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Technology that cleverly harnesses the forces of nature is the key to dramatically reducing humanity’s ecological footprint and offers huge commercial potential, according to industry leaders in aviation, water treatment and emissions recycling.

Brisbane business leaders will be treated to a fascinating insight into the three companies actively pursuing commercialisation of technology that makes better use of our natural resources at the Innovation Series lunch on July 19.

The lunch, presented by Zernike Australia, will launch Enable2010, a week-long Brisbane festival celebrating excellence in innovation.

Boeing Research and Technology General Manager, Australia, Dr Bill Lyons will outline Boeing’s role in commercial aviation's push for the world’s first approved aviation bio-fuel blend next year.

“Sustainable aviation fuel offers the largest single opportunity for reducing aviation greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.

“Three or four years ago, people said it was not possible.

“The global aviation industry is uniquely positioned to pioneer sustainable aviation bio-fuel with fewer than 20,000 aircraft and only a few hundred airport fuelling stations.”

Approval of a 50% bio-fuel blend potentially offered a significant reduction in aviation carbon dioxide emissions, taking into account the total lifecycle of bio-fuel compared with petroleum.

Dr Lyons said the fuel would not require any aircraft modifications or changes to airport fuel handling procedures.

“We’re moving closer to fuel approval now and the main challenges are around scale-up and viability,” he said.

“We’re focused on triple-bottom-line sustainability which means we won’t source it from a food crop or jeopardise drinking water supplies, we don’t want to cause mass deforestation and we’re aiming to ensure the production improves socio-economic conditions for small-scale farmers.”

Dr Lyons said sustainable bio-fuels would be derived from a variety of plant sources.

“Algae is a compelling plant source as it is simple, photosynthetic organism, requiring a relatively small amount of land and can be harvested in brackish water where other crops don’t flourish,” he said.

Algae is also the key to dramatically reducing CO2 emissions from existing coal and gas-fired power stations according to MBD Energy Limited Managing Director Andrew Lawson.

MBD Energy Limited has successfully partnered with one of the world’s leading algal research teams, based at James Cook University to develop a test facility capable of producing 14,000 litres of oil and 25,000kg of algal meal for every 100 tonnes of CO2 consumed.

“This project has the potential to sequester 50% of power station CO2 emissions and to produce large volumes of sustainable oil and meal which is blended with carbohydrates to produce cattle feed,” he said.

Mr Lawson said the company planned to roll out a 1ha display project at three of Australia’s largest coal-fired power stations: Brisbane’s Tarong power station, Loy Yang Power in Victoria and Eraring Energy in NSW, from February next year.

“The project will then be scaled up in 2012 to 80ha, abating 70,000 tonnes of CO2 producing 11.8 million litres algae oil and 25,000 tonnes of stock feed, resulting in an estimated $15-20 million of revenue per annum.”

Mr Lawson said the cattle feed was highly nutritious, leading to greater weight gain and milk production while reducing methane gases by between 20% and 40%. The oil output was used to produce diesel.

Biolytix Group CEO David Cattell will outline how his company is using technology that mimics the way nature treats water to create a more efficient and sustainable solution to water scarcity.

“Contrary to what we have been doing for centuries – copying what happens in the rivers – our scientists looked at where water is really treated – in the river bed, through layers of peaty soil, worms and at a microbial level,” he said.

“We have taken that process and replicated it to create a product that enables us to treat waste onsite using less than 10 percent of the electricity of conventional systems - effectively an entire ecosystem in a tank.”

Mr Cattell said the company was currently targeting households off the sewerage grid and treating ‘black water’ for use in irrigation thus reducing the load on potable water reserves.

He said the clean technology could be up-scaled and used in the conventional water grids but the challenge was to shift the thinking of government and the public to integrate it into the existing commercial business model.

“Regulations need to be modified and government needs to recognise the need for change to allow third parties to come in,” Mr Cattell said.

Innovation Series Executive Leader from Zernike Australia, Gill Laird-Portch, said the speakers were inspirational and vividly illustrated that reducing our ecology footprint could go hand-in-hand with commercial success.

“The organisers and sponsors are proud to have attracted these world-leading companies who will share their knowledge and insights into forging exciting new ways of solving some of our biggest challenges,” she said.

