Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation and Vice-President

The primary goal of the role is to nurture and grow the research and innovation ecosystem to provide an environment that supports a highly productive research workforce and orchestrates well-articulated research translation pathways to better deliver impact outside the academic community. The Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation is responsible for the following areas:

1. Research Strategy and Services
2. School of Graduate Research
3. Research Partnerships and Translation
4. Research Capability, including the eight Enabling Impact Platforms (EIPs). (https://www.rmit.edu.au/research/our-research/enabling-impact-platforms)

5. Research Infrastructure

6. Gender Equity

7. Global Resilience

Areas of support include research partnerships and translation, grants and research contracts, funding opportunities, researcher capability development, research training, research ethics and integrity, intellectual property and commercialisation, gender equity in research, research infrastructure, research security.

Professor Drummond has a strong interest and passion for the commercialisation of research outcomes. He joined RMIT University in 2014 from CSIRO where he was Group Executive for Manufacturing, Materials and Minerals comprising 1300 researchers and research support staff and an annual budget of $250 million. Immediately prior to this CSIRO Group Executive appointment, he was Chief of CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering (CMSE), CSIRO’s largest division. Prior to becoming a Chief, Calum was seconded from CSIRO to be the inaugural Vice President Research at CAP-XX, an Intel portfolio company. CAP-XX develops supercapacitors for consumer electronic products. In 2006, CAP-XX listed on the London AIM.

Calum is an Adjunct Professor in Chemical Engineering at The University of Queensland. He has previously held an Adjunct Professorial Fellowship in Chemistry at The University of Melbourne and an Adjunct Professorship in Chemistry at The University of Sydney. He is a Fellow of the Vincent Fairfax Ethics in Leadership Program run by St James Ethics Centre and a Fellow of the Williamson Community Leadership Program run by Leadership Victoria.

Awards

The outstanding calibre of Calum's research has been recognised through the following awards:

AE Alexander Lectureship from the Australasian Colloid and Interface Society (2024)
Honorary Lifetime Alumni Membership of Cooperative Research Australia, issued by Cooperative Research Australia (2022)
Lifetime Achievement Award for Contribution to Industry–Research Collaboration, issued by Cooperative Research Australia (2022)
Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in recognition of his contributions to chemistry and materials science research, commercialisation initiatives, and mentoring, issued by Commonwealth of Australia (2019)
Australian Academy of Science (AAS) Ian Wark Medal for making outstanding contributions to Australia’s economic advancement through the application of science (2018)
Fullbright Senior Scholarship (2016)
The Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation (2015)
The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) H.G. Smith Memorial Medal (2015)
CSIRO Fellow designation (CSIRO’s highest award for exceptional scientists) (2013)
CSIRO Medal for Business Excellence (2011)
Distinguished Lecturer Award from The Colloid and Surface Chemistry Division of the Japanese Chemical Society (2011)
The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Physical Chemistry Division Medal (2006)
Frost and Sullivan (USA) Excellence in Communication and Information Technologies Award (2006; awarded to CAP-XX)
World Economic Forum Global Technology Pioneer (2005; awarded to CAP-XX)
The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Green Chemistry Challenge Award (2005)
The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Industrial Chemistry Division RK Murphy Medal (2004)
CSIRO Medal for Outstanding Research Achievement (2004)
Australian Research Council (ARC) Federation Fellowship (2003–2010)
The University of Melbourne David Syme Research Prize (2002)
The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Applied Research Award (2002)
Distinguished Paper Award of The Soap and Detergent Association (USA) and The American Oil Chemists Society (2001)
The University of Melbourne Grimwade Prize in Industrial Chemistry (1995)
ARC Queen Elizabeth II Fellowship (1990–1993)
The University of Melbourne Rothmans Foundation Fellowship (1990; declined)
The inaugural R.J.W. Le Févre Memorial Prize from the Australian Academy of Science (1989)
The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) Rennie Memorial Medal (1989)