The Western Australian Government is developing a culture of innovation through programs actively encouraging and engaging innovative thinkers at all levels.
Kevin Inkster with his award winning invention, the Petrol Allsaw
Western Australia’s traditional strengths in mining and agriculture have provided a strong and sophisticated foundation for significant advances in research and development (R&D), sparking a wealth of activity in many new industries. Some of these industries include information and communications technologies (ICT), renewable energies and biotechnology.
Strong government support has and continues to create a nurturing environment for R&D. The Department of Commerce, through the Science, Innovation and Business Division, works to assist industry to commercialise innovative ideas and increase awareness of innovation and scientific endeavour in Western Australia.
The Division strives to make Western Australia a competitive environment for innovators, innovative companies and entrepreneurs alike by facilitating their access to capital, human resources, management expertise and R&D skills.
Western Australia’s Innovation Centre, located at Bentley Technology Park, works with the State’s creative minds to provide support and guidance on how to turn their ideas into reality.
The State’s innovative capacity is growing and its creative minds are helping to ensure it will continue to do so.
A week of innovation
Last year, the State Government coordinated ‘Brilliant West Week’, a week of events designed to develop and promote innovation and creativity in Western Australia.
Brilliant West Week brought together primary, secondary and tertiary students as well as researchers and business people with a keen interest in innovation. The week encouraged students to think about careers in science and provided a platform for the development of knowledge, skills and networks for researchers and businesses looking to take new ideas for products and services to the market.
Brilliant West Week’s main event was the Leading Lights Innovation and Investment Conference. The two-day conference built links between innovators and financiers to explore pathways to commercialisation and showcased innovations from the State’s emerging industries.
The Leading Lights conference brought local entrepreneurs, innovators, investors and business people together in one location to learn about and create business partnerships.
Creative minds recognised
Brilliant West Week also showcased the entries of fi nalists for the 2008 WA Inventor of the Year Award. The Award program targets products and services at the pre-commercialisation stage and is one of Australia’s richest innovation competitions, with a total prize pool of $418,200.
The Award recognises and rewards people who are creating products or services at one of the three stages of concept development: Early Stage, Development and Ready for Market.
The WA Inventor of the Year Award has uncovered hundreds of innovations with the potential to change the way we live.
Last year’s overall and Development category winner was the Petrol Allsaw, developed by Kevin Inkster from Arbortech Pty Ltd. The Petrol Allsaw is a revolutionary and safe power tool that can cut through some of the toughest brick and stone products as well as remove tree stumps.
The Allsaw is a hand-held, petrolpowered tool with two forward-facing, oscillating blades that create a hammering and cutting action. The tool can be adjusted to cut hard materials but will not easily cut softer materials, and therefore creates a safer working environment for those who use it.
Kevin Inkster, Chief Executive of Arbortech Pty Ltd, says he came up with the concept for the Petrol Allsaw in 1985 when he had an accident with a chainsaw.
“I wanted to make a machine that didn’t have the back exposed and was safe to use,” he recalls. “It has taken nearly ten years but it finally has happened.”
The competition awarded Mr Inkster more than $100,000 for developing the revolutionary technology. He hopes to use the prize money to expand the company’s presence in the US market by developing the Petrol Allsaw prototype through the tooling stage and onto the retail fl oors of the world’s largest commercial market.
“The Allsaw has been a very big project with a huge potential return for Australia and in particular Western Australia,” he says.
The two other winners of the 2008 WA Inventor of the Year include:
Tony Wright, one of the inventors of the Cold Pain Test Kit
Winner – Early Stage category Cold Pain Test Kit Tony Wright, Heather Benson and Penny Moss, School of Physiotherapy, Curtin University of Technology
Conditions such as arthritis or whiplash can induce unusually high levels of pain unresponsive to everyday painkillers. Th e Cold Pain Test Kit is a simple diagnostic test that enables General Practitioners (GPs) to quickly identify patients that are at risk of developing severe chronic pain through a simple and inexpensive method involving a single-use, adhesive patch containing a plant extract substance. Using an electronic scale and software, GPs can make an immediate decision on which pain medication should be prescribed to such patients.
The award winning HEA mesh can help to improve safety on mine sites
Winner – Ready for Market catergory HEA Mesh
Mr Yves Potvin, Australian Centre for Geomechanics, the University of Western Australia
The HEA Mesh is designed to absorb the energy of seismic events such as rock bursts and collapses during underground mining, and to significantly improve surface support technology over the existing rock. As mines go deeper to explore for resources, the stability of underground operations becomes increasingly problematic. Th e HEA Mesh system provides a number of advantages over existing underground stabilisation technologies, including improved energy absorption, flexibility and easy installation.
For more information or to be a part of Western Australia’s innovative future visit:
Website: www.innovation.wa.gov.au
Email: innovation@commerce.wa.gov.au
republished from Australian Innovation 2009 – the print publication
