Staff
The Newcastle Innovation team has the knowledge and expertise to connect industry and government with the resources and capabilities of the University of Newcastle.
Dr Brent Jenkins - Chief Executive Officer
Brent is a graduate of the University of Newcastle and has a PhD from Oxford University and an MBA from INSEAD, France. He has worked in corporate planning and operational roles and was a senior consultant with an advisory firm specialising in commercialisation of new technology.
Since joining Newcastle Innovation as CEO in February 2007, he has led a complete overhaul of the company's strategy and the development of a renewed drive to serve our business partners and support the University's researchers.
brent [dot] jenkins [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au
David Fleming - Senior Business Development Manager
David is responsible for identifying, assessing and exploiting intellectual property generated by the University of Newcastle. He combines business development of the University's IP with financial management responsibility for companies controlled by Newcastle Innovation.
David holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree and after undertaking management roles in multinational companies, he joined Newcastle Innovation in 2002.
david [dot] fleming [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au
Chris Kelleher - Senior Business Development Manager
Chris has 17 years experience in commercial management roles in the building, manufacturing and health industries. Since joining Newcastle Innovation in 2001 he has established three start-up companies and initiated licence deals. Chris' role is to identify, assess and exploit intellectual property generated by the University of Newcastle.
chris [dot] kelleher [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au
Dr Nagaraj Gopisetty - Business Development Officer
Nagaraj has experience in the commercialisation of early stage technologies and has advanced skills in technology analysis, due diligence, market research and competitor analysis, intellectual property management, licensing and contract negotiation. He has also worked in research and development, and sales and marketing of life science and healthcare technologies within multinational pharmaceutical companies and the public sector.
At Newcastle Innovation he is mainly responsible for identifying and managing new and existing intellectual property, commercialising technologies, initiating new collaborations, contract research and consultancy opportunities within the Faculty of Health and Medicine. He is also responsible for fostering partnerships with industry, commercial partners and other education and research institutes.
He is a pharmacist and holds a Master of Science with honours in Biotechnology specializing in neuroscience and a PhD from the University of Queensland in molecular and cancer cell biology. He has published in tier-1 journals and presented at a number of national and international conferences.
nagaraj [dot] gopisetty [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au
Dr Hadi Zulfiqar - Business Development Officer
Hadi joined Newcastle Innovation in 2011 with a primary focus on the engineering, energy and resources areas of the University.
Prior to Newcastle Innovation, Hadi has held operational roles in industrial process plants and project consulting roles in a multinational engineering consulting firm. He was involved in a number of engineering projects including a wastewater treatment plant upgrade and commissioning, solar hydrogen plant design and post-combustion carbon capture pilot plant. He enjoys working with researchers to identify IP opportunities and foster relationships with research institutes and potential commercial partners.
Hadi holds a PhD (Chemical Engineering) in co-firing of coal and biomass for power generation. He is also a volunteer at the Engineers Without Borders. He enjoys badminton and soccer in his spare time.
hadi [dot] zulfiqar [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au
Renee Butcher - Executive Secretary
Renee provides administrative support to the CEO and the Business Development Managers. She assists them in the management of Consultancy Research Agreements and contracts, as well as commercial projects.
Renee's role also encompasses Event Management for Newcastle Innovation and she is currently Project/Administrative Manager for the PQA testing for the University of Sydney's Bachelor of Oral Health Degree. She assists in the coordination of the Work Health and Safety management across our Divisions and Projects.
renee [dot] butcher [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au
Kay Caban - Accounts Manager
Kay is responsible for the daily management of Newcastle Innovation's financial functions. She controls the accounts and investments at Newcastle Innovation, supervises payroll and provides financial information and assistance to Newcastle Innovation research divisions and spin-off companies.
kay [dot] caban [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au
Joanne Pigott- Accounts Assistant
Joanne is Newcastle Innovation's payroll and HR officer. She also provides administrative support to the Accounts Manager.
joanne [dot] pigott [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au
Blythe Hamilton - Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator
Blythe leads the internal and external marketing, public relations, online presence and positioning activities of Newcastle Innovation.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Communications) from the University of Newcastle and has 15 years experience as a journalist, media advisor and PR officer in the government sector, boutique consultancy firms and the higher education sector.
Having worked as a Media and PR officer at the University of Newcastle for five years, she brings to Newcastle Innovation extensive knowledge of the University's research and innovation capabilities.
blythe [dot] hamilton [at] newcastle [dot] edu [dot] au
Ted Tay - Business Development Executive (Singapore)
Ted Tay has worked, consulted and trained over the last 25 years in Customer Relationship Management, Software-skills and IT Training, Sales and Marketing. Training and Development, Project Management, Business English Training & Coaching.
Ted’s career and exposure in small companies and large corporations, both National and Multinational, provide him with rich and diverse experiences, the depth and insight of which are reflected in his approach and practices, and a unique and effective style.
With 20 years of experience as a consultant and trainer, his niche areas are in Corporate Learning & Development, Sales & Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, IT Training, and Project Management.
In his own CRM practice, Ted brings all this to bear, with comprehensive process and management consulting, and change management strategies. He was also the founding partner of New Frontiers Partnership, providing long-range customer management strategies and solutions to organisations.
Fiona Schaefer - Business Development Executive (Singapore)
Fiona received her first degree from the University of Newcastle, Australia with a Degree in Psychology with Honours. The Honours thesis titled Fibroblast Growth Factor-1 in Peripheral Nerve Degeneration and Rejeneration: An Immunocytochemical Investigation was published in the 'Anatomical Society of Australia and New Zealand', 1996, University of QLD.
She went on to begin a Masters of Clinical Psychology with the UoN and later obtained her MBA via long distance while living in Saudi Arabia learning through the University of New England with her key interests being in Human Resource Management and Marketing.
Fiona is currently working at the UoN Singapore as an Adjunct Lecturer in Business Studies and as the Business Developemnet Executive for Newcastle Innovation. Newcastle Innovation assists and facilitates the transfer of knowledge, technology and scentific research from the University to commercial partners in Australia and Singapore.
Prior to joining UoN Singapore, Fiona had experience working as the Hospital Specialist Reprentatives for Johnson & Johnson specialising in renal transplant and kidney disease and also with Scherring - Plough with specilaisation in infectious diseases and treatment protocols. Before this she spent over three years working as a Clinical Pschologist Intern with the Hunter Area Health, Newcaste Australia.
Fiona is involved in Singapore’s fledgling Biotechnology industry and is an active member of Bio Singapore. Her specialties include: Intellectual Property management, biotechnology, strategic marketing, business development, academic collaboration and contract research.
