With diversification of research income being a key focus of the Operating Plan, developing and nurturing meaningful relationships with external partners is becoming an increasingly important skill for our academics.

But how many of us would be comfortable starting up a conversation with an industry partner, much less asking them for funding?

That’s where the University’s ‘Engage’ programs come in. A collaboration between the Corporate Engagement team and the faculties, these multi-week programs focus on enhancing knowledge, increasing confidence and developing practical skills for researchers and HDR students to initiate and build collaborative relationships with industry partners.

“Our goal is to transform Macquarie into a university that is renowned for its partnerships with industry, government and NGOs, and where our research has far-reaching impact in the world,” says Corporate Engagement’s Faculty Engagement Manager Helena Hurley.

“We’ve now run the 2020 ‘Engage with Industry’ program in all four faculties and we’ve been delighted with the positive feedback coming back from our academic staff. We’re also excited by the enthusiastic response from our HDR students, with their Engage program having commenced on 22 October.”

Helena says it’s been interesting to see the participants’ shift in thinking when it comes to perceptions around industry engagement.

“Through the course of the program they come to realise that relationship building isn’t just about asking for funding when funding is needed,” she says. “They start to understand that relationships take time, and often result in something much richer than just funding.”

Professor Patrick McNeil (Executive Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences)  presents program participant Dr Dané Turner with her certificate of completion.

Dr Marina Junqueira Santiago, a researcher in the Department of Biomedical Sciences, says the Engage with Industry program opened her eyes to possibilities she didn’t realise she had.

“I started out thinking I could only engage a specific industry, based on my research expertise,” she says. “But after my one-on-one coaching session with the facilitator Jane Cockburn, I was able to identify all the other possibilities that I had never considered.

“I’ve learnt skills that will help me to succeed when contacting and meeting partners, including how to reach out and – most importantly – listen to them. I would definitely recommend this program to researchers at Macquarie.”

The Corporate Engagement team are planning for future training programs and invite any interested academics to contact them at ce@mq.edu.au.

The University received a welcome announcement recently from the Greater Sydney Commission’s Chief Commissioner, Geoff Roberts AM, that the Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID) has been selected by the Premier as one of four regions in Greater Sydney to be accelerated as a key economic and innovation precinct.

The other three are Technology Precinct, from Central to Eveleigh (including Tech Central); Westmead Innovation Precinct (including Parramatta North); and Meadowbank Education and Employment Precinct.

This is a long-awaited reward for many people across the University who have invested massive amounts of time and energy to start the precinct with key corporate partners.

As Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Engagement) Professor David Wilkinson says, “The government now sees it as something worth investing in, which is a great endorsement and payoff for all that work.

“This is a celebration of our efforts being validated; we are excited for the future of the precinct, with the University and our partners sure to benefit from increased government focus.”

Experience with other precincts shows that government focus leads to further commitment to transformative public and private investment. This could address some of the challenges and opportunities in the precinct, such as:

• Night-time economy – generating more after-5pm and weekend activity.
• Internal transport connections – we’re well connected outside the Park but getting around it is still difficult without driving.
• Attracting new knowledge-intensive companies – we have a good pedigree of corporates and are the most innovative postcode with the highest number of Intellectual Property registrations by postcode in Australia.
• Greening the precinct – we have good natural assets that need to be connected to be more pedestrian- and wildlife-friendly.

These precincts are the foundation for growing Greater Sydney’s capacity as a centre for innovation, attracting top businesses from around the world and creating new jobs and opportunities.

Macquarie Park already has a world-class university, startups, tech leaders and the community creating innovation ecosystems, with Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes saying, “This provides us with an exciting opportunity to coordinate projects and collaborate with the private sector.”

Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney, Stuart Ayres says the jobs created by the acceleration of these economic precincts are a key part of the NSW Government’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan.

“These precincts will be the engine rooms for job creation, helping to train and attract the best and brightest talent who will be at the forefront of our economic recovery,” he says.

Work on economic and innovation precincts will shape the updates of the Greater Sydney Region Plan and the District Plan, as stakeholders are drawn together from across government, industry and, of course, engagement with the community, which will no doubt create unique opportunities for Macquarie. For the University, MPID provides a gateway to like-minded partners for collaboration.

The Commissioner noted that Greater Sydney must not only survive COVID-19, it must emerge stronger in the post-pandemic world. We must grab every opportunity to re-shape Greater Sydney in a way that delivers good economic, liveability and sustainability outcomes.

