Dr Lawrence holds a PhD in Engineering Management (‘university-industry-government collaboration business models’), a Master of Engineering in Management (technical MBA), and a Bachelor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and is also a PMP® certified project management professional from the Project Management Institute, USA.
Dr Lawrence’s previous appointments include Deakin University, as Pro Vice-Chancellor (Strategic Partnerships), Monash University as Director of Industry Partnerships, where he developed and managed strategic partnerships and activities across the University, and as the Director of Business Development for Science at Monash University, to drive research development, industry engagement and intellectual property commercialisation.
Dr Lawrence has also held a senior role at Macquarie University for major gifts/philanthropy and demonstrated significant leadership experience at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand, where he was the Director of New Zealand’s Centre of Excellence for Electric Power Engineering (the EPECentre), which is comparable to a Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) in Australia. The EPECentre is internationally recognised as an exemplar in New Zealand for university-industry collaboration for research, innovation, and education, and Dr Lawrence wrote the strategic business plan for its establishment in 2002.
Throughout his career, Dr Lawrence has led and implemented numerous large-scale, high-value, strategic initiatives that brings together sector-wide industry partners (SMEs to large multinationals), academia, and government, in industries such as advanced manufacturing, food and agriculture, med-tech, and energy.
The Pro Vice-Chancellor (Enterprise) enables cross-collaboration and fosters the spirit of enterprise with colleagues for innovation and entrepreneurship across the University.
This is realised through the building of value-add strategic initiatives and partnerships with industry, government, community, and research organisations to create positive impact regionally, nationally and globally.