As a digital innovation ecosystem, Melbourne Connect represents a physical and programmatic convergence of many organisations and interdisciplinary institutions seeking to leverage research and emerging technologies to disrupt and transform our society.
At its core lies interdisciplinary collaboration, where researchers and industry participants cross traditional disciplines to creatively and ingeniously tackle complex problems. Whether you are pursuing advancements in food security and synthetic biology, developing new medical devices to improve patient care and outcomes, or incorporating new methods of evidence-driven design, Melbourne Connect is a place where ideas have currency and innovation thrives.
Melbourne Connect is home to companies of all scales and stages, including start-ups, spin-outs and scale-ups, through to publicly listed companies. Regardless of where you sit on the journey from idea to Initial Public Offering, the Melbourne Connect ecosystem connects people, place and possibility.
The innovation precinct is an exemplar in mixed-use urban design and development, providing a wide range of amenities, including postgraduate student accommodation, retail outlets and an early learning centre, as well as a wide range of premium event venues with state-of-the-art facilities and resources.
Melbourne Connect is the epicentre of digital talent in Melbourne, accessing an extensive pipeline of highly skilled graduates, emerging researchers and thought-leading academics.
Melbourne Connect is powered by The University of Melbourne in partnership with a consortium led by Lendlease.
Prof. Eduard Hovy is the Executive Director of Melbourne Connect. Born in South Africa, Prof. Hovy completed a Ph.D. in Computer Science (Artificial Intelligence) at Yale University in 1987 and was awarded honorary doctorates from the National Distance Education University (UNED) in Madrid in 2013 and the University of Antwerp in 2015.
Prior to commencing at Melbourne Connect in 2022, Prof. Hovy most recently served as Program Manager at the United States Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA)’s Information Innovation Office (I2O), and has previously worked as a research professor at the Language Technologies Institute in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU). Prof. Hovy holds adjunct professorships in CMU’s Machine Learning Department and at the University of Southern California (Los Angeles). He is one of the initial 17 Fellows of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL) and is also a Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI).
Prof. Hovy’s research focuses on computational semantics of language and addresses various areas in Natural Language Processing and Data Analytics, including in-depth machine reading of text, information extraction, automated text summarisation, question answering, the semi-automated construction of large lexicons and ontologies, and machine translation.
Vanessa Campbell is the Director of Innovation Precincts at The University of Melbourne. With over 15 years of experience in innovation district development, Vanessa has established herself as a collaborative and visionary leader, making significant contributions to projects across the Parkville Biomedical Precinct, Monash Technology Precinct and Melbourne Innovation District.
Her work has garnered both professional and academic recognition, and has positioned Vanessa as a thought-leader in the precinct development and partnerships space across Australia. Vanessa has worked across the private and public sectors and has a tru passion for forging connections between industry and academia to drive innovation forward.
Currently serving as Director of Innovation Precincts at the University of Melbourne, Vanessa is responsible for fostering dynamic innovation ecosystems and assets. Her work drives substantial economic benefits for Victoria, including new business formation, job creation, research advancements, and community engagement.
Phil Callaghan is the Director of Operations at Melbourne Connect. An experienced operations leader, Phil has a demonstrated history of working in the higher education sector and the aviation industry, with a service and continuous improvement focus.
Prior to commencing at Melbourne Connect, Phil held the position of Associate Director of Academic Operations and Director of Operations, Faculty of Science Engineering and Technology at the Swinburne University of Technology and has previously held senior management positions at the University of Auckland and a Head of Division at Air New Zealand.
Phil has considerable experience in managing large teams and he is skilled in negotiation, business planning, operations management, safety management systems, and training delivery. He has strong operational leadership skills and expertise within the education sector, and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration with a focus on strategy from the University of Auckland.
Phil is passionate about the convergence of the education and industry sectors and the ability to grow Melbourne Connect into the centre for all things innovation in Australia and beyond.
