Innovation leader is new head of UQ Dow Centre

The University of Queensland has appointed Professor Chris Greig as chair of its multi-million dollar Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation.

The centre works globally to drive technological advancement, frontier research and world-class education programs to find solutions to the core sustainability issues of the 21^st Century.

UQ Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Peter Høj said Professor Greig’s leadership would play a vital role in the University’s response to global sustainability challenges.

“His impressive record of contributions to the university and to the energy sector mean he is well-equipped to ensure the Dow Centre fosters innovations that create real change around the globe,” Professor Høj said.

“His extensive experience tackling challenges in sustainability will help ensure the Dow Centre contributes to delivering a sustainable future for the planet.”

Professor Greig, a UQ alumnus who also leads the UQ Energy Initiative, said the appointment would allow him to build even stronger international collaborative partnerships across academia and industry, to build on UQ’s work to provide knowledge leadership for a better world.

“I hope to increase the impact of our research by aligning the focus to real world challenges,” he said.

The Dow Centre for Sustainable Engineering Innovation is a collaboration between UQ’s Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, the UQ Global Change Institute and the School of Chemical Engineering.

Professor Greig founded and led a successful process innovation company for 15 years before working in senior executive roles in the construction and resources sector.

Before joining UQ he was Project Director and CEO of ZeroGen, which conducted one of the world’s most comprehensive studies on the potential of a large scale, low-emissions coal-fired power project incorporating carbon capture and storage.

“I see partnerships between universities and global industrial companies like Dow Chemical as critical if we are to play a serious role in enabling a more sustainable future in which economic growth can occur without compromising the wellbeing of future generations,” Professor Greig said.

Professor Høj said inaugural Dow Centre Director Professor Eric McFarland had left a long-lasting and positive legacy for the centre.

Media: Madelene Flanagan m.flanagan@uq.edu.au , + 61 7 3365 8525.