L-R: Helena Hurley, Lisa Middlebrook, Paul Hogan, Simon Cowman, Ahmed Awil, Pavlina Naydenova, Lisa Rodgers, Clare Fairhall, Louise McDonald.  Absent: Nick Galea.

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.