UNITED States Consul General Sharon Hudson-Dean hopes to foster greater collaboration between the superpower and the University of Newcastle (UON).
Ms Hudson-Dean's role spanning NSW and Queensland is to provide consular services, encourage trade and investment and support the relationship between the two countries.
Ms Hudson-Dean said she'd spoken recently with UON Vice Chancellor, Professor Alex Zelinsky, about UON's work.
She is spending Tuesday and Wednesday visiting UON, including the Advanced Technology Centre, I2N Hub at Williamtown, Newcastle Institute for Energy and Resources and the Hunter Medical Research Institute.
"I'm very interested to learn about these science and technology hubs and innovation centres that the university has set up," said Ms Hudson-Dean, who hails from the former steelworks city of Allentown, Pennsylvania.
"That's an area where the US is quite strong and where I know already there's collaboration taking place, but I would like to be able to contribute and expand that...there's a lot of potential there.
"We have so much in common, our two countries, in terms of our approach towards research and development and education, business practices, protection of intellectual property, willingness to expand the pool of knowledge."
She was also interested to learn more about UON's recycling of critical minerals and medical biotechnology.
She said many American companies wanted to do business in Australia and others already here wanted to expand.
She said Newcastle may be an ideal spot.
"What the university is doing here helps to support that, because you need the labourforce."
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