Alumnus profile: Jim Fox

Alumni — By Greta Harrison on November 21, 2011 12:12 pm

Jim Fox approached university like many school leavers, with little idea of the career he wanted to pursue.

“I knew I wanted to do something in the science space. I looked at what was available and crossed out the stuff I didn’t want to do and there was Engineering,” he said.

Dr Fox went on to become one of the Melbourne School of Engineering’s finest graduates, a research and innovation leader, and the winner of the 2011 Kernot Memorial Medal.

Established in memory of Professor William Charles Kernot, the first professor of Engineering at the University of Melbourne, the Kernot Memorial Medal has been awarded to many prominent engineers since its establishment in 1925. Previous recipients include Sir John Monash and Sir John Holland.

Dr Fox was presented with the Medal at The Melbourne School of Engineering’s 150th Anniversary Gala Dinner on 28 October 2011.

“It’s a huge buzz to be receiving the award,’’ Dr Fox said. “It’s an important recognition by my engineering peer group and I am humbled by the names on the past winners list.”

Dr Fox completed his Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical) at the University of Melbourne in 1972, and continued on to pursue a research degree and a post-doctoral research project in the Department of Mechanical Engineering before taking on a position with international consulting firm PA Technology.

In 1987 he raised some venture capital and led a management buy¬out of PA Technology to establish the product development company Invetech, with offices in Melbourne and Cambridge, UK.

Dr Fox said that when he formed the company, the economic and political conditions were in his favour. Then Minister for Industry and Commerce, John Button, saw that Australia was lagging behind in the research and development sphere and opened up opportunities for companies like Invetech to start up and grow.

And grow, it did. Invetech boosted its staff numbers, merged with Vision Systems Ltd (VSL) and moved into the health care space, becoming an important developer of cancer diagnostics equipment for major international markets.

From an initial start up injection of $5m in venture capital funds, close to $1 billion had eventually gone back to shareholders when VSL was sold in 2006.

“A highlight of my career was being part of a team that proved that you could create and operate a business like this from Melbourne and still participate in a competitive world market. Seeing your products out there in the world, in the labs of the USA and Asia is quite a buzz.”

Dr Fox said he made a lot of friends during his time at the Melbourne School of Engineering, saying the best part of academic life at Melbourne was the people he came to know and work with at the MSE.

“Peter Joubert and Malcolm Good are quality people and not only did Peter teach you the fundamentals, he also taught you a great deal about getting on with task whatever the barriers. When I left to go out into industry I drew on a lot of that knowledge.”
“It’s invaluable to maintain these ties. Most people inevitably do their four years and bolt. Because I stayed on for another six years for my masters and PhD, I had the chance to make a lot of good friends in the department.”

Dr Fox’s breadth of industry experience has been recognised via appointments to a range of high-level boards, roles that currently take up much of his working week. He is Chairman of the Board of Biota Holdings and a director of Air New Zealand, TTP Group (UK), and GenMark Diagnostics Inc. (USA). He is also a director of MS Research Australia.

Dr Fox said he is enjoying the variety of work he is involved with at present, which has also offered him greater flexibility to pursue some of his other passions such as golf, tennis, scuba diving, travel and jet piloting.
“Now if I want to call a staff meeting I just need to look in the mirror,” he said.

The Melbourne School of Engineering congratulates Dr Fox on his extensive list of career achievements, the contribution he has made to research and development in Australia, and his well-deserved Kernot Memorial Medal.

Tags: Alumni