EVENT DETAILS:
Eco-innovations: sustaining industry and the environment
Date: Monday 19 July 2010
Venue: The Hilton Brisbane
Time: 12.00 - 2.00pm (registration and networking drinks from 11.30am)
Cost: $115.00 (single)/$1150.00 (table of 10)
Website: www.innovationseries.com.au
To attend: call 1300 368 379 or email: info@innovationseries.com.au

ENDS

Media inquiries: Danielle Koopman on 0424 151 684 / dkoopman@iinet.net.au

Australia’s manufacturing future lay in developing niche products in the health, defence, mining and energy sectors according to Australia’s leading materials science experts speaking at the Innovation Series lunch in Sydney on 23 June.

Business leaders will be treated to a fascinating insight into the world trends driving innovation and future business opportunities for Australia at the ‘Material Science Technologies – Improving Business Performance’ Innovation Series lunch, presented by Zernike Australia.

Chief of CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering Dr Calum Drummond, who has a strong interest in the commercialisation of research, will outline the key global megatrends.

He said finite resources and space and a rapidly increasing global population was fuelling the ‘more from less’ imperative, and product lifecycles had expanded from ‘cradle to grave’ to include the need for recycling and waste minimisation.

“We are trying to extract as much value as possible from inputs and then re-use them; it’s all about sustainability and the need to accommodate an increasingly urbanised world,” he said.

“Another important trend is the consumer demand for ‘personalisation’. This century we have seen a strong move from mass production to mass customisation – ‘it's all about me, I want an ipod with my own personal applications’ – and that's driving a lot of things in materials development and manufacturing.”

Dr Drummond said Australia was in the box seat to develop and export mining technology and similarly, by solving some of our national challenges such as limited water and energy resources, we could benefit economically by exporting the resulting technology.

Australia’s competitive advantage lay in developing niche, innovative ‘value-add’ products, particularly in preventative health, mining, defence and the ‘green economy’.

“Australia needs more companies like Cochlear Bionic Ear and sleep apnoea machine ResMed which has cornered a large chunk of world’s sleep apnoea market,” he said.

“One of the big opportunities is in developing technology to accommodate a less centralised health system where GPs will be doing more in their local practices and will need more technologically-advanced devices and diagnostics in their surgeries.”

International Director of Polymarketing Pty Ltd Michael Turner will outline practical strategies to improve business performance and innovation.

He said defence and indigenous communities presented surprising opportunities for Australian business.

“In the US, the federal government has decreed that three percent of all its contracts must go to a veteran-owned business,” he said.

“This presents huge opportunities for Australian businesses to work through US veteran-owned companies. By identifying businesses with whom you can work you can get into the US Government supply chains.”

Mr Turner - who has a military background - has since 2008 led the Australian Enterprise Group, focused on the reconstruction of disrupted states following civil and military disasters with operations in East Timor, Banda Aceh Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Fiji.

He said in Australia, remote indigenous communities were becoming increasingly self-determining and this presented great opportunity for businesses to provide expertise, training and services and to work in partnership with the communities.

Head of the Institute of Materials Engineering at ANSTO (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) Professor Lyndon Edwards will outline how material science has transformed work, health and leisure and the challenges and opportunities for the next generation of materials scientists.
ANSTO is Australia’s national nuclear research and development organisation.

Professor Edwards said most modern materials were designed in detail at the atomic level and, while Australia had done well to date, to remain competitive it was critical we continued to invest in top quality research facilities.

“We need to follow our investment with the next generation of instruments and focus our energies on the type of research that leads to practical outcomes,” he said.

“This is a challenge for a country the size of Australia; it’s almost as important for us to decide what we are not doing as what we are doing.

“We need a platform sufficiently diverse and robust to provide options and ensure we aren’t locked out of anything, but we also need areas of specialty.”

Professor Edwards said knowledge organisations - such as cooperative research centres ANSTO and the CSIRO – closed the gap between the research carried out by tertiary institutions and the innovation needed to convert it into commercial outcomes. Australian business would benefit from stronger ties with them.

Innovation Series Executive Leader from Zernike Australia, Gill Laird-Portch, said the speakers illuminated the need for Australia to venture boldly into non-traditional areas and to better utilise our intellectual capital.