Macquarie will soon announce the first of three district challenges for local businesses to receive coronavirus-related research and development funding, as part of fostering ties between the University and the local business community.

While Australia is widely recognised for producing some of the world’s best academic outputs, the truth is we rank poorly against OECD countries when it comes to collaboration between academia and industry.

Sure, we can all point to examples of successful university-industry partnerships (including some wonderful examples right here at Macquarie), but few would claim that our universities and industry have the same level of deep, multi-layered interaction that you find in other developed economies like Germany, where systems and workplace cultures support these sectors to interact easily and productively.

Why does Australia struggle?

The OECD’s 2017 Australia Survey points to contributing factors for our industry collaboration lag, including the performance metrics of academics, weak mobility between research and business sectors, and differing approaches to IP ownership and management.

Others, like former University of Melbourne Vice-Chancellor Glyn Davis, blame factors within the Australian business community, including a culture of risk aversion, inadequacies in areas such as management skills, networking skills and capital markets, and government regulation and policy.

Clearly, the solution requires further cultural shifts within both industry and academia.

The lure of ‘pure’

Like most Australian universities, there are pockets of our academy that regard traditional forms of research investment (typically Category 1 sources such as ARC and NHMRC) as ‘pure’ and therefore more desirable. Partnerships with Category 2-4 sources, including industry partners, are deemed less desirable, with some believing they may detract from independent academic endeavour (or even compromise academic integrity), and can be based on menial, uninteresting programs.

However, I sense that perception within our University is shifting.

Whether due to necessity or design, there is a growing appetite to seek partners beyond the traditional Category 1 sources. A growing cohort of ‘streetwise’, entrepreneurial academics see strategic value in operating at the interface of academia and the community, either exclusively or in addition to their traditional forms of academic endeavour.

They actively seek out opportunities to consult with industry, government, NGOs and RDCs; forge research contracts with partners; and enter public-private partnership schemes like ARC Linkage grants and CRCs.  They prioritise professional development through programs like CSIRO’s ON Prime, and attend external, non-academic fora related to sectors in which they work and hope to work.

Some academics have gone a step further and formed their own companies to drive uptake and translation, understanding that in some circumstances this approach can attract additional partners and further forms of investment (including government grants, private equity, venture capital and philanthropic funding) not available to the university sector.

Turning ideas into impact: Modular Photonics successfully translated and commercialised 15 years of research from the MQ Photonics Research Centre.

The myth of ‘dirty research’

Despite the perception, one does not need to sacrifice true academic quality or integrity when working with external partners. In fact, an ongoing study of US peer reviewed publications notes that citation rates for publications with authors from academia and industry may exceed those from academia or industry alone[1].

The reality is that many private or NGO companies run sophisticated internal R&D discovery programs that can match – and, in some cases, even exceed – the state of the art in academia. Without involvement from academia, findings from these research programs might not ever be publicised in any medium, let alone published in peer-reviewed literature.

In the future, reaching and staying at the cutting edge of some academic disciplines might only be attained through a deliberate strategy of engaging both within, and outside of, the academy.

The funding winds are shifting

The expectations of universities from both government and the community have shifted – we are increasingly expected to seek knowledge and application with equal enthusiasm.  Changes to the formula underpinning the allocation of Australian Government Research Block Grants has seen Category 2-4 income sources become as influential as Category 1 income sources. The public purse clearly views scholarship and application as two sides of the same coin.

Whatever our philosophical view of Category 2-4 research funding, there is a clear need to look beyond traditional sources of investment. Growth prospects for the key traditional Category 1 granting programs are limited (although there are obvious exceptions like the Medical Research Future Fund), and success rates for the most sought-after schemes are very low, even for proposals that are world-class and worthy of investment.

In the broader context, other drivers of revenue growth for universities in recent decades (such as international students) may not deliver the sort of future revenue growth needed to keep pace with rising costs and the global race for scale and impact that drives rankings and, in turn, many aspects of university operations.

Cooperative Research Centres – like the new SmartCrete CRC, which will be hosted at Macquarie – connect industry partners with the research sector to solve industry-identified issues.

Our post-COVID future

COVID-19 has changed many aspects of university life. When it comes to the research investment landscape, it could be argued that it has merely accelerated long-term trends.

The truth is, absent changes in the broader (geo)political context, Category 2-4 sources could represent one of the few areas of growth for universities through to 2030.

