Monday 29 August 2011

Awards affirm Tropical North Queensland’s place on the world innovation map

On Friday 12 August 2011, the second Tropical Innovation Awards showcased and rewarded the best and most innovative ideas in Tropical North Queensland.

The awards offered the opportunity for innovators to showcase their innovation to a large audience, boost their businesses and contribute to the economy of northern Australia. In its second year, the awards have been hosted by the Cairns Regional Council and supported and sponsored by organisations like the AIC, QMI Solutions, WHK, Fischer Adams Kelly, AusIndustry, JCU, Cairns Chamber of Commerce, ARUP and many others.

The awards were held at the Cairns Convention Centre and attracted over 300 people from around Australia. Amongst the attendees were Cairns Mayor Val Schier, Mayors of the surrounding areas and several investors and representatives from all three levels of Government as well as fifty great innovators.

Before the official start of the awards ceremony all attendees had an opportunity to meet the innovators at their trade displays in the foyer of the Cairns Convention Centre. The trade display area has proven to be very successful, as many companies received new enquiries for their products, services and innovative business concepts.

At the start of the event, attendees were surprised by the fascinating decoration of the Gala event venue and positive surprises continued during the night’s proceedings which were hosted by Andrew Griffiths. Mr. Griffith introduced guest speakers and interviewed several successful local business people during the night. Amongst the interviewed were Amanda Spelta from Placid Pools who won the Innovation of the Year award in 2010. Amanda spoke about the positive impact the Award had on her business.

The culmination of the evening was the announcement of the seven category winners:

Innovation of the Year
Sharing the Wonders: Taking the Great Barrier Reef to the world - Cairns Marine's innovative method of global distribution of living wildlife from the Great Barrier Reef enables them to move large orders of big marine animals anywhere. The Cairns family business collects marine life under license from the Great Barrier Reef then ships them all over the world for display in aquaria. The award winning innovation is the life support system that enables long haul transport of specimens of Australian iconic marine life.

Emerging Innovation
Perfection Detection - Using near infrared spectroscopy in an innovative process to non-invasively assess the quality of avocados for maturity (dry matter), shelf life (rot susceptibility) and bruising.

Youth Innovation
Biodegradable Products in the School Tuckshop - This innovation involves investigating the feasibility of using biodegradable products in a school tuckshop to reduce the amount of rubbish going to landfill as well as reducing the amount of non biodegradable.

Eco Innovation
World’s Best Practice Swim-with-Whales Ecotourism Management Model -  In response to concerns of potential impacts on Dwarf Minke Whales, a collaboration began between the tourism operators, marine scientists and Reef managers to evaluate potential threats to the whales and develop guidelines for sustainable management of this new form of tourism. This collaboration has grown over the past two decades and has led to many scientific discoveries and the development of a Code of Practice for the tourism industry which is being used internationally.

Business Innovation
MiHaven Homes - A new product concept of cyclone resistant homes has been developed by MiCorp Property and branded MiHaven.

Tropical Zone Innovation
Algae for biological carbon capture and sequestration - The invention captures greenhouse gases from industrial emitters, for example coal-fired power stations, and remediates polluted waste waters using algae as biological cleaning agents which use sunlight.

People's Choice Award
World’s Best Practice Swim-with-Whales Ecotourism Management Model -  In response to concerns of potential impacts on Dwarf Minke Whales, a collaboration began between the tourism operators, marine scientists and Reef managers to evaluate potential threats to the whales and develop guidelines for sustainable management of this new form of tourism. This collaboration has grown over the past two decades and has led to many scientific discoveries and the development of a Code of Practice for the tourism industry which is being used internationally.

Chris Ganfield of WHK said, “As an avid supporter of the awards, WHK is delighted by caliber of the all of the innovations demonstrated by entrants and winners. In business, innovation is a catalyst for growth and it’s fantastic to see such a diverse range of innovations and exciting to see how these innovations can be realised to benefit the businesses and the wider economy.”

Robert Buhrke, AIC’s Innovation Coach in North Queensland and member of the awards steering committee said, “We are a proud supporter of this event, because introducing a new product to the market is not always easy, especially if it is potentially changing ‘the-rules-of-the-game” in a particular industry. It’s a great pleasure to see that so many of our clients have entered the awards with their fantastic products or services, and what’s even more exciting is the fact that many of our clients have either won or being finalists in last and this years’ Innovation Awards. Even for those who didn’t win this is a fantastic platform to celebrate, network and a springboard for future collaborative initiatives to assist local companies to succeed.”

Tropical Innovation Award winner, Cairns Marine, say the award will enhance their international market profile. The innovation assists Cairns Marine to position itself as an international market leader and preferred supplier for public aquarium infrastructure developments and for existing public aquarium institutions. Mr. Squire says the point of difference adds to Cairns Marine’s reputation as a reliable supplier of sustainably collected marine life. “We are the world’s only supplier of large animals for public aquaria to have achieved the internationally recognised Marine Aquarium Council certification. We view our animals as international ambassadors for the Great Barrier Reef,” he said.

Planning is already underway for the Tropical Innovation Awards 2012, for further information please visit www.tropicalinnovationawards.com or contact Lu Burke (email: L.Burke@cairns.qld.gov.au or call 07 4044 3347).
 

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