“The organisers and sponsors are proud to have attracted some of Australia’s leading materials science technology experts to share their knowledge and insights,” she said.

“Anyone interested in the future of business and manufacturing should mark this event in their
calendars,” Ms Laird-Portch said. 

EVENT DETAILS:
Material Science Technologies – Improving Business Performance
Date: Wednesday 23 June 2010
Venue: The Westin Sydney
Time: 12.30 - 2.30pm (registration and networking drinks from 12.00 noon)
Cost: $160.00 (single)/$1500.00 (table of 10)
To attend: call 1300 368 379 or email: info@innovationseries.com.au

ENDS
Media inquiries: Danielle Koopman on 0424 151 684 / dkoopman@iinet.net.au

Queensland business leaders will be treated to a sneak peak into the increasingly green future of commercial development at Brisbane’s first Innovation Series lunch for 2010 on 14 April.

‘Sustainable Development and Innovation – Our World Our Future’, presented by Zernike Australia, will feature three industry leaders.

Lend Lease Asia Pacific Head of Sustainability Cate Collins will talk about moving beyond delivering green buildings to integrated green precincts that make environmental, social and economic sense.

Ms Collins is responsible for driving sustainability across the Lend Lease Asia Pacific businesses and was named the 2009 Australian Financial Review - BOSS Magazine Young Executive of the Year.

She says sustainable property development, management and investment have never been more critical or made more business sense.

Using some of Lend Lease's major projects, Ms Collins will explore innovative design and technology and the importance of partnerships and stakeholder and community engagement.

Presenting alongside are Schiavello Corporate Sustainability Principal Mark Thomson and Arup Principal Dr Richard Sharp who will discuss how organisations can address environmental and business concerns.

Dr Sharp leads the management consulting business of Arup Australasia and has a wide experience in infrastructure design and construction, including roads, rail, water, energy, commercial building, industrial, educational and residential development.

Mr Thomson is an ecological architect and Adjunct Professor of the QUT School of Design. He was recently appointed Corporate Sustainability Principal of the Schiavello Group of Companies, a recognised world leader in the design and manufacture of whole of workplace systems and solutions.

Mr Thomson co-authored the book The Environmental Brief – Pathways to Green Design, published in London in 2007 and has designed a number of award-winning buildings.

He will outline practical solutions for organisations to address environmental and business concerns.

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

“Anyone with an interest in the future of commercial development should mark this event in their calendars,” Ms Laird-Portch said.

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.”

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, 4th 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 sector.

One of the recent challenges facing Australia today has been the economic downturn and many organisations are downsizing or consolidating their operations. The last thing on everybody’s mind is Innovation. However, as we have learnt in the past, Innovation is always the last competitive advantage available to companies in turbulent times. Organisations need to keep Innovation on the agenda and front of mind. Participants will hear keynote presentations from Dr John Stocker, Chairman, CSIRO and Mr David Theriault, Business Development Leader, ASEAN, Dow Chemical. Dr John Stocker will be presenting on National Challenges and the role of CSIRO. Dr Stocker has a distinguished career in pharmaceutical research and extensive experience in management of research and development and in commercialisation.   

David Thierault will showcase a world first industry consortium manufacturing complex that is based around an Australian Integrated Biorefinery Model. His topic will be “Green Carbon Manufacturing to Future-proof Australia”. Mr Therault’s role at Dow is responsible for identifying and analysing new business opportunities/partnerships in the areas of Industrial and Agricultural Bioscience. Based in Sydney, David covers the Asia Pacific region, with a focus on emerging technologies in bioenergy, biomaterials and crop germplasm and traits.  Innovation Series Executive Leader Gill Laird-Portch said the luncheon provides a unique opportunity to hear from multi-disciplinary experts about the future direction and innovation in Australian mining technologies.More than 200 people are expected to attend the event at the Brisbane Exhibition and Convention Centre, M4, Mezannine Level, from 11.30am until 2pm on April 7th. Now in its sixth year, the Innovation Series (Qld) has significantly contributed to advancing knowledge innovation across all sectors of Queensland’s business. The series showcases innovative industry leaders and fosters a broad understanding of innovation and entrepreneurship in the Queensland research and business community.

The Innovation Series 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.