Global Innovation Summit at Macquarie

Last week the Macquarie campus played host to more than 150 delegates for an inaugural MPID Global Innovation Summit. The summit featured five international speakers from the USA, UK and Singapore, including keynote speaker Julie Wagner. Julie co-wrote the original work on Innovation Districts, The Rise of Innovation Districts, and provided delegates with tremendous insights as to the key ingredients that make a successful innovation district.  Other key speakers included  Ms Lucy Turnbull, Chief Commissioner of the Greater Sydney Commission (pictured) and Dr Charlie Day, Chief Executive Officer of the Office of Innovation and Science Australia. The two-day event was a great forum for innovation and incubation experts to share their experiences with representatives from across the Macquarie Park Innovation District, as well as collaborate with those from similar precincts around Australia, government representatives and thought leaders.

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Macquarie University Incubator gets started

As part of the Global Innovation Summit, the Macquarie University Pop-Up Incubator on the ground floor of E3B was officially opened. Guests had the opportunity to chat with seven start-ups, who are already using the space to collaborate, create, develop and launch their businesses. The Pop-Up Incubator will be replaced with a permanent structure later in the year, with construction already underway on a site adjacent to Y3A. With capacity to seat up to 50 people, the space is expected to be completed in August this year. The new incubator will feature space for start-up companies, hot-desking space for entrepreneurs, students and researchers, events space to house the programming, and industry engagement space.

The Incubator and this event were made possible by the NSW Government’s Boosting Business Innovation Program.

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Greek Association raises money for Greek Studies Foundation

The MUGA – Macquarie University Greek Association raised more than $24,000 for the Macquarie University Greek Studies Foundation at their recent ‘The Hellenic Initiative’ fundraiser event. The occasion also commemorated the 30th Anniversary of Modern Greek Studies at the University.

Walanga Muru orientation

Walanga Muru held an Orientation Camp for new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander undergraduate students from 15-17 February. The camp was a fun and innovative two-night experience which combined university preparation workshops with the sharing of cultural knowledge. Students and staff camped in the beautiful bush at Wollombi, where they built relationships through bush tucker and painting workshops, and visited the culturally-significant Baiame Cave.

Interested in contributing to cultural competency at Macquarie? Click here to hear about a survey Walanga Muru is conducting.

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Celebrating MQ Women

On December 12, Macquarie University held an informal morning tea event (pictured above) to celebrate and highlight the outstanding achievements and contribution of women at the University. The draft Workplace Gender Equity Strategy was also launched, intended as a strong statement of our commitment to create real and sustainable change for equality at Macquarie University, building a solid foundation for ongoing improvement.

To read more about Gender Equity and our commitment to create real and sustainable change for equality at the University, see here.

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