Monash University announced that Dr Alastair Hick has been appointed to the new role of Chief Commercialisation Officer
Monash University is pleased to announce that Dr Alastair Hick has been appointed to the new role of Chief Commercialisation Officer.
This new role will oversee Monash Innovation, the Generator, the equity portfolio through Monash Investment Holdings, and investment support for Monash start-ups. The role will also work with all faculties and the research and education portfolios to improve support for commercialisation and further develop an entrepreneurial ecosystem in and around Monash University and its campuses.
Professor Doron Ben-Meir, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise and Engagement) and Senior Vice-President, said: “I extend my sincere congratulations to Dr Hick on this appointment. His leadership will help us deliver on Impact 2030 by improving commercialisation and entrepreneurship activities across the University.”
Dr Hick joined Monash in 2007 and is currently Senior Director, Monash Innovation, within Enterprise and Engagement. Since establishing Monash Innovation in 2015, Dr Hick has led significant growth in commercialisation activities at Monash, which has seen improved performance across key commercialisation metrics – from invention disclosures, through to licences, options and assignments to spinout and start-up companies. In 2019, Dr Hick also assumed responsibility for the Generator, which has expanded its program offering to include virtual participation from all Monash campuses.
Dr Hick is a lifetime member and previous Director and Chair of Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia, the first Registered Technology Transfer Professional in Australia, and a member of the IAM Strategy 300 of leading patent strategists worldwide.
Prior to joining Monash, Dr Hick was Head of Life Sciences at Cambridge Enterprise at the University of Cambridge, and worked for a globally-focused specialist private commercialisation company in the UK. He has a PhD from The Open University, gained during his 10-year research career at Rothamsted Research in the UK working with Professor John Pickett FRS on plant-insect interactions and chemical ecology, and followed this with an MBA at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge, before he moved into commercialisation.