Saturday 23 October 2010
Enterprize 2010 – A launch pad for radiation detection innovation
This year’s Enterprize winner, Southern Innovation, is in the process of commercialising a technology that will dramatically improve the performance of radiation detectors. Enterprize, UQ Business School’s annual competition for entrepreneurs, is proudly supported by the AIC.
Now in its 10th year, the initiative is a national business planning competition organised by the University of Queensland (UQ) Business School to showcase innovative products and business models amongst potential investors.
The AIC, as a supporter of the initiative, provides all finalists of Enterprize with access to Gateway Enterprise - an online resource of integrated business tools for individuals, innovators and small to medium enterprises (SMEs) looking to take an idea or product to market. The AIC has been proudly supporting and promoting Enterprize since 2005.
This year’s winner, Southern Innovation, is led by Managing Director David Scoullar and his brother, Technical Director, and inventor, Paul Scoullar, who are commercialising a breakthrough technology that will dramatically improve the performance of radiation detectors.
Named SITORO®, the technology is a mathematical pulse processing technique that accelerates the accurate detection and measurement of radiation in numerous industries including homeland security, mineral exploration, material science, scientific instrumentation, and medical imaging.
Southern Innovation MD, David Scoullar, said winning $100,000 in the UQ Business School Enterprize competition would accelerate Southern Innovation along its existing path to commercialisation.
“We are honoured to win such an established and prestigious competition. It is certainly a validation of our technology and business plan that money can’t buy.
“It has come at a great time for us because SITORO® is market ready and is currently being evaluated by several large international original equipment manufacturers.
“The $100,000 in seed funding will help us meet the costs of negotiating and drafting our first licensing agreements with these large, well-resourced organisations.
“This win is an affirmation of our hard work and a reflection of a great team,” he said.
The
technology, which has been in development for over 10 years and is now
market ready, has the potential to facilitate new applications of
radiation detection and measurement that are currently impractical or
impossible. These include the ability to sniff for a much greater array
of illegal drugs in shipping containers in a fraction of the current
time.
Head of UQ Business School, Professor Iain Watson,
said the University was proud to support Australian entrepreneurs and
congratulated Southern Innovation on their commitment to innovation in
Australia.
“Southern Innovation are pioneers of one of Australia’s most exciting
and innovative ideas, and UQ Business School is proud to recognise their
ingenuity in the field of technology.
“As the winner of Enterprize 2010 Southern Innovation has been
acknowledged as one of Australia’s most exciting new companies and UQ
Business School is confident they are a strong commercialisation
prospect,” he said.
Dr. Rowan Gilmore, CEO of the AIC, fully supports the initiative;
“We’re delighted to be one of the sponsors of Enterprize. The quality of
pitches and candidate products this year was among the best ever, and
we look forward to supporting next year’s competition. The UQ Business
School’s reputation is justly deserved, a reputation clearly enhanced by
Australia’s richest business plan competition”.
For further information on UQ Business School's Enterprize Competition, please visit the website.
Would you like to comment on this article? Please contact us.
To go back to the current AIC ENews please click here.
