ACADEMIA

In-depth interviews with the winners can be found in The Weekend Australian – on sale December 10

The Australian, in association with Shell and with the support of the Federal Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research tonight announced the winners of the inaugural $70,000 The Australian Innovation Challenge at a gala awards night at the State Library of Queensland in Brisbane.

Attended by leaders in academe, government, industry and the science agencies, special guests included Federal Minister for Innovation Senator Kim Carr, Editor-in-Chief of The Australian, Chris Mitchell, and Country Chair of Shell Australia, Ann Pickard.

The Australian Innovation Challenge unearthed some of the nation’s best ideas – breakthroughs purely for the public good as well as innovations with commercial potential.

Chris Mitchell, Editor-in-Chief of The Australian said: “We at The Australian newspaper have been interested in innovation since our paper first launched on July 15, 1964. In fact, our very first edition of the paper included a page of computing news, something unheard of in Australian newspapers at that time, nearly 50 yrs ago.

“The Australian is a proud partner of the Innovation Challenge. We support any initiative that puts the spotlight onto the inspired and inspiring innovators who work for the greater good of others, often for little reward or recognition. We want to help ensure these ideas aren’t left on a shelf but are given the support they need to become a commercial reality.”

“There are terrific entries in all the categories, with real commercial possibilities for many of the innovations produced by the challenge this year. I look forward to our continuing involvement in the challenge next year.” 
Senator Carr said: “Firms that innovate are twice as likely to boost their productivity and 2.5 times more likely to increase their contribution to their community.

“The Australian Innovation Challenge showcased the kind of creative enterprise that is critical to our future as a dynamic, prosperous and outward looking nation.”

Country Chair of Shell Australia, Ann Pickard, said: “Shell is proud to have supported The Australian Innovation Challenge in its first year, and I congratulate all the winners on their outstanding innovations. Shell continually looks for new and innovative ways to meet the energy challenge. We are delighted that our support of the Innovation Challenge will enable Australia’s innovators to develop and commercialise new ways to meet the challenges that face us as a nation.”

Details of the winners below:

WINNER: Jeremy Woodhill (ACT) 
General Public Category: Backyard Innovation 
Invention: Smart GPO 
Smart GPOs (general power outlets, or powerpoints) are remote controlled switches imbedded into general power outlets. These smart switches enable the efficient switching on and off of GPOs in the home, office or factory to enable superior power savings on exit or close of the building, without turning off essential power supplies. Woodhill estimates a small house with smart GPOs would save around $5 a week in power on average, and says the potential savings for office buildings, schools and universities would be huge.

OVERALL PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY WINNER: Mark Kendall (QLD) 
Category: Manufacturing and High-tech Design 
Invention: Nanopatches for Improved Vaccines 
Shocking statistics on deaths from preventable, infectious diseases, such as influenza, in developing countries put biomedical engineer Mark Kendall on the path to the invention of a patch to replace needles and syringes in vaccination. The device could revolutionise immunisation globally but its greatest impact is expected to be in poor countries.

WINNER: Marcela Bilek (NSW) 
Professional Category: Health 
Invention: Biological Cloaking 
Marcela Bilek and colleagues at the University of Sydney have found a new way to coat the surfaces of biomedical implants such as hip and knee prostheses and cardiovascular stents with biologically active molecules to shield them from the body’s immune system. The technology promises to lessen the problem of the body’s rejection of biomedical implants.

WINNER: Gary Kong (QLD) 
Professional Category: Agriculture and Food 
Invention: Digital Diagnostics – The Remote Microscope Network 
With the ever present threat of exotic pests and diseases looming over Australian agriculture, scientists at the Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity and colleagues developed a system to rapidly detect them. In what is believed to be a world first, the “remote microscope network” allows users to upload images of diseased plants or suspected exotic pests for rapid identification via the internet by taxonomists around the world. Previously, samples had to be shipped to taxonomists, a process that delayed the emergency response for days or weeks.

WINNER: David Miljak (NSW) 
Professional Category: Minerals and Energy 
Invention: Advanced sensor system for large scale-ore sorting 
A mineral sensor invented by CSIRO physicist David Miljak and colleagues could boost copper production efficiency by more than 20 per cent. The sensor can distinguish high grade from low grade ore quickly as tonnes of rock containing the copper mineral chalcopyrite pass along a conveyor belt from the mine. 
It promises to cut processing costs greatly by enabling the rejection of batches of ore low in the mineral.

WINNER: Andrew Verden (NSW) 
Professional Category: ICT 
Invention: NICTA’s Indigo Solver 
For Andrew Verden and Philip Kilby, of National ICT Australia, winning the Innovation Challenge ICT category means offering Australian industry a competitive edge when managing the transportation of goods. Their Intelligent Fleet Logistics Indigo Solver is software that finds the most efficient routing and scheduling for companies with hundreds of variables to consider when delivering goods by road daily around Australia. The system considers truck sizes and capacity, load and unload times, optional cross-docking, vehicle reuse, allowed driving hours and fatigue management, time windows and dozens of other considerations when deciding the timing and routes of delivery.

WINNER: Joe Wolfe (NSW) 
Professional Category: Education 
Invention: The Physclips Platform: A new way to learn Physics 
University of NSW physicist Joe Wolfe was issued with a challenge. It was the International Year of Physics as well as the centenary of Einstein’s special theory of relativity and Wolfe was asked to explain the theory in 15 minutes or less. Wolfe’s EinsteinLight web-based tutorial was born. It became the precursor to Physclips. Physclips is a freely available new media technology platform for learning physics, or for teaching it, at the senior high school or introductory university level. Currently, it comprises completed volumes on mechanics, special relativity, sound and waves, and has various collections of resources for electricity, magnetism and thermal physics. He says the platform and its interactivity provide a learning experience that goes beyond chalk and talk.

WINNER: Rick Shine (NSW) 
Professional Category: Environment 
Invention: Toad vs Toad 
University of Sydney biologist Rick Shine and colleagues are exploiting the cane toad’s arsenal of chemical weapons in a bid to develop biological control agents against the pest which is wreaking havoc on wildlife. One strategy is based on toxic chemicals unleashed by cane toad tadpoles on eggs of their own kind. Shine’s group is also investigating the toad tadpoles’ attractant pheromone, which could be used to lure them into traps. Still another target is the tadpole’s own alarm pheromone. The work comes as the cane toad’s spread across the continent accelerates. Shine says they are causing populations of apex predators, such as snakes, crocodiles, lizards and quolls, to crash by more than 80 per cent.