• Home
  • About Innovation Series
  • Innovation Series Executives
  • IVS Partners
  • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Innovation Series Newsletter
• Innovation Series (Qld)
  • Speakers Profile
  • Sponsors
  • Future Events
  • Past Events
• Innovation Series Sydney
  • Speakers Profile
  • Sponsors
  • Future Events
  • Past Events
• Event Registration
  • Register Qld Events
  • Register Sydney Events
  • Download Registration Form
  • Sign up for Event Updates
• Media & News
  • Press Releases
  • Testimonials
  • IVS Blog
• Contact Us
  • Contact Update

Two of Australia’s most successful medical innovators and entrepreneurs are presenting at the first Innovation Series lunch for 2010 in Sydney on 17 February.

Both Dr Peter Farrell and Mel Bridges are at the helm of world-leading companies, have been named Australian Entrepreneur of the Year in the last decade, and will be sharing their combined 60 years of experience in the life sciences sector with the audience.

The Australian market has proven particularly resilient to global economic woes, with life sciences stocks regaining any ground lost during the GFC and many healthier than they were pre-crisis in contrast to other sectors. A disproportionate number of Australian companies are recognised as the worldwide leaders in their fields and neither the US nor Europe has recovered so successfully.

Peter Farrell, PhD, DSc, AM, is the founder and Executive Chairman of US$3.7bn medical device company Resmed (NYSE / ASX: RMD), which operates in 70 countries with 2000 employees. In addition to starting and growing his own hugely successful company, Dr Farrell serves as Chair and Director for a number of Boards including those at Harvard Medical School and the University of California.

He was Foundation Director of the Graduate School for Biomedical Engineering at the University of NSW, where he remains a Visiting Professor and Chairs the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Mel Bridges is a serial entrepreneur; having founded five successful technology companies, raising more than $300m in investment capital and helping many other businesses negotiate commercial deals.

His track record exceeds $1bn in transactions with a 100 per cent success rate in completing IPO exits for investors. Mr Bridges is currently the Chairman of ASX listed companies Alchemia, ImpediMed and Incitive, as well as Director of Benitic and Genera Biosystems.

His presentation at the Innovation Series lunch will focus on ImpediMed’s journey in helping cancer patients as a way of illustrating how Australian technology has changed global healthcare management.

Gill Laird-Portch, Innovation Series Executive Leader from Zernike Australia, which started the Innovation Series, said the organisers and sponsors were proud to have attracted two outstanding speakers for the first event of 2010.

“The companies started by these two Australians have been globally successful and show how this country often leads the world when it comes to medical innovations,” Ms Laird-Portch said. “Anyone with an interest in the commercialisation of groundbreaking research and development will benefit greatly from this Innovation Series lunch.”

EVENT DETAILS: Australian Medical Innovations – Achieving Global Success
Date: Wednesday 17 February 2010
Venue: The Westin Sydney

The ICT Industry is witnessing a radical shift in innovation paradigms moving from closed business models to more open and globally-linked models. To remain competitive ICT firms must embrace an open innovation mindset and engage with the research sector to establish new collaborations.

The final Innovation Series Sydney Luncheon for the year with the theme The Latest ICT Innovation Paradigms will showcase new approaches to conducting business in the Information Technology sectors. It will also provide opportunities for industry leaders, managers, academics, and government officials to exchange ideas on novel and innovative practices.

Dr David Skellern, CEO, NICTA (Australia's ICT Research Centre of Excellence) is one of Australia’s most successful ICT entrepreneurs, with a strong background in research, education, collaboration, and commercialisation. Dr Skellern will focus on the critical role industry plays in sharpening the focus of innovation. David will discuss the vital role for industry engaging ‘early and often’ with research to ensure Australia achieves its global competitive advantage.

Glenn Wightwick, Chief Technologist, IBM Australia will present on the role innovation has played in transforming IBM, and how over the past decade, IBM has embarked on a number of fronts to adopt a more open innovation framework, including: IBM’s contribution to the open source community, the way in which it conducts R&D, and IBM’s Global Innovation Outlook.

The Innovation Series Sydney Luncheon provides the opportunity to showcase organisations and individuals at the forefront of new Australian technologies and innovations. It also offers participants networking opportunities with high profile individuals and organisations from the research and business sectors.

The Innovation Series Sydney is a highly successful and specialised business forum, which features leading innovation, research, collaboration between industry and research and the promotion of successful industry achievements.

Scientific advances and new technologies have changed the landscape of medical innovation. Each day brings us knowledge about disease processes, new compounds and more efficient technologies.

We hear about medical breakthroughs in the media, but no one talks about the thousands of talented, dedicated, hardworking people behind a new medicine or device. The Innovation Series Sydney luncheon on Thursday the 4th June, 2009 will showcase two leading medical technologies presented by speakers who represent excellence in their field.
Associate Professor Jim Patrick, Chief Scientist and Senior Vice President of Cochlear Limited - global leader in the research and development, manufacture and marketing of implantable hearing solutions will showcase the global success of Australia’s own Cochlear Limited, his involvement in cochlear implant research, and how advances in biology and electro-neutral interfaces can be applied to improve future implant designs.

Professor Melissa H Little, NHMRC Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland will present on the considerable excitement surrounding the prospect that stem cells ultimately will be able to repair or regenerate diseased or damaged organs and that the clinical application of such technologies will be the next great advance in medicine. “While this is still some way away, there have been a number of critical breakthroughs in our ability to select or change a cell type. These are likely to herald progress not only in the development of regenerative approaches but also potentially revolutionalise the pharmaceutical / biotechnology industry”

The event will broaden awareness of the leading edge medical technology and research occurring in Australia that has far-reaching national and international benefits on the future of medicine as we know it.

The Innovation Series Sydney is a highly successful and specialised business forum, which features leading innovation, research, collaboration between industry and research and the promotion of successful industry achievements.

One of the recent challenges facing Australia today has been the downturn in the resources sector.   The Innovation Series Sydney Luncheon on Wednesday, 4^th March, 2009 will address this topic with a focus on the technological solutions required to overcome economic challenges facing the mining industry.

Participants will hear keynote presentations from two experts in the resources sector.  Professor Michael Hood, Chief Executive Officer, CRC Mining, who has over 25 years experience in the fields of mining and engineering, and Mr Gary Zamel, Managing Director, Mine Site Technologies, the co-founder of several internationally recognised companies involved in research, development and the commercialisation of new technologies for the global mining industry.

Their presentations will address the current economic climate and the impact on the mining and resource sector.  A global update of new innovative solutions currently being developed and how businesses can overcome the challenges to ensure future economic growth will also be discussed.

Innovation Series Executive Leader Gill Laird-Portch said the luncheon provides an unique opportunity to hear from multi-disciplinary experts about the future direction and innovation in Australian mining technologies.

The Innovation Series Sydney is based upon the model which has been operating successfully in Brisbane for five years.  The model is a highly successful and specialised business forum of luncheon events, which features leading innovation, research, collaboration between industry and research, and the promotion of successful industry achievements.

Innovation Series Sydney events focus on addressing issues at the cutting edge of Australian businesses, and seek to bring together business leaders and key players from both the research and industry sectors. 

The Importance of Innovation for Economic Growth

7^th April, 2009