Curtin University has appointed new Deputy Director of IP Commercialisation, Russell Nicholls, to assist in facilitating relationships between researchers and the commercial world.
With a strong background in intellectual property management, Mr Nicholls has more than six years experience in a tertiary environment with a particular specialisation in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.
Mr Nicholls said his goal was to facilitate engagement with commercial organisations allowing them to access the latest in technology, products and ideas from Curtin.
“I am joining a team with an impressive number of current projects and plenty of enthusiasm and I will be helping to introduce more efficient systems to handle the increasing workload,” Mr Nicholls said.
“As we are dealing with patents and legal agreements, implementation of a new system for electronic records keeping will allow us to be more responsive, giving us more time to engage with researchers and expand our networks of business partners, investors and advisors.”
Mr Nicholls said the innovative potential at the University was strong and there was no shortage of quality applied research.
“This makes me excited about working with researchers at Curtin to take some of these projects to the next stage,” he said.
”My role will include working with researchers to give advice, provide access to alternative sources of funding and facilitate links to networks of industry partners and investors.”
Mr Nicholls said he hoped to assist in ensuring a win-win outcome for those involved in IP Commercialisation.
“Leveraging further research funding from IP is a good way of developing more activity in this area. In my view, engaging broadly and forging a number of deals is the best way to build a strong reputation for Curtin and encourage further engagement.”
Director of IP commercialisation, Rohan McDougall, said it was great to have Mr Nicholls on board and looked forward to working together with him and the team to build an even stronger future for Curtin innovation.
Contacts:
Russell Nicholls, Deputy Director, IP Commercialisation, Curtin University
Tel: 08 9266 4703, Email: russell.nicholls@curtin.edu.au
Andrea Barnard, Public Relations, Curtin University
Tel: 08 9266 4241, Email: andrea.barnard@curtin.edu.au
Web: http://curtin.edu.au
