Circular Economy and Sustainability arrive at SomethingQ


David McClure
Contributor

Robotics, materials science, advanced manufacturing and the circular economy are the core focus at The Industry Papers’ special afternoon forum in Brisbane on August 26, putting a sustainability lens on innovation and commercialisation.

The Brisbane leg of The Industry Papers series of forums is hosted with the Queensland Government as part of the SomethingQ component of the state’s innovation SomethingFest.

Delivering sustainable products and services that deliver commercial success or social impact takes a community of smart, energetic individuals pulling in the same direction.

This event pulls together a special group of entrepreneurs, deep tech researchers and policy-thinkers to talk about the characteristics of successful innovation communities – and the government policies that encourage these communities to develop.

You can reserve your seat at the InnovationAus and SomethingQ Circular Economy and Sustainability here. There is no cost to attend, but tickets are very limited as a result and so registration is essential. You can find out more about Something Fest here.

The forum include a focus on corporate innovation, including a discussion on strategies that corporates can use to use smaller innovative companies in their supply chains to accelerate toward meeting their ESG (environmental, social and governance) goals.

The first tranche of speakers for The Industry Papers’ SomethingQ event at Something Fest are:

  • Luke Cole, Technical Founder, COLETEK
  • Dr Sue Keay, Chair, Robotics Australia Group
  • Adam Gilmour, CEO and Founder, Gilmour Space Technologies
  • James Stewart, Chief Executive, Always Carbon

There is a national focus right now on building new products and services that will fuel australia’s energy transition and its goals for net zero carbon emissions by 2050, as well as ambitions for more sustainable production practices and building circularity into our economic systems.

The federal government has committed to large-scale spending programs to help underpin these goals, with $22.7 billion allocated in the May budget.

The Industry Papers is a collection of public policy ideas to galvanise innovation communities around these ambitions.

The Industry Papers forum at SomethingQ focuses on sustainability of production, with a special focus on material science improvements to drive circular economy practices, as well as robotics and advanced manufacturing.

Luke Cole is technical founder at COLETEK and a seasoned expert in mobile robotics and autonomous systems and huge experienced in transforming ideas into battle-hardened, mass-produced hardware.

Dr Sue Keay is a robotics, artificial intelligence and automation specialist with a focus on the demands of the energy transition. As head of Robotics Australia Group, Dr Keay has become a specialist in bringing communities of experts together to leverage strengths.

Adam Gilmour is well-known to Queenslanders as the founder of a Gold Coast based company building Australia’s first orbital vehicle. Mr Gilmour is expected to give the audience an update on the launch preparations and to discuss the opportunities that the space sector offers.

James Stewart is the CEO at Always Carbon, a company that seeks to remove carbon from the atmosphere permanently by delivering biochar projects globally.

Dr Keay, Mr Gilmour and Mr Stewart have each written substantial policy papers for The Industry Papers and will present their ideas at the forum.

You can find out more about The Industry Papers here, including each of the forums being held in coming weeks in Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra. The Industry Papers will launch on September 11.

Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.

Leave a Comment

Related stories