Chris set to achieve for Deakin
Chris Hum laughs heartily as he describes himself as the under-achiever in his family.
“I have a sister, Fiona, who is a lawyer with a PhD in Juridical Science, and I have another sister, Winsome, who is a psychiatrist.
“One of my brothers, Michael, is a medico working in the aged-care domain and the other one, Tony, runs an IT company.
“So I tell people I am the under-achiever but I guess what I have really done is to move away from academia to a more commercial area in my career.”
Under-achievements or otherwise, Chris’s background, which includes a Master of Science and a Master of International Business from Melbourne University, make him a perfect fit for his new role within the Research Services Division at Deakin.
Chris is one of two new recently appointed Research Development Managers, one at Burwood, the other – Russell Walker - at Geelong.
“I started in April and my first objective is to meet as many of the researchers on the Burwood campus… as well as touching base with others based in Geelong and Warrnambool… particularly those involved in the Biomedical and Health related areas, initially just to find out what their immediate and future research aspirations are,” Chris said.
“Then I will do my own homework into what opportunities there are in securing new grants, or to build on existing ones.
“As I go around, the message I am getting is with the increased demands and workloads with teaching and lectures, many of the researchers are finding it more difficult to keep their fingers on the funding pulse, and with the great research conducted across all Deakin campuses I have identified this as missed opportunities for the university.
“So if I can do all the donkey work to assist them, that would help in the process of meeting the required deadlines for grant applications and liaising with the right funding bodies, then we have gone a long way to alleviating that pressure.”
As well as those two Masters degrees, Chris comes to Deakin with well-established links with industry.
“My previous job was with Blackwell Publishing, regarded as the world's leading learned society publisher particularly in the area of physical sciences, life sciences, medicine, social sciences and humanities as many of the Deakin researchers will be familiar with,” he said.
“Through those publications for example; Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the Nutrition Society of Australia I was already well aware of the excellent research work Deakin has been doing in the area of nutrition, particularly in obesity and risk to diabetes and other cardiovascular diseases.
“As well as working closely with editors and authors around the world at Blackwells, another important part of my job was to liaise with industry locally and internationally.
“I have a very strong business focus but at the same time, because of my own scientific background, I really enjoy and understand what the researchers are doing.”
The Director of Research Services, Alison Hadfield,
sees the appointment of Chris and Russell Walker as an important part
of the “step change” as
Deakin takes its research to a new level.
“First under Professor Pip Hamilton and now the current Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), Professor David Stokes, we have changed the way Deakin is perceived as a research institution,” Alison said.
“The creation of ITRI, the Institute for Technology Research Innovation, the expansion of the GTP, these are all positive signs we are ready to go to the next level.
“Research Services is in the business of ensuring Deakin’s researchers,get the support they deserve.
“Chris and Russell will help ensure that happens.”