Keynote presenters Dr Peter Farrell & Mel Bridges are at the helm of world leading companies and shared their combined 60 years experience in the life sciences sector, presenting on medical technologies that are impacting the global healthcare environment.

Dr Farrell is the founder and Executive Chairman of US $3.7bn medical device company ResMed, which operates in 70 countries with 2000 employees.

Mel Bridges is a serial entrepreneur having founded five successful technology companies, raising more than $300m in investment capital. Mel is currently the Chairman of ASX listed company ImpediMed, and focused on ImpediMed’s journey in helping cancer patients as a way of illustrating how Australian technology has changed global healthcare management.

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Dr David Skellern, CEO NICTA presented on the critical role industry plays in sharpening the focus of innovation, and will discuss the vital role for industry engaging ‘early and often’ with research to ensure Australia achieves its global competitive advantage.

Alongside David we also welcomed Glenn Wightwick, Director of the IBM Australia Development Laboratory, Chief Technologist for IBM Australia and an IBM Distinguished Engineer. Glenn presented on the role that innovation has played in transforming IBM.

IBM has a strong history of invention and technical innovation, but over the last 10 years has embarked on a number of fronts to adopt a far more open innovation framework. This is evident in many ways, including IBM's contribution to the open source community, to the way it conducts R&D, as well as to programs such as the IBM Global Innovation Outlook.

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The Innovation Series welcomed two highly respected leaders from the medical research sector. Drawing upon her experience at the Australian Stem Cell Research Centre, and the Institute of Molecular Bioscience, Prof. Melissa Little discussed ‘New discoveries in Tissue Regeneration’ and how Stem Cell therapy will be the next great advance in medicine. 

With the global success of Australia’s own Cochlear Limited, Assoc Prof. Jim Patrick discussed his involvement in cochlear implant research, and how advances in biology and electro- neural interfaces can be applied to improve future implant designs.