The Director of Applied Research, Innovation & Economic Development
Welcome to UDST’s Applied Research, Innovation and Economic Development website. The pages detail our research projects (e.g. QNRF and SEED), staff development, publications and workshops/seminars. They include Innovation aspects such as the Business Gateway, patents and research center development. The University’s UNESCO-UNEVOC Center focuses on developing our international TVET profile and as a QAPCO Chair I deliver TVET initiatives. I believe engaging students in applied research is one way TVET education can raise its profile. Students have different abilities, subjects, skills, etc. Some of you will be early developers, while others develop will later in life, including as mature students. It is not about when you get there, as long as you do. Research, Innovation, Enterprise and Commercialization are part of a continuum and TVET education is an important part. UDST is participating in the capacity building of the Nation through QNRF applied research projects, SEED projects, etc. This means students experience applied research first hand and stakeholders will become aware of the important contributions UDST is making. Our research contributions are having increasing internal and external impact and I look forward to working with you to enhance your University experience.
Director of Applied Research, Innovation & Economic Development Bio
Professor Michael Phillips has a background in Civil Engineering, an MSc in Environmental Management and a PhD in Coastal Processes and Geomorphology. He has published >100 academic articles, successfully supervised >30 research degree students, and served as an Adjunct Professor in Canada, Iceland and Malaysia. Recent research in response to economic and business loss, including climate change impacts on coastal tourism, has focused on improving coastal resilience, illustrated in his TEDx talk entitled: ‘Living on the coast, climate change and acceptable risk’. He is also the Director and Trustee of the US Coastal Education and Research Foundation (CERF) Inc., where his role includes Regional Vice-President for the Middle East. In a previous position, he created interdisciplinary clusters to achieve applied research, business and commercialization goals, which included integrating TVET into new models of Work Based Learning and Enterprise Education.
Professor Phillips is UDST’s Director of Applied Research, Innovation and Economic Development, QAPCO Professional Chair in Vocational Studies and UNESCO-UNEVOC Center Coordinator. He has long been involved in technical and vocational education (TVET) and has always emphasized its importance for the economy and employability. He currently works with Faculty to engage as many students as possible in applied research, as he believes this is one of the ways TVET education can raise its profile. Consequently, he has increased the numbers of proposals the University has submitted under the Undergraduate Research Experience Program (UREP) and High School Research Experience Program (HSREP) calls. Part of QNRF’s capacity building research fund, students are actively engaged in submission and research processes, while under innovation, students can become involved in developing business proposals for pre-incubation in the University’s Business Gateway.