Dr Marta Fernandez

Dr Fernandez is the Executive Director of RMIT Europe. Marta leads the European coordinating center of Australian university RMIT in Barcelona. The Centre was funded in 2013 and is focused on extending RMIT’s global reach across research, industry partnerships and student mobility. As the University’s European hub, Marta has a team of researchers and professional staff connecting RMIT in Australia and Asia with Europe.

Prior to joining RMIT, Marta was based in the UK where she held the position of Global Research Leader at Arup, the global design and engineering company. At Arup, Marta’s role involved developing and implementing Arup’s corporate research strategy and cultivating Arup’s Research Network. She was responsible for managing the Global fund that Arup invested in R&D and the company’s engagement with universities and funding agencies. Marta was also part of the group leading Corporate Venturing at Arup.

She has a strong interest in urban wellbeing and has been member of expert panels in nature based solutions in cities, energy efficiency and active ageing and the built environment. She represents RMIT on the European Construction Technology Platform and the European Universities Association.

Marta is a Chartered Chemical engineer and has a PhD in Carbon Sequestration. She has had executive business training at London Business School, Cambridge and Imperial College Business School on Innovation, R&D Management and Technology Commercialisation. Marta’s expertise is in global research portfolio management, research strategy, partnering, knowledge transfer, impact of R&D and research based business opportunity creation. Marta teaches R&D management in the University of Granada and holds honorary appointments at University College London in Management Sciences and Innovation and Imperial College Business School. She is member of IChemE, the Innovation and Emerging Technologies Panel at the IET and a Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts.