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Transforming a significant research finding or technological
development into commercial opportunity has long been
one of the biggest hurdles facing Australian scientists,
with many forced to head offshore to find a market.
The recent inaugural Commercialisation Forum & Fair
of Ideas (CFFI) in Sydney provided the opportunity for
some 44 research institutes from universities and government
bodies around the country to showcase the cream of Australian
research.
"We desperately need to commercialise the outcomes
of our research and our conference and exhibiton provided
venture capitalists and others in the private sector
with a 'one stop shop' for cutting edge technology,"
said Paul Field, Associate Director of Bio Business
at the Australian Technology Park. The conference and
trade fair was mounted by Knowledge Commercialisation
Australasia and managed by ICMS Australasia.
One of the stars of the show was a piece of Australian
technology that could save the world car industry -
and other industries - billions, as well as many human
lives.
WeldPrint, developed by WTi and the University of Sydney,
uses mathematics and chaos theory to analyse the quality
of arc and spot welds in motor vehicles and other metal
products - and picks out flaws in the blink of an eye.
"WeldPrint is unique in its ability to identify and
categorise welding faults non-invasively, in real time,
so you know how good each and every weld is," said WTi
Business Manager Trevor Gore
.WeldPrint was named the winner of the inaugural $100,000
Peter Doherty Prize for Innovation at the Commercialisation
Forum and Fair of Ideas.
The choice of winner was based on the potential of
the technology, the realism of the business opportunity,
understanding of the market, commercial expertise in
the team and investment plans.
Trevor Gore said the exhibition and conference had
proved most informative and the exposure had resulted
in much interest from venture capitalists and prospective
investors.
"There were a lot of benefits to our participation
and we'll be using our contacts from the fair and the
proceeds from the prize to commercialise overseas.
ANSTO used the Fair to launch the ANSTO
Business Lab (ABL) as a total 'cradle to grave' environment
for the evaluation, management and commercialisation
of the organisation's intellectual property and technologies.
"The fair provided a new opportunity to demonstrate
the depth of national public sector R&D across the whole
of Australia to venture capitalists and investors, who
by nature tend to focus on a traditional 'one-hour plane
ride' portfolio of investment opportunities," said Rob
Muir, Director if the ABL.
"For us at ANSTO, the event offered access to a strategically-targeted
audience with its mix of venture capitalists and other
'influencers' in the investment value-chain, including
representatives of the Licensing Executives Society,
the Australian Venture Capital Association, the Australian
Institute of Company Directors and the Australian Institute
for Commercialisation.
" He said the event would become of even greater value
to Australia as a whole when it widened to include corporate
research and development.
Already in the ABL pipeline are global business opportunities
in advanced materials, mining solutions, life sciences,
nano-engineering and nuclear science. Applications range
from industrial and medical applications, to new radioisotopes
and their combination with innovative carrier molecules
to create new therapeutics and diagnostics for nuclear
medicine; and from the flavouring of yoghurt to increasing
the rate of gold recovery in processing of gold ores.
"Delegates and exhibitors are demanding the the events
they attend have measurable outcomes. The strong commercial
orientation of the business program and trade fair guaranteed
significant numbers of quality visitors and delegates,"
said Bryan Holliday of ICMS Australasia, organisers of CFFI.
For more information, contact Bryan Holliday at ICMS Australasia at (02) 9241 1478.
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