Realising our ambition to become a top 200 ranked university, on clear trajectory towards the top 150, will require sustained effort on many fronts. Successful implementation of focused Category 2-4 strategies will be an important part of the equation, as reflected in the new Macquarie University Operating Plan 2020-2024.

Staff feedback in the engagement phase of the Operating Plan – particularly around the Ways of Working theme – showed there is a definite appetite (and no shortage of great ideas) for reform when it comes to our University’s operating model. Some highlighted a need to better meet the expectations of external partners in regard to things like speed of decision-making, commercially pragmatic partnership terms and contract turnaround times.

Evolving together 

The shift to a greater Category 2-4 focus is not an easy journey for all disciplines or temperaments, and the time taken to build relationships with external partners can be significant. A large research contract can be the result of years of building trust small projects and regular engagement.

Recent reforms to our promotional pathways have provided incentives for academics who wish to build their career through non-conventional pathways, including through working with external partners. In a small but growing number of cases, careers have been built by working in conjunction with non-traditional investors – so mentors and models to follow do exist.

Bigger and better together: The School of Education partnered with IBM to develop a curriculum framework for teaching AI in schools.

Category 2-4 income sources (without forgetting the Category 1 sources that involve industry links such as ARC Linkage) are increasingly central to the strategic planning efforts of faculties and departments. Some are already well down this path, and there are many successful partnerships at Macquarie to build on.

Evidence also points to groups and individuals who are willing, but perhaps lack the way to go about it. The Macquarie University Incubator and Office of Commercialisation and Innovation are actively developing a training program to fill this gap.

With the clearly stated objectives in our Operating Plan, now is the time to hone our structures and systems to make Macquarie a logical, easy-to-work-with partner. My door is always open to help those who are willing to embrace this agenda.

[1] _{https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/corporate-collaborations-yield-significant-pure-research}

Corporate partnership at Macquarie is much more than a business arrangement. It’s about nurturing deep, long-term connections with the best of industry and then working with them to create real-world solutions with impact.

In this new regular series, we’ll be shining a light on successful projects being driven by Macquarie staff in partnership with leading companies and organisations.  We’ll hear about what worked (and sometimes what didn’t) and get some advice for staff interested in building their own industry connections.

We kick off with a collaboration between IBM and the School of Education.

Project aim

To develop a global Artificial Intelligence (AI) Curriculum Framework (K-12) and supporting teacher and student resources to be used by various education sectors and schools to scaffold learning about AI.

The IBM Artificial Intelligence (AI) Curriculum provides a suite of global, open online resources for students with pedagogical support for teachers to develop the knowledge, skills and values needed to understand AI and its implications for society and the world and to use AI to solve authentic problems, now and in the future. 

Project budget

$350,000 funded by IBM Corporation and in-kind support from the School of Education through the Academy of Continuing Professional Development in Education.

Key people

Dr Iain Hay and Dr Anne Forbes from the School of Education collaborated with key stakeholders in the UK, including senior IBM personnel and education experts, on the design of the Curriculum Framework.

Back in Australia, a cohort of interested teachers was recruited to trial online resources through the University’s Academy of Continuing Professional Development in Education (ACPDE). In consultation with Dr Hay, Dr Forbes led a team of academics in developing the online course materials, designing the research protocol to measure impact, and creating and delivering accredited professional learning to classroom teachers. Dr Markus Powling developed key teacher learning resources while Dr Iliana Skrebneva conducted the online research surveys and participant interviews.

How did this partnership come about?

There was an existing relationship from a 2006 project between Dr Forbes and Bettina Cutler, IBM’s Education Program Manager in Corporate Social Responsibility. The project now has partners in India, UK and US, who initially came together to develop the curriculum and related resources. However, Macquarie remains the lead organisation in developing teacher professional development, resource quality assurance and research on impact.

Who else at Macquarie helped make it happen?

Professor Mary Ryan, the Dean of the School of Education, provided the support and strategic advice on how best to engage with key business units in the University, who were responsive and supportive in progressing the project throughout its stages. Professor Ryan’s support enabled the project team to move forward from the initial IBM-funded seeding grant to the second phase of a fully funded project with global reach.

Daniel Johnston (Research Partnerships Manager), Dr Hay and Leanne Bamford Barnes (Manager of the ACPDE) were key to managing and progressing the long process of procurement which involved establishing Macquarie as a bona fide provider of services for IBM.

