How does a university become a key driver for starting, building and maintaining industry-academic partnerships for the benefit of the local economy?  Durham College’s Chris Gillis shares how he develops successful partnerships and overcomes many of the obstacles that keep other communities from moving ahead on this vital piece of the economic puzzle. In his current role, Chris is the college lead for applied research project development in the areas of electric, connected & autonomous vehicles, advance technologies and craft beer/beverage development. Chris’ career of 35 years plus started after graduating from Dalhousie University and The Technical University of Nova Scotia with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering. Chris worked in several manufacturing organizations with every increasing responsibility until leaving to start his own consulting company focusing on operational performance improvement, innovation and customer satisfaction. For over 35 years he has worked with both private and public sector organizations, covering a wide variety of industries and sectors in Canada, the United States, Mexico and the United Kingdom, developing and implementingcustom solutions.