr McLean.
UNSW Vice-Chancellor Professor Mark Wainwright, said: “The Centre’s principal aim will be to accelerate the creation of technology-based global companies from outstanding university research. It will do this by providing a range of innovation enablers, market strategies and funding support.

“We will address how to bring market-driven commercialisation to bear in a university setting. Collaboration between a world class business school and internationally recognised engineering and science faculties with the focus of developing successful entrepreneurs is a first for Australia,” said Professor Wainwright.

Dr Peter Farrell, Chairman and Chief Executive of Resmed, the Australian-founded medical technology company has provided seed funding for the initiative.

Dr Farrell who is a Visiting Professor at UNSW and sits on AGSM’s Advisory Council says Australia needs to build a strong, viable entrepreneurial culture where innovation thrives. “Innovation and entrepreneurship are crucial for wealth creation – and wealth creation is fundamentally part of a growing society,” Dr Farrell says.

Dr Farrell who served in the UNSW Engineering Faculty through the 1970s and 1980s is eager to ensure universities are “connected to the real world” and “outcomes focused”. Typically Australia has been poor at commercialisation because it has concentrated on input and processes, he says. As a major supporter of the Innovation, Commercialisation and Entrepreneurship initiative, Dr Farrell says he hopes the new centre would deliver a fresh mindset where innovation and the considerations of the market come first, and infrastructure is built to meet those needs.