The University of Newcastle, Australia

Breaking into new international markets will be a key driver for the new CEO of The University of Newcastle Research Associates (TUNRA).

Dr Brent Jenkins has been appointed to lead TUNRA, a rapidly growing enterprise linking the government and business sectors to expert knowledge at the University of Newcastle. TUNRA has a worldwide reputation in engineering and scientific research.

Dr Jenkins joins TUNRA from Invetech Ltd in Melbourne, and has previously held senior roles with BHP Billiton and a number of international management consultancies.

Professor Barney Glover, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University, said Dr Jenkins brought to TUNRA more than two decades of experience in the international business arena.

"He has a wealth of knowledge in the fields of business and research strategy, technology commercialisation, business consulting and service delivery," Professor Glover said.

Dr Jenkins said he wanted to maximise value from the research and technologies generated by the University through consulting, licensing and creating spin-off companies.

"My focus will be to build on the University's strengths in the medical and biotechnology markets, as well as engineering and science technology, to benefit the University and the region."

Since its inception almost 40 years ago, TUNRA has been putting industry in touch with independent expert advice and solutions in a broad number of sectors including engineering, manufacturing, mining, health, information technology, materials handling and the environment.

TUNRA's success has led to new intellectual property disclosures for the University of Newcastle increasing 10-fold since 2003 and the commercialisation of new technologies growing three-fold in the past four years.

Photo opportunity: Dr Brent Jenkins in the TUNRA office on Wednesday 14 February 2007 until 3pm.