In addition to site visits, the RC-APD’s Professional Development Program has incorporated an Eminent Speaker Program which has so far facilitated three speakers to share their knowledge and experience with our staff and students.
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Dr Vincent O’Brien is Director and Principal Consultant at Colby Phillips Advisory, a team of specialised individuals who provide a broad range of skills to assist with business development, commercialisation, and research and innovation solutions for a wide range of organisations. Dr O’Brien shared his commercialisation knowledge and experience in the field of branding and marketing with the RC-APD staff and students, and described how luxury and premium products can be profitably commercialised in Australia. |
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Mr Gerard La Fontaine is part of the University of Adelaide’s Innovation & Commercial Partners team. He is a registered patent and trademark attorney and manages all aspects of intellectual property. His experience in commercialisation provided a valuable opportunity for the RC-APD members to learn more about the complex field of patent searching with a lot of questions for the Q&A session. |
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Mr Craig Humphris is Principal of Wrays, a private IP specialist firm. Craig is a lawyer and patent attorney providing advice in relation to IP, with a focus on patent prosecution and litigation. His presentation, ‘Patents for protecting products derived from agricultural waste’ was a valuable insight on how to execute IP strategies, and was specifically aimed at the RC-APD’s research and potential commercial product area. |
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Mr Robert Lloyd is Growth Facilitator for Food & Agribusiness in the Australian Government’s Entrepreneurs Program, with a focus on commercialisation, researcher engagement and businesses support. His illuminating presentation ‘Commercialising new ideas’ stimulated through-provoking questions about how to generate new ideas and how to make them commercial. Drawing on his experience as part of the Business SA Entrepreneurs program, Mr Lloyd led an excellent Q&A session which was helpful for all RC-APD CIs and researchers to understand the major steps in commercialisation and market analysis. |