Academic/Researcher Engagement & Partnership in Advancing Your Core
In establishing research infrastructure facilities and cores, institutions need to consider strategic value through alignment with overarching research objectives. Often, there are business cases presented to university executive in establishing cores, but strategy implementation is nuanced and rely on productive partnerships between research leaders and in many cases, with research centres.
The speakers within this session will outline how they aligned with the research strategy through partnerships with leading researchers and/or consolidated research focus areas within centres of excellence.
Andy will outline the genesis of REF and its critical role in advancing the research ambitions of QUT in robotics, energy and Ag-Tech and more.
Eric will speak to his long-term research partnership with Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor Emeritus Leann Tilley in tackling malaria.
Andy Keir is Manager of the Research Engineering Facility, where he leads the delivery and operation of specialist engineering capability that supports applied research, technology development and industry engagement. Based at QUT in Brisbane, Andy works at the intersection of research infrastructure, engineering practice and practical problem?solving.
With experience managing complex facilities and multidisciplinary teams, Andy brings a strong focus on enabling high?impact research, safe and effective operations, and the translation of engineering knowledge into real?world outcomes. His leadership supports researchers and partners to turn ideas into scalable, fit?for?purpose solutions through robust engineering design, development and deployment.
Eric is Professor at the University of Melbourne where he heads the Ian Holmes Imaging Centre. He received his PhD in biological science from Université Claude Bernard, France, in 1999 for his work on the ultrastructure of elastic tissues. From 2000 to 2005 he continued this work as postdoctoral fellow at the University of Adelaide. In 2006, he joined the ARC Center of Excellence for Coherent X-ray Science at La Trobe University to develop and implement cutting edge imaging techniques and led innovative work on 3D imaging of the malaria parasite. In 2010 he was recruited at the Bio21 Institute to develop the electron microscopy unit and implement cryo EM and 3D EM in all their flavours. From 2016 he led the design and oversaw the overall project of a purpose-built electron microscopy building, the Ian Holmes Imaging Centre that opened its doors in early 2021. His research interests are in the applications of 3D imaging using electrons. He has over 150 research papers in the fields of cell and structural biology. He was president of the Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Society between 2018 and 2023 and the current president of the Committee of Asia Pacific Societies for Microscopy.
