Industry encouraged to make use of synchrotron

The head of a new advisory committee for the Australian synchrotron has urged industry to make sure it could get maximum use of the new Australian synchrotron.

Dr Denis Wade, a former Johnson & Johnson executive, said that it was important not to oversell the synchrotron to industry -- it is still under construction in Melbourne -- but that there were people in the biotechnology and mining sectors who were ready to use it.

Wade was last week appointed to lead the National Industry Advisory Committee (NIAC) for the synchrotron. The committee, which includes members from various industry groups with links to the synchrotron project, was set up to give Australian industry direct input into the development of the facility.

Other members with a link to life sciences research and biotechnology are Griffith University Institute of Glycomics director Prof Mark von Itzstein and Bio21 Institute director Prof Dick Wettenhall, as well as Prof Clive Davenport from the CRC for Microtechnology.

Victorian treasurer and minister for innovation John Brumby said he was delighted that Wade, as a leading figure in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical sector, had agreed to chair the committee. "Providing technical and strategic input, NIAC members will be ambassadors for the Australian synchrotron, engaging business and informing industry of the benefits this powerful new facility will deliver," Brumby said.

He noted that industry needed to secure time on the initial suite of beamlines, before it was all taken up by research institutions and universities.

Wade said NIAC's main role was not to persuade industry to invest in the project, but to maximise opportunities for industry use of the $206 million facility, and to advance Australia's knowledge-based industries.

"We all see the synchrotron as a remarkable enabling technology... the potential applications are enormous," he said. "It's a major opportunity for Australia's scientific and industrial community."

Chief among the goals of the committee, Wade said, was to make sure that the initial suite of beamlines included some applications that would be suitable for industrial use.

NIAC will also be responsible for facilitating the interactions between industry and the synchrotron facility. Wade said the committee would be providing advice on various issues related to industrial use of the facility, including terms of access and allocation of access time, and intellectual property issues. "We would like to see a clean and transparent system for access," he said. "We also have to be able to cater for different needs -- occasional use versus regular use, for example."

Wade said the newly formed committee would now seek to engage with industry groups and governments to determine industry needs and raise awareness of the potential applications.