How did you approach project management? Any cultural or business process differences you had to navigate?

Leanne Bamford Barnes oversaw project management, supporting Dr Forbes and Dr Hay to progress project activities and to meet milestones. Weekly video conference meetings kept the immediate project team informed of progress and enabled trouble shooting when issues arose.

We learned that the following were key to a successful outcome:

• good project governance
• having the right people in crucial roles
• managing project expectations
• learning about the culture of a large international corporation
• clearly defining how each partner would manage the various parts of the project activities.

The biggest learning has been the procurement and on-boarding processes required for a project of this nature.

And, the most important question – what were you able to achieve together?

We have successfully developed a collaboratively designed Global AI Curriculum Framework which underpins the development of teacher resources (in partnership with Macquarie University in Australia, and Learning Links Foundation in India) and student resources (in partnership with the International Society for Technology in Education in the United States and IBM India Software Lab).

In working in partnership with IBM Corporation, we were able to share resources, knowledge and connections. Each partner brought their own expertise to the project, which was mutually respected and embraced.

Where to from here?

In 2020 the project is being expanded to include a global IBM EdTech Youth Challenge with Australian student teams using AI to solve a local issue caused by climate change and other factors.

Any advice for staff that are thinking about partnering with industry?

• There is a need to have a set of guiding principles that underpins the partnership work. For us these included trust, respect and reciprocity.
• Be clear on what the partners will get out of the relationship, listen to each other and respond with open channels of communication.
• Give yourself and your project partner/s TIME, TIME and TIME – this is absolutely key. Be prepared to spend time discovering each other’s ways of working and ways of communicating. In our case, we needed to bridge the gap between industry and education in the development of material, by translating corporate language into terminology used by and understandable to teachers.
• Finally, understand that the partnership work ebbs and flows over time and this is natural – but always come back to the project’s intended outcomes as a means to keep partners focused on the main goal of the work.

Learn more about research collaboration and partnerships.

The Australian Hearing Hub – a pioneering collection of Australia’s leading hearing organisations – has been a distinctive sight on University Avenue since its opening in 2013.  Seven years on, we celebrate World Hearing Day on 3 March by stepping inside the Hub to see how co-location has turned into powerful and unified alliance improving the lives of people with hearing and language disorders around the world.

Our guide is Professor David McAlpine, ARC Laureate Fellow in the Department of Linguistics and the Hub’s Director of Hearing Research.

You arrived at Macquarie in 2015, not too long after the opening of the Hearing Hub. How have you seen the Hub evolve? 

There’s been a real maturing of how the partners see each other, and how we’re working together to change the dialogue on hearing health – it’s moved well beyond being just a common building with disparate organisations, to a real synergy.

And we shouldn’t underestimate Macquarie’s role in driving that synergy. For example, The Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) and Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre (an RIDBC service) are now an integral part of Macquarie University – their education programs now run through us and they’re bringing their whole operation over from North Rocks to Macquarie campus.

How is this strengthening of partnerships helping us in our mission to transform hearing health?

Well, government investment in research is increasingly tied to impact and engagement, and no other university can boast our portfolio of partners. So, it means we can make a really strong case for investment in hearing, and we’ve been able to secure some important grants – like Professor Katherine Demuth’s grant last year to understand communication challenges of children with hearing loss, which we’re doing in collaboration with Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children, The Shepherd Centre, Hearing Australia, Cochlear Limited and Parents of Deaf Children.

How have the discoveries coming out of the Hearing Hub changed how hearing loss is treated in Australia?

When it comes to hearing loss in children, we’ve moved significantly to early intervention and rehabilitation. All our partners are now heavily involved in early identification, implementation, rehabilitation, hearing technologies – all before the age of six months.

Quite a few of the Hub partners have been collaborating on the LOCHI study, which shows that language abilities are strongly correlated with how early intervention occurred. We had a fantastic one-off chance to look at this when newborn hearing screening programs began rolling out at different times, in different Australian states. We had all these cohorts of the same age group, receiving intervention at different times.

Our research coming out of the LOCHI study seems to strongly indicate that the age at which you got a hearing aid or a cochlear implant strongly influences your future language abilities and reading abilities; and probably your educational outcome and attainment.

What about the other end of the spectrum – dealing with hearing loss in an ageing population?

