Building successful products and services and the companies that make them takes a special brand of outstanding leadership. These are people who understand both the big picture in which they operate, and the minutia of detail across their organisation.
And they have the energy, drive and focus to get things done.
The Innovation Leadership Award at the InnovationAus Awards for Excellence seeks to reward these outstanding individuals. The winners for this award will be announced at a special black-tie gala dinner on October 30. You can reserve your tickets here.
These are the entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and ecosystem leaders who have made an impact, in their organisations, in the market, and in the community.
They are mentors to high-performing individuals and have demonstrated an ability to get individual and teams working together to build maximum commercial value or social impact – or both.
The finalist for the Innovation Leadership Award are:
- Lauren Barber, founder and CEO, NeedleCalm
- Professor Rowena Barrett, pro vice-chancellor (Entrepreneurship and Regional Innovation), Queensland University of Technology
- David Burt, director of entrepreneurship, UNSW Founders
- Payar Radfar, CEO & co-founder, Smart MCs
“Great products and services are only as successful as the teams that deliver them. They are also the result of great leadership that starts with an outstanding individual with the x-factor drive,” said InnovationAus.com publisher Corrie McLeod.
“It is a great pleasure to put a spotlight on these individuals. Thank you to the many admirers who nominated an incredible list of achievers – and thank you to our judges who narrowed the field down to our incredible finalists.”
Lauren Barber started her career as a clinical nurse who became an entrepreneur, founding MedTech firm NeedleCalm – a journey that led to the development of a Class One medical device that dulls pain during injections, helping the one-in-four Australians who dread needles.
NeedleCalm is also championing education in needle procedures, and prepping to launch two more products aimed at bettering patient experiences. Lauren is considered an outstanding leader with an deep-rooted commitment to building better patient outcomes.
Her ability to identify unmet needs in the health care industry and translate them into groundbreaking solutions has been remarkable. And hitting milestones as a female founder is put down to a relentless commitment to excellence.
As QUT pro vice-chancellor (Entrepreneurship and Regional Innovation), Professor Rowena Barrett has been a driver behind building the entrepreneurial culture at the institution through a series of successful programs.
Professor Barrett is known for her capacity and energy to think big and to develop expansive visions for the future. She has a deep empathy for regional Queensland, with a belief that all Queenslander no matter where they live should have the opportunities to grow and fulfill themselves.
She has managed many entrepreneurship programs within the university, including those related to a strategic partnership with MIT, as well as in collaboration with the Office of Queensland Chief Entrepreneur, which professor Barrett helped to establish and has supported ever since.
Since becoming the director of entrepreneurship at UNSW in 2020, David Burt has transformed the Founders Program into a beacon of innovation and entrepreneurship.
His leadership has significantly influenced the culture of innovation across the university, and helped UNSW earn recognition as Australia’s most entrepreneurial university of the last decade.
One of Mr Burt’s key achievements is the remarkable expansion of the Founder Fund. Under his guidance, in two years, the fund increased from $240,000 to $4 million in annual seed funding, enabling the program to support from 12 startups per year to 30 startups per year.
This growth has had a lasting impact on the UNSW Founders program, providing more entrepreneurs with access to resources and support to accelerate their ventures while fostering an entrepreneurial mindset across the campus.
Dr Payar Radfar is the CEO and co-founder at Smart MCs, a startup dedicated to creating microcarriers and smart biomaterials for large-scale cellular therapy and agriculture.
Under his leadership, Smart MCs has transformed from a conceptual stage to a fully-fledged brand with a global customer base. Leadership is perhaps Payar’s most defining quality.
Specialising in droplet microfluidic systems and biomaterials, Dr Radfar completed his PhD at the University of Technology Sydney, where he collaborated with the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
His visionary leadership has been instrumental in the company’s rapid growth and success, making significant strides in the bioprocessing and biomanufacturing industry.
The InnovationAus 2024 Awards for Excellence are supported by: Australian Computer Society, Investment NSW, Department of Industry, Science and Resources, Technology Council of Australia, TechnologyOne, National Artificial Intelligence Centre, CSIRO’s ON Innovation Program, Reason Group, Q-CTRL, University of New South Wales, and IP Australia.
Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.
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