Supporting industry innovation

The third annual Australian Innovation Challenge awards opened this week with $70,000 in prize money to encourage the nation’s best ideas.

The aim of the challenge is to drive the development of new inventions and moving them closer to commercialisation or adoption. Previous challenges have attracted high-calibre entries from scientists, engineers, technologists, educators, entrepreneurs, innovators in community services and creative geniuses inventing in their backyard sheds.

The awards are open to individuals and teams. There are seven professional categories, each carrying a prize of $5000. The overall winner of the professional categories will receive a further $25,000. An eighth category, Backyard Innovation, is open to the public and has a $10,000 prize.

The categories include:

• minerals and energy
• environment, agriculture and food
• education
• health
• information and communications technology
• manufacturing and hi-tech design
• community services
• backyard Innovation

Innovation policy expert and former CSIRO deputy chairman Dr Terry Cutler will head a panel of eminent Australian judges to decide on the winners.

The award is run by The Australian in association with Shell and supported by Innovation Australia.

“Innovation is a driver of Australian productivity, business growth and employment,” said Innovation Australia chair David Miles. “With a range of government programs available to support new ideas, new products and new ways of doing things, the possibilities are endless. Innovation Australia is proud to support the 2013 The Australian Innovation Challenge helping people with ideas and investors with commitment to move ideas and concepts from the drawing board to market.”

Professor Veena Sahajwalla, of the University of NSW, won the overall prize in the professional categories last year for ‘green’ steelmaking - a process that transforms old tyres into a raw material for use in electric arc furnace steelmaking. The method diverts waste from landfill while boosting the efficiency of mini-mills.

Victorian inventor Frank Will won the Backyard Innovation prize for OVER7, a system to cut fuel consumption in cars.

Entries are now open and close on 26 August 2013.

To enter, go to: The Australian Innovation Challenge.