Graduate school has the answers

By TOM CLARKE

The dean of Unitec's new graduate school, David Pugh, is keen to hear from business people who have problems they need solved.

Professor Pugh says the school has the resources to help solve a wide range of problems and is keen to get involved with business.

Unitec has recently signed a partnership accord with RMIT University in Melbourne, under which RMIT will support Unitec's bid to become an independent university of technology. Collaborative research and opportunities for international educational experiences for staff and students, will also be promoted.

Professor Pugh says the surprise decision by the Government preventing Unitec from getting university status, is a major blow. In the longer term this will not deter Unitec from pursuing its objectives, however.

"We're committed to delivering programmes and activities which will meet the needs of the New Zealand community at large and which will meet the aspirations of our students," he says.

"We're committed and we're on track, and we won't be deviated from that. This is a hiccup as far as I'm concerned, but it doesn't alter the longer-term outcome."

Professor Pugh says Unitec is already a degree-granting institution which runs masters' programmes and has a proposal before the Qualifications Authority for doctoral programmes.

Professor Pugh is a former pro vice-chancellor for research and development at RMIT. He was closely involved in the establishment of cooperative research centres in the chemical, manufacturing, aerospace and information technology industries.

He is a director of several companies born of those collaborations.

Now the graduate school is up and running, he hopes to involve Unitec in similar cooperative research and he will soon begin exploring these options.

His role in Melbourne, he says, was to bring together the resources and intellectual capital within the university to built strong partnerships with the outside community. This had been achieved and "obviously that's one of the things that we'll be anxious to prosecute here."

Professor Pugh says that to achieve this, the school will work closely with the centre for entrepreneurship which Unitec has established. The aim is to ensure that the school becomes an indispensable part of New Zealand's knowledge society.

Unitec has also appointed Professor Jacqueline Rowarth associate dean and director of research, to work with him.

Professor Pugh's appointment is part-time and he will spend about a third of his time at Unitec.

He was born in Wales and educated in Britain, and has had a distinguished career in industry and academia. He has held senior appointments in universities of technology in Britain, Canada and Australia, has served on the council of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in London, and is a former chairman of the Australian branch of that international body.

He maintains long-term research interests in continuing education and career development, working with multinational organisations as well as smaller companies.

The graduate school is a multi-disciplinary school for all postgraduate study and research at Unitec.