Jane Emerick
A $5 billion fund unveiled in this week’s federal budget for higher education would help Deakin University develop its own Silicone Valley in Geelong, ViceChancellor Sally Walker said yesterday.
Ms Walker said the fund would be an obvious source of cash for capital works and research facilities to expand the university’s Geelong Technology Precinct at Waurn Ponds.
The precinct features partnerships between Deakin and other organisations to run cuttingedge research. Existing studies cover areas such as nanotechnology, prototyping and biotechnology.
“We have developed a unique model at Deakin where we combined industry partners with university research. We believe it will be the next big development,” Ms Walker said.
“The endowment fund and other initiatives in the budget will support the changes that the university has embarked upon in the last four or five years.”
Ms Walker said a Howard Government plan to take over management of university finances was a “small issue” compared to the funding promises.
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