Those of us who call Brisbane home know what a great place it is to live and work. But there is no denying we are currently facing several challenges.

Demand for housing is growing fast, building new houses takes time, and affordability is an issue.

Similarly, large scale infrastructure delivery is needed for our rapidly expanding population.

And with traffic congestion increasing, more convenient public transport systems are needed to alleviate pressure on our roads.

This story is part of The Courier-Mail's annual Future Brisbane series that advocates for a better city and region. Read all the stories in the series here.

Future Brisbane is a Courier-Mail advocacy series support by TechnologyOne, Brisbane Airport, The University of Queensland, Brisbane City Council, NBN, ANZ, Walker Corporation, RACQ, Carnival, Port of Brisbane, Suntory and Transurban.

On top of this, we have the added time pressure of hosting the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games in a little under seven years' time.

Fortunately, though, we have the seeds of solutions to many of these problems within our grasp.

At The University of Queensland (UQ), we have experts in areas such as transport, resources and minerals - to name just a few - who can help address the big issues our region is facing.

For example, UQ researchers are working with the timber industry to identify where and how efficiencies can be made across the forest to building supply chain to unlock supply for extra homes.

In another example, a transport modelling expert at UQ is using digital models to predict where the South East's congestion pain points will be, before they exist.

In other words, we have the expertise and the innovation in spades - what we really need is a more dynamic relationship between research institutions, government and industry, to help commercialise and scale this research in ways that will benefit our region.

And we know that we can do it because we have done it before in other areas, notably in the biomedical space.

Here in South East Queensland, we have a well-developed biomedical innovation ecosystem that is continually helping to attract new talent, new infrastructure, and new partners.

Out of this ecosystem, we recently saw the largest ever deal involving a company that is commercialising intellectual property from an Australian university.

In July, global healthcare company Sanofi acquired ViceBio, a company utilising UQ's Molecular Clamp technology to help fast-track new generation vaccines.

This deal is significant because in many ways it is the product of an expansion in expertise and infrastructure across South East Queensland over the last couple of decades.

And, importantly, that expansion is set to continue, with the recently completed ENTRI building within the Boggo Road Innovation Precinct.

This building will be Australia's first biomedical manufacturing facility and will enable local innovators to take a new vaccine or treatment from proof-of-concept to clinical trials and manufacturing - all within Brisbane.

To my mind, this is the success of the tripartite relationship in action, and a blueprint for the way we should continue to build the innovation economy here in Queensland.

Particularly in the lead up to the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and as our population hurtles towards a predicted five million by 2046, we have an opportunity to turn Brisbane into an even better place to live and work.

But to achieve that, we are going to need to address our growing pains using innovative solutions and accelerate infrastructure development and construction.

And so, I speak for UQ when I say that we are ready and willing to partner with government and industry to deliver the workforce capabilities, skills and talent to help get the job done.

Professor Deborah Terry AC is Vice-Chancellor and President at The University of Queensland