Team profile: Research, Engagement, Development and Innovation

The UWS Research Engagement, Development and Innovation (REDI) team was established this year under the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Development) to provide leadership and support for UWS to partner with business, government and the community.
 
    

Who works in the REDI team?

Rochelle Finlay – Senior Manager, REDI
Tim Horan – Business Development Manager
Anthony Tucker – Business Development Officer
Chris Lewis – Consulting and Engagement Officer
Victoria Hirst – Intellectual Property & Development Officer
Anne Elias – REDI Project Officer
Laura Robinson – REDI Administration Officer

What does the REDI team do?

The REDI team has a strong business development focus.

REDI is focussed on developing and securing opportunities for UWS academics to work with external organisations.  

REDI actively promotes UWS' expertise, capabilities and resources, and matches these to opportunities. The REDI team then works with academics to frame up and formalise these opportunities – assisting with the negotiation and management of contracts for research, professional consultancy, access to UWS cutting-edge facilities, and access to Intellectual Property.

REDI tailors its offering to internal and external clients' expectations – there is no 'one size fits all'.

Where is the REDI team located?

The team is housed in two locations: Building AD at Werrington and the River Cottage at Parramatta.

Who does the REDI team work with?

REDI staff work closely with UWS academics and their external partners. REDI is outward facing, but within UWS the team works closely with others who support research and engagement for UWS. These include professional staff within Schools, Centres and Institutes; Directors of Engagement; Directors of Research; Office of Research Services; Advancement and Alumni; Office of Strategy and Engagement; UWS International; and UWS Careers. REDI works with these groups to provide a value add support service to UWS academics across a wide range of opportunities.

What would be a good example of the work that the team is involved in? 

Because REDI provides external partners with a single clear point of access to UWS, a lot of the work we do is managing approaches by organisations that are keen to work with UWS academics.

On the flip side, we are also approached by UWS academics who have existing partners and want to build on these relationships.

In both instances, REDI provides support throughout the project scoping and negotiation stages, assistance with practical administrative matters and ongoing client relationship management.

What challenges does the team face?

REDI has been established to address several traditional challenges to effective external partnerships – these are not unique to UWS but prevalent across the sector. To overcome these, all projects facilitated by REDI are allocated a project manager who acts as the primary point of contact between the University and UWS' partners. This ensures a consistent high quality of service delivery tailored to each organisation's needs.

Contact one of the REDI team – it is our job to help find solutions!

What is the team focusing on in the next 12 months?

• A new way of working!
• Making it easier and more attractive to engage in consultancy activity.
• Making it easier to partner with organisations outside UWS.
• Encouraging and supporting a broad range of activities for UWS academics.
• Building on existing partnerships between UWS and other organisations.
• Identifying and establishing new partnerships for UWS.
• Fast and flexible negotiation of research, consultancy and commercialisation arrangements.
• Profiling partnerships.
• Supporting Easy Access Intellectual Property.
• Providing client management support for projects and partnerships.