University of Melbourne Magazine

An urban innovation district is set to drive investment in Melbourne’s knowledge economy.

Everyone talks about it, but what does innovation really mean? And how do you create a culture in which innovators ­flourish?

Shaun Holthouse loves sport, though he has more aptitude for maths and science than any natural talent on the field.

Cancer researchers are usually in the business of shrinking tumours. Dr Elizabeth Vincan wants to grow them.

Imagine a museum where you can trace your heartbeat, test your blood or learn to pick locks.

Picture a top interior designer on holidays sitting by a forest stream. Suddenly she spies a moss-covered rock with exactly the shade of green she’s been looking for.

It’s a big jump from the tiny bronzed booties parents once kept as a memento of their new-born child to a three-dimensional model of their baby’s face in the womb, transformed from ultrasound images into an amazing 3D-printed relief sculpture.

A group of University of Melbourne researchers has conquered the seemingly impossible task of generating and storing pure oxygen without electrical power.

When three of the world’s biggest high-tech companies expressed alarm that university graduates lacked the 21st century skills needed in the digital age, it triggered a revolution now affecting higher education and schools across the globe.

The University boasts many famous and enduring examples of innovation.