Ageing populations are living longer with hearing loss that’s irreversible. It’s our single biggest sensory deficit, so it means we’re going to have to change the story. We have to move away from hearing impairment in its traditional sense of not being able to hear quiet sounds in quiet rooms, to a more functional definition – asking ourselves what hearing loss means to our day-to-day life.

It’s something that most countries don’t seem be prepared for, or willing to tackle. Professor Cath McMahon is carrying out an interesting study, together with international partners, looking at the different models for hearing healthcare around the world.  None of them are solving the adult hearing loss issue, or the mild to moderate hearing impairment issues.

The stigma around hearing loss – especially around wearing hearing aids, which are associated with looking old – stops many people from investigating their hearing health. And of course, those who do actually get hearing aids often end up chucking them in a drawer.  Because hearing aids don’t actually solve the problem.

We can solve the audibility problem by cranking up the sound, but it doesn’t make it any clearer to hear. Because you hear with your ears, but you listen with your brain. What’s feeding through from our ears to our brains is actually the issue we have to address.

So, the Hub is about brains as much as ears?

Definitely, and it’s one of the reasons why this building – with all these partners and departments working together – is making such a big impact. We’ve got colleagues from Cognitive Science, for example, helping us use infrared spectography – shining light into the head from outside – to measure the brain’s response to sound.  One of our PhD students, Amanda Fullerton, is using this technology with cochlear implant users, who we can’t use MRIs with.

And we’ve just started a world-first clinical trial to use gene therapy to augment cochlear implants – stimulating neurons to push them closer to the electrodes that will give the user better resolution.  It’s super cool stuff.

The Lighthouse marking Hearing Awareness Week with stories exploring our University’s impact on hearing health:

• Tuning out: Why do so many people switch off their hearing aids?
• Five things you can do to protect your hearing at any age
• There’s an app for that: the new ‘hearables’ changing the way we listen
• Global hearing report puts the focus on social inclusion
• Shouting to be heard: How noisy, everyday places harm our hearing
• Camp gives deaf children a rare opportunity to be together

Every month we take time to celebrate staff and students who are making an impact and driving collaboration in the Macquarie spirit of human-powered innovation.

Got something to share for next month? Tell us.

Fulbright Scholar Harvard bound

Congratulations to Timothy Yee – PhD student in the Department of Media, Music, Communication and Cultural Studies – who has been successful in securing a prestigious Fulbright Scholarship to join the metaLAB research group at Harvard University.

Read more >

Cyber strength sees PETS heading our way

The Optus Macquarie University Cyber Security Hub and CSIRO’s Data61 have combined for a successful international bid to host PETS – the 21^st annual meeting of the Privacy Enhancing Technology Symposium.

It will be the first time that the convention – which brings together privacy technology experts from around the world – will be held in the Southern Hemisphere, cementing Macquarie’s reputation as a leader in the dynamic and future-focused field of Cyber Security.

MQ Quantum on the rise

Macquarie University has formed the Quantum Excellence Network (QEN) with key strategic partners from the University of Hamburg, the University of Strasbourg and the University of Sherbrooke in Quebec. The QEN will generate world-leading research in Synthetic Quantum Matter.

The new partnership follows last year’s establishment of the Sydney Quantum Academy – a collaboration of four leading quantum institutions in NSW, of which Macquarie is an inaugural member.

Both partnerships position Macquarie as a key partner and place for quantum research, with the University uniquely positioned to offer a very broad range of expertise, from theory through to experimental testing of novel engineered quantum materials.

New partnership to drive medical technology innovation

A new partnership with FLEDGE Innovation Labs will see Macquarie students working on the development of new medical technologies to improve lives.

Based in the Macquarie University Incubator, FLEDGE provides project-based learning experiences where aspiring MedTech entrepreneurs can develop real products under the leadership and guidance of mentors and an extensive network of experienced med-tech advisors.

Read more >

DECRA Fellow to join Doha Debates

Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah, DECRA Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology, has been invited by the Qatar Foundation to participate in Doha Debates next month.

She will be joining international guests on a panel debating the use of gender quotas in academia and business, during which she will draw on her current DECRA research project findings. The Debates reach a global audience of over 4 million viewers, with a focus on young people aged 18-24.

Dr Abdel-Fattah is widely respected for her research and commentary around the topics of race, intersectionality and gender, having won Australian Book of the Year for Older Children for her novel Does my head look big in this?.

