Invitation to tour Innovation Campus

Jun 29, 2007

With construction now underway on the first buildings at the University of Wollongong's Innovation Campus, iC director David Fuller has issued an open invitation to the region's business community to inspect progress at the site.

Mr Fuller issued the invitation at a presentation on the Innovation Campus to more than 300 business people at the Illawarra Business Chamber's monthly Business After Hours function, held at the UniBar on Tuesday (26 June).

"I'll be conducting tours once a fortnight to show the business community of Wollongong what we're doing on the Innovation Campus," Mr Fuller said. "I invite you all to book on one of these tours and have a look for yourselves at this historic development for Wollongong, which will transform the city and the region."

iC is a research and development precinct being developed on a 33 hectare site a few kilometres north of the Wollongong CBD. It will house some of the University's flagship research institutes, as well as commercial operations that will collaborate with and benefit from the work of the research teams.

The iC Master Plan has provision for around 25 buildings to be constructed over the next 10-15 years, including a hotel and convention centre. Eventually more than 5000 people will be employed there.

"The University is building four major buildings at iC over the next two years," Mr Fuller said. "In addition, we're negotiating with a number of other commercial operations who are considering other buildings.

Mr Fuller pointed to the recent arrival of global IT services company Accenture, which has established a development and client support facility at UOW in preparation for a move to the Innovation Campus.

"Accenture has shown confidence in UOW and its graduates, and will be one of the first tenants on the Innovation Campus," he said. "The company has already recruited around 80 IT graduates from the University. Priority access to our graduates is one of the most compelling points for companies considering locating there."

The first buildings under construction are the landmark iC Central building which will house key administrative and service operations, and the Institute for Innovative Materials that will house two of UOW's flagship research centres.

To book a place on one of Mr Fuller's iC tours, contact the iC team (phone) 02 4221 5115 or email info@innovationcampus.com.au