Universities can build relationships with industry by inviting people to networking events

The first session of the two-day Executive Leadership Workshop (ELW) on Commercialisation of Research, held in Cape Town last week – featured two speakers from abroad.

The first was Mr Tom Hockaday, director of the consultancy Technology Transfer Innovation, and a former CEO of Oxford University’s Innovation Consultancy from 2006 until March 2016. He spoke virtually from the town of Oxford in the UK.

The second speaker was Dr Martin Hinoul, former Business Development Manager and now advisor at the university KU Leuven in Belgium. He also spoke virtually from Leuven.

The ELW, attended by senior executives in South Africa’s public universities, including deputy vice-chancellors, is an annual event hosted by Universities South Africa’s Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education programme (EDHE).

This session, titled Setting the scene & building on an understanding around commercialisation of research, was followed by a Q&A session, facilitated by entrepreneur and University of Pretoria B Comm graduate, Mr Nolo Mokoena.