Leigh Staines

As an Environmental and Chemical Engineer, Leigh has held a range of operational, commercial, project and strategy roles across the international resources sector, including ExxonMobil, Santos and Rio Tinto. Having completed assignments across Australia, the USA, Canada, the UK, Singapore, Mongolia and PNG, Leigh applies a truly global perspective to her work.  Combined with her experience building and mentoring start up businesses, this background has positioned Leigh well for supporting our research teams in considering the commercial applications of their work and engaging with industry earlier to explore business models for successful implementation.

As Industry Professor for the Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer Program, Leigh leads our University Transformation pillar which includes running a series of Innovation Masterclasses, in conjunction with the UQ Business School, to upskill research and professional staff on commercial readiness.  She also acts as a translator between our researchers and industry to facilitate customer reviews of potential products and services with appropriate end users to obtain early and targeted feedback and input to commercialisation planning.  Leigh also works closely with the UniQuest team on projects that are ready for commercialisation and are being supported under the Trailblazer portfolio.  Her ambition for the Trailblazer Program is to test new pathways to commercialisation and share these learnings with the wider university to accelerate successful research translation into industry application.