The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Curtin University are finalists of the Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) Research Commercialisation Awards.

The winners will be announced at KCA’s conference dinner, following a live pitch process and judging held during the KCA Conference on 12-13 September 2019.

The KCA Award recognises success in transferring research knowledge into products or services where new Australian companies or organisations are formed.

KCA Chair Dr Erin Rayment, Director (Office of Research andDevelopment), University of Southern Queensland (USQ), said that recognisingquality, research commercialisation success in Australasia was imperative.

“It’s fantastic to see such high quality applications across a range of commercialisation activities in this year’s KCA Awards,” she said.

“These awards highlight the complex range of skills needed by technology transfer professionals and demonstrate how their role is critical in the commercialisation ecosystem. I can’t wait to see the pitches at the upcoming KCA conference in Sydney.”

To choose a winner judges will look for projects that show creative thinking both in originality and business insight, as well as the impacts on society.

The three finalists come from different angles: creating innovation partnerships (ANSTO), mineral exploration (Curtin University), and colorectal cancer diagnosis (CSIRO). 

ANSTO’s submission is nandin – which means ‘look ahead’ in the Dharawal language of Southern Sydney’s indigenous people. This is an innovation hub based at ANSTO’s site at Lucas Heights in Southern Sydney. It is home to industry partnerships, knowledge exchange and technology commercialisation. Its focus is to enable industry engagement and research translation through design, collaboration, innovation and entrepreneurial learning. In the past 18 months, nandin has grown from a single member to now house 11 community startups, four ANSTO technology ventures, and serves as a base for seven industry clusters.  It was recently awarded $12.5 million from the NSW state government to scale operations to include a next generation nuclear medicine facility, shared laboratory suites, a makerspace and a node of the Design Factory Global Network.

CSIRO’s is ColoSTAT® – a blood-based biomarker panel for colorectal cancer detection. CSIRO developed this simple blood-based test to diagnose colorectal cancer (CRC) at an early stage when the chance of cure is greater than 80%. This non-invasive blood test will significantly improve CRC screening participation and compliance in the Australian population, reducing colorectal cancer morbidity and mortality in Australia. This has now been commercialised via a newly formed ASX listed biotechnology company, Rhythm Biosciences.

Curtin University’s submission is the HiSeis exit.  HiSeis Pty Ltd was formed by Curtin in 2009 to commercialise new technology which applies seismic techniques usually used in oil and gas exploration to minerals exploration for better definition of ore resources.

Curtin’s commercialisation team supported HiSeis through establishment and growth in minerals exploration. Then in 2018, it facilitated the company’s sale to bring in new owners and take it to the next stage. HiSeis continues a research relationship with Curtin, employs Curtin graduates, has significant alumni as shareholders and Curtin retains a shareholding to participate in future upside.

This year’s awards are judged by commercial leaders of innovation: Mark Wickham (Phillips Ormond Fritzpatrick), Natalie Chapman (gemaker) and James Hutchinson (Kiwinet).

Media Contact: Sharon Kelly (gemaker), E: s.kelly@gemaker.com.au M: +61 414 780 077