Complete Report - University of New South Wales

Number of government, industry and business briefi ngs – the Centre target of 2 such
briefi ngs has been exceeded with more than 20 such briefi ngs since the commencement
of the Centre. The high fi gure has resulted from the extraordinary rate of growth in the
industry (67% sales growth in 2004; 45% in 2005), with relatively large numbers of business
briefi ngs by Centre staff in particular being sought by the industry
Number of Centre associates trained/ing in technology transfer and commercialisation –
although the target number for this was set at 5, the diversity of Centre technology coupled
with the recent high demand from the rapidly growing industry, has necessitated the Centre
train additional staff and associates in the various areas where there is commercial interest
in the Centre’s technologies. The Centre now has 15 staff and/or research students at a
stage where they feel confi dent in their training for technology transfer. Those trained in
technology transfer often become particularly valuable to industry and are often offered
good employment opportunities. For example, two of the staff listed below have within recent
months accepted offers to work for newly established companies wishing to set up new
manufacturing.
Number and nature of Public Awareness programs – the Centre conducts extensive public
awareness programs, particularly amongst high school students. This has been particularly
important with the Centre developing and establishing the world’s fi rst undergraduate
engineering degree in Photovoltaics and Solar Energy which is only able to attract students
provided students become aware of its existence and relevance. There have been well over
50 examples of activities in which the Centre has been engaged that increase the public
awareness of the Centre’s program and of the photovoltaics fi eld in general.
Annual cash contributions from Collaborating Organisations – the target of $0.5 million per
year has been easily exceeded as documented in the Financial section
Annual in-kind contributions from Collaborating Organisations – the target of $0.5 million
per year has been easily exceeded with most collaborating organisations and companies
preferring to make signifi cantly larger in-kind contributions than cash contributions.
Number of new organisations recruited to or involved in the Centre – more than 20 new
collaborators have been recruited to the Centre, well ahead of the target of 2 per year.
Level and quality of infrastructure provided to the Centre – the Centres infrastructure and
facilities were already world class at the time the Centre was awarded. Since this time the
Centre has further developed its infrastructure and capabilities through acquiring state-ofthe-art
facilities from Pacifi c Solar, using funding of well over $1 million from the University
and State Government of NSW.
Breadth and experience of the members of the Advisory Board – the Centre’s Advisory Board
comprises members recognised as industry leaders including manufacturers, end-users,
academia and research institutes. In particular it includes several Heads of organisations
such as CEO’s of major international companies. The membership is listed in Section 6 on
Organisational Structure.
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Frequency and Effectiveness of Advisory Board Meetings – the Advisory Board has met
annually as planned. To be effective, a particular challenge for such an Advisory Board, with
membership from 6 different countries, is to achieve adequate meeting attendance. The last
meeting was held in Barcelona in conjunction with one of the major international conferences,
with members from all six countries being in attendance with only two Australian members
being unable to be present. Feedback and advice from Advisory Board members have been
valuable for the Centre’s Management Team in effecting improvements in some areas,
particularly with regard to content in teaching programs and commercial signifi cance of
some of the research.