Monash makes Hick chief commercialisation officer

Monash University has appointed Alastair Hick as its inaugural chief commercialisation officer, promoting him from senior director of tech transfer arm Monash Innovation.

Hick has been with Monash University since 2007, when he joined as director of commercialisation. He helped establish Monash Innovation in 2015 and became its director, followed by a promotion to senior director three years later.

In his new role, Hick will continue to oversee Monash Innovation as well as startup hub the Generator, the equity portfolio through Monash Investment Holdings and investment support for the university’s startups.

Prof Doron Ben-Meir, deputy vice-chancellor for enterprise and engagement, and senior vice-president, said: “I extend my sincere congratulations to Dr Hick on this appointment. His leadership will help us deliver on Impact 2030 by improving commercialisation and entrepreneurship activities across the university.”

Among Hick’s achievements is a lifetime membership and serving as previous director and chair of professional association Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia. He was the first person to hold RTTP accreditation in Australia.

He was also an investment committee member of the Trans Tasman Commercialisation Fund from 2008 to 2013. Earlier in his career, Hick was head of life sciences at Cambridge Enterprise, the commercialisation arm of University of Cambridge, from 2002 to 2006.

Hick was one of the first guests to join Talking Tech Transfer, the GUV podcast, in 2020 to share invaluable insights gained over the course of his career, such as tackling university-industry collaboration in Australia and the opportunities around increasing efficiencies of standard TTO procedures.