In ‘Spotlight on…’ we showcase different teams across campus, to give you a better understanding of who does what at Macquarie. This week, we meet the Corporate Engagement team.

Who are you?
Corporate Engagement is a professional services team in the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Engagement portfolio. You can find our Strategic Partnerships team at 58 Waterloo Road and our Faculty Engagement Managers on campus (they might just be sitting next to you).

What do you do?
Our team’s mission is to create impact for Macquarie by fostering mutually beneficial relationships with businesses and industry partners. We promote the University’s research and teaching to current and potential partners and facilitate the exchange/generation of ideas between partners and our university community.

Just recently, we supported Macquarie University Ageing and Aged Care Network to attend and exhibit at the Australian Association of Gerontology. This was also the official launch of the product of a 6-month collaboration with faculties and Group Marketing, the Macquarie University Ageing and Aged Care Capability Statement. When supporting initiatives like this, we consider factors like positioning the University, visibility (exposure) to industry and peers, and strategic direction.

 Why do you do it?
We’re here because we care and want to make impactful change for our community. If we can connect a student, academic or researcher to an organisation and that leads to new opportunities in research, teaching or innovation, then that’s a job well done. We also work on more complex initiatives that aim to position Macquarie as a partner of choice in our immediate surrounding in Macquarie Park and beyond.

Because we know that impactful relationships form with time and no two partnerships are alike, we listen carefully and are creative in our approach. If you don’t already know a member of our team, let us know so we can grab a coffee and get to know you. If there’s something you’ve always wanted to do with business or industry, then we’re here to help.

Who do you most frequently work with?
The question is, ‘who don’t we work with?’. In any given week our team is meeting with students, staff, start-ups, small businesses, multi-national companies, industry associations and networks, other national and international universities and many more.  Some household names we’re currently partnering with include Optus, Microsoft, Accenture, Johnson & Johnson and Google.

What are some recent achievements that you’re proud of?

There have been many recent success stories across campus that we’ve contributed to. We’re particularly proud of:

• The signing of a second 5-year Memorandum of Understanding with the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment
• Fledge Innovation Labs, a specialist in medtech commercialisation taking up residence at the University’s School of Engineering on 44 Waterloo Road
• A successful pilot of the Engagement Support Program – we’ve supported 60 academics across campus this year with small grants and training to boost their industry engagement
• Developing sector-based capability statements for defence and the ageing and aged care sectors that show our great multi-disciplinary expertise to industry
• Seeing our work in the Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID) grow as more start-ups and commercialisation is occurring here and Venture Café builds the community.

What’s planned for the future? Anything exciting on the horizon?
For 2020 we’re looking to roll out an even more comprehensive Engagement Support Program to more academics. MPID is about to enter an exciting new phase where we are working with local stakeholders to develop a new vision for the innovation precinct. There is over $5 billion being invested here, and we want this to be a really exciting place to be. And we will continue to grow our major partnerships like Cochlear, Optus, Fujitsu and Siemens.

Where can we learn more?
We’re always happy to meet with you, the better we get to know you the more we can help. Just send us an email at ce@mq.edu.au.

For Macquarie, collaboration with industry is not just about research, internships and doing business. It’s about working together with partners to make a positive impact to improve lives and wellbeing.

This was the thinking behind Macquarie’s recent collaboration with Cochlear Ltd, with the University delivering an outreach skin cancer clinic at Cochlear’s global headquarters, located on our North Ryde campus.

The program installed specially trained GPs in the company’s offices for a two-month period, allowing staff to pop in for a 20-minute Medicare-rebated consultation at their convenience.

Cochlear’s National Safety and Wellness Manager, Jenni Vaughan-Floyd, said the program was a ‘resounding success’.

“This is lifesaving intervention and we will continue to offer this service where we can, to reach as many of our people as possible,” Jenni says.

Mustafa Ozluk, Business and Project Manager at the MQ Health Integrated Skin Cancer Clinic says most staff attending the service said they had been putting off getting their skin checked.

“I have been meaning to get my skin checked for so long,” exclaimed one staff member. “An outreach service like this is so convenient – especially for the time poor – that it was a no-brainer. Thank you.”

Skin cancers account for around 80% of all newly diagnosed cancers in Australia, and approximately two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by the time they are 70. (Cancer Council)

Macquarie staff can have their skin checked at the Skin Cancer Clinic, located on Level 3 of the Macquarie University Clinic Building. A routine skin check costs $60, with a $37.05 rebate available from Medicare that clinic staff can process on the spot.  Book online or by telephone: 9812 3765.

