The Defence sector is often held up as a positive example of strong collaboration between researchers, SMEs and large multinational corporations.
And it’s for good reason – innovation is often driven by the defence sector, and lucrative and innovative products are often commercialised first through a defence purpose.
The 2022 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence in the Defence and Defence-related Capability category shines a spotlight on the best products, services and innovations created through these collaborations between Defence, research and industry.
The finalists in this category are:
The InnovationAus Awards for Excellence winners and finalists will be celebrated at a black-tie gala dinner at The Cutaway at Barangaroo in Sydney on November 17.
This sector will likely continue to grow rapidly. The Defence department recently urged researchers and local SMEs to consider new national security applications for their technologies and offered to help connect them with local industry and the Australian Defence Force to commercialise their products.
The Defence Information and Communications Technology Strategy was also recently unveiled, with a vision for mission-capable ICT amid a changing national security landscape.
Behind the finalists:
Arkwright Technologies was launched in 2015 when Professor John Arkwright was granted full rights by CSIRO to commercialise innovative Fibre Optic Sensing technology, developed by himself and his team during his time at the science agency.
The innovation brings together photonics and micro-fabrication capabilities into a platform that can be applied across a range of applications to measure physical parameters.
The company has since developed an accelerometer and strain gauges based on the same technology, and these devices are now in use in the defence sector.
Manderson Engineering Innovations was launched by two Sydney local maritime firefighters to solve some of the most pressing and dangerous problems they had faced during their 25 years doing the work.
Their company offers innovative firefighting accessories and methods using cutting-edge technology, focusing on indirect maritime firefighting methods on closed compartment fires.
WithYouWithMe is led by veterans and those with lived experience in Defence systems with an aim of filling the military digital skills gap.
Its technology helps to keep defence organisations agile, opening up access to a defence-ready talent pool.
WithYouWithMe boasts one of the largest talent pools of security-cleared technologists in the world, and also offers online training tools ranging from entry-level to advanced courses across 13 of the most in-demand careers. It also offers custom software solutions to solve problems in the defence sector.
The 2022 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence are supported by: Investment NSW, AusIndustry, Australian Computer Society, Technology Council of Australia, Verizon, Mimecast, Microsoft Australia, Digital Health CRC (DHCRC), Agile Digital, METS Ignited, Innovation Manufacturing CRC (IMCRC) CSIRO, and Q-CTRL.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.