Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Mike Calford said it was not feasible or economical to move the facilities at the Australian Maritime College into the city centre, so instead a new idea formed.

“Around the maritime college we will be making use of some of the building from the existing campus to encourage companies that have a maritime interest, [or interest in] marine or navy infrastructure, manufacturing, specialised testing et cetera to come onto our campus and form a tech park,” he said.

“There is a lot of Defence projects available for tendering at the moment and it will increase over the next few years, and the people who want to tender for those need the sort of equipment and people that we have to work side by side.”

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The rest of the site will be filled through an expressions of interest process.

“We will work with the state government and city council, and talks are already underway, for private companies to put up ideas and concepts that will be acceptable to all of us,” Professor Calford said.

There had been a great deal of interest already in the Newnham site but the university was not in a position to give any assurances,” he said.

UTAS plans to move all staff and students, other than those at the maritime college, to the city by 2022.