It’s been a bumper week for Macquarie on the innovation front, with two major projects announced at last week’s Australian Financial Review Innovation Summit.

The University has partnered with six other Macquarie Park-based businesses – Optus, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott, KonicaMinolta, NAB and AMP Capital – to launch the Macquarie Park Innovation District (MPID).

MPID will be a world-class, collaborative ecosystem where researchers, entrepreneurs and some of the world’s most-recognised businesses will come together to incubate creativity and find unique solutions to global and community issues.

Professor David Wilkinson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Corporate Engagement and Advancement), says the MPID will provide a wealth of benefits to the University, and staff will play an important role in its success.

“By increasing the level of engagement with our partners in Macquarie Park there will be more opportunities for collaboration, internships, entrepreneurship training and incubation opportunities, uplift in PACE placements and co-operative employment placements,” he says. “Ultimately for us it’s about making Macquarie Park a great place to learn, work and innovate.”

“The University is a crucial element of MPID, bringing our world-class research and some of Australia’s brightest talent to the district. I am confident that MPID has the right ingredients to become one of Australia’s foremost innovation centres. We want staff to get involved, be part of MPID and help spark the ideas that will bring this district to life.”

The MPID growth strategy is based on existing Macquarie Park infrastructure, with enabling elements including entrepreneurship and start-up support, collaboration and community spaces and, most importantly, innovative events programming. As the area grows, more activities and infrastructure will be added to facilitate collaboration including a potential driverless shuttle-bus service, SMART cafes in the area, ‘hackathons’ and partnerships with international innovation districts.

In addition to the launch of MPID, the University was last week provided with a $1 million grant from the NSW Government to enable the development of the Macquarie University Business Innovation Centre.

The primary focus of the centre will be to stimulate, drive and nurture innovation through process improvement and product development. Aimed at entrepreneurs and start-ups, SMEs, government agencies, and other industry in the Macquarie Park and North Sydney region, the centre is predicted to be a thriving hub of innovation.

A pop-up Macquarie University Business Innovation Centre will foster research collaboration, intrapreneurship training opportunities, outreach activities within the local community and access to technical equipment such as 3D printers.

Stage one, which includes the creation of a pop-up space in E3B, is expected to be up and running by mid-September 2016.

Updates on how staff can get involved and a schedule of MPID events will be shared in the coming weeks.

Thanks to everyone for sharing your views on this story. In recognition of the strong sentiment regarding potential impacts on parking, we have asked Property to provide a response (below). We will be addressing the issue in more detail – including the impacts of the train station closure – in next week’s issue of This Week.

In its latest announcement of the University’s unfolding Campus Master Plan, Macquarie has revealed its plan to develop two new office buildings at 8 and 10 University Avenue.

Adjacent to the new library, Cochlear Headquarters and the Australian Hearing Hub, the proposed buildings will further the University’s collaboration with commercial partners as part of a long-term vision to bring strategic stakeholders on to campus and establish an innovation nexus in one of Australia’s largest business park precincts.

The director of property at Macquarie University, Mark Broomfield, said the project would feature “vibrant atrium spaces and flexible floor plates, providing every opportunity to create and promote linkages between industry and the University.”

“The development will provide a dynamic, collaborative environment that will complement and enhance the Macquarie Park Innovation District being planned,” he said.

The proposed developments will each have a net lettable area of around 25,000sqm and each is being designed to minimum energy ratings of of 5-Star Green Star and 5-Star NABERS.

The project team, which includes an architectural collaboration between Kann Finch and Sissons Architects, has completed the concept design and is now preparing the detailed design to lodge a development application in the second half of the year.

Work could start on one of the buildings in late 2017 for completion in late 2019.

Prior to the closure of the affected car parks, existing car park infrastructure will be expanded to provide an equivalent number of spaces. This work is planned to commence later this year, and open in late 2017. In addition, Property hasconducted a complete review of the car parking management strategy to achieve a more equitable outcome for staff and students travelling to the University by car. A recommendation is being made to the Executive Group in the next month.

In regards to the train station closure, the University has established an Executive working group that will be identifying the impact of potential disruption to the University during the closure period while lobbying government for an improved interim transport plan while the station is closed.

-Mark Broomfield, Director of Property