Winter 2013 - University of Queensland

FeatureIndustryconnections:The Key to successStrong industry relationships are an important component of anyhigh-performing university, with far-reaching impacts not only for theuniversity but also for industry, government and the wider community.There is no doubt that successfuluniversities are an integral partof every successful nation.They are a leading contributorto Australia’s economic, socialand cultural wellbeing. The high qualityof graduates and research undertaken atAustralian universities helps solve globalproblems and positions us to meet thechallenges of the future.Research conducted for UniversitiesAustralia last year found that more than90 per cent of individuals and businessesconsider that universities make an importantcontribution to Australian society.The inaugural Excellence in Innovationfor Australia trial conducted in 2012 foundthat a number of UQ research projects havedelivered outstanding economic, social andenvironmental benefits to the nation.Such projects include the Gardasilvaccine, which protects against humanpapillomavirus and cervical cancer; theaward-winning “Triple P” Positive ParentingProgram; and the GroundProbe SlopeStability Radar, which is helping to improvemine safety around the world.President and Vice-Chancellor ProfessorPeter Høj said universities were “the key tokeeping Australia strong”.“Australia has one of the finest universitysystems in the world and we are becomingincreasingly aware of the role of ouruniversities for the long-term wellbeing ofthe nation,” he said.It is perhaps surprising then that Australia,one of the strongest economies in the world,ranks 25th out of 29 developed economiesfor public investment in higher education.Despite this, Australian universities areranked amongst the best in the world. In the2012 Academic Ranking of World Universities,Australia had the third highest number ofuniversities in the global top 100, including UQ.The 2012 Excellence in Research for Australiaassessment found 100 per cent of UQ’sassessed research fields were at worldstandard or above, with 80.5 per cent aboveor well above world standard.Support from industry, as well as fromgovernments and private benefactors,has assisted UQ in its continued pursuit ofexcellence. For example, collaborations withindustry partners such as The Dow ChemicalCompany and Rio Tinto have enabled UQ toconduct research on a scale that would havebeen difficult to achieve alone.However, Professor Høj said there wasmore to be done.“If we are to progress further to beamongst the very best, let alone consolidateour position, we will need even strongerpartnerships and enhanced investment frompartners and alumni alike,” he said.An example of an initiative that isdelivering significant benefits back to industryis the Geotechnical Engineering Centre atUQ, which officially opened last year.Supported by funding from a consortiumof industry partners including Rio Tinto,Anglo Gold Ashanti, BHP Billiton and GolderAssociates, the centre offers dual majors incivil and geotechnical engineering and miningand geotechnical engineering, both of whichare unique in Australia.Martyn Robotham, Chief Advisor,Geotechnical at Rio Tinto, said the centrewas helping to address a specialist skillsshortage in geotechnical engineering.“The centre will create high-quality graduatesin these key disciplines in Australia,” he said.“Previously, most companies would havehad to look at the much more expensive,offshore option.“Now we are going to have the capabilityof generating graduates from an Australianuniversity for Aussie operations, which will bea great step forward.”The centre is part of a five-year, $2.5million Education Partnership Agreementwith Rio Tinto, which is designed to create asustainable mining industry, not to mentiona future pipeline of graduates. Rio Tintoalso provides financial support to new UQacademic staff through its Future MiningAcademics Program.Robotham said Rio Tinto’s collaborationswith UQ were mutually beneficial.“The realisation for Rio Tinto was that if wesupport and build capacity at UQ, ultimately itcomes full circle back to us,” he said.“And obviously, with Rio Tinto beingengaged, our name is at the fore with thestudents, and maybe they’ll consider us totry-out when they are ready for a job. It’sreally a win-win situation.”To support high-quality graduates, globalengineering, construction and projectmanagement firm Bechtel is one of manyindustry bodies that provides scholarshipsfor UQ students. To complement this,Bechtel offers a four-year graduate pathwayprogram that allows graduates to furtherenhance their knowledge and capabilities intheir chosen fields.Bechtel’s Asia Pacific General ManagerShaun Kenny said the company’s investment inscholarships at UQ was about “pushing the nextgeneration of talent along to benefit industry”.“It is in both Bechtel’s and the University’smutual interest to see well-equipped peopleentering our marketplace,” he said.Professor Andrew Griffiths, Dean of theUQ Business School, said the desire tosecure high-quality graduates was one of thekey attractions for industry partners to workwith the University.“Industry is seeking these relationships asa way of securing high-quality human capitalfor their businesses,” he said.“We find that the same companies thatwork on projects with us come back to us40 UQ Contact WINTer 2013