2016 Academic Board forum: Innovation at UTS and beyond

The 2016 Academic Board forum focused on innovation, both inside and outside the university. UTS and external speakers looked at innovation, transdisciplinarity and how our students are engaging with industry to innovate.

Professor Peter Booth gave an overview of the UTS innovation strategy.

Opher Yom-Tov gave the keynote presentation, Innovators: born or made?, describing his journey from working in Silicon Valley through to his role in the startup, Airshr. Opher challenged us to consider our own definitions of innovation and shared his: 'innovation is doing something different that adds value'.

Professor Charles Walker then took us on an historical journey reflecting on how change, innovation and disruption have shaped society for centuries.

Presentations from the Hatchery provided insight into the activities occurring in this innovative UTS space. We also heard from students in the Master of Data Science and Innovation (MDSI) and Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation (BCII), who described projects they've participated in and how relevant they were to their learning and current and future work.

Speakers and presentations

  • Introduction — Associate Professor Joanne Gray, Chair, Academic Board
  • Innovation at UTS: an introduction — Professor Peter Booth, UTS Provost and Senior Vice-President
  • Innovators: born or made? — Opher Yom-Tov, co-founder, Chief Product and Design Officer, AirShr
  • The power of the most distant and dissimilar objects — Professor Charles Walker, Director, Innovation and Creative Intelligence Unit
  • Creating the entrepreneurs of the future — Tida Tippapart and Rosary Coloma, program managers from the Hatchery and Hatchery+
  • Innovation as a 'white knuckle ride': engaging with industry to innovate in the Master of Data Science and Innovation — Kelly Tall, Tracy Keys and Pedro Fernandez de Mendonca, MDSI students. Introduced by Dr Theresa Anderson, course director, MDSI.
  • The governor's diary: student and staff transdisciplinary interaction — Tommaso Armstrong and Katie Wearne, BCII students. Introduced by Associate Professor Louise McWhinnie, head of department, Creative Intelligence and Innovation, and Dr Paul Brown, senior lecturer (accounting), UTS Business School and subject coordinator, BCII.

A Q&A session followed each presentation, providing an opportunity to engage with the guest speakers.

Photos from the event

2016 Academic Board Forum

Photos clockwise from top-left:

  • Associate Professor Joanne Gray, Chair, Academic Board
  • Opher Yom-Tov, co-founder and Chief Product and Design Officer, AirShr
  • audience reviewing documents from 'The governor's diary’, a data analysis and data visualisation project
  • Professor Peter Booth, Provost
  • audience during Q&A
  • Katie Wearne and Tommaso Armstrong, BCII students
  • Tracy Keys, MDSI student
  • centre: a slide from Opher Yom-Tov's presentation, 'Innovators: born or made?'
Acknowledgement of Country

UTS acknowledges the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Boorooberongal people of the Dharug Nation, the Bidiagal people and the Gamaygal people, upon whose ancestral lands our university stands. We would also like to pay respect to the Elders both past and present, acknowledging them as the traditional custodians of knowledge for these lands.