Calling all Australian innovators and inventors
Here’s a chance to put your technical creativity to the test and win cash as well!
Entries are now being accepted for Innovic’s Next Big Thing Award 2008. This annual event is a nationwide competition to find, showcase and award Australian innovations — new ideas with the potential to become the ‘next big thing’.
An exhibition of the 21 finalists’ innovations will be held at the Melbourne Museum between 14 May and 22 June 2008. Accompanying activities will include a Young Entrepreneurs’ Week to stimulate and encourage the next generation of innovative Australians. Applications close on 14 March 2008.
Previous Next Big Thing Award winners include V-Focus, a catheter system that delivers and ‘recycles’ sensitive cardiac medication directly to the beating heart of a conscious patient; mHITs, a free SMS payment and e-wallet system; and ClinchA, a pneumatic device for tying concrete reinforcement bars together.
Winners receive over $50,000 in cash and prizes plus valuable media exposure. For more information, visit www.nextbigthingaward.com or www.innovic.com.au
(From www.sustainabilitymatters.net.au)
Prepare ICE for Emergencies
For those of you who thought that this story was about drugs, do not read on!
Most of us carry our mobile phones with names and numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.
If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn't know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence the "ICE" (In Case of Emergency) Campaign has been initiated.
The concept of "ICE" is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name "ICE" (In Case Of Emergency).
The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognised name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, emergency service personnel and hospital staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as "ICE".
For more than one contact name you could simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc.
Using plastic not wasting it to cut energy and emissions
OneSteel will use a technology developed by the University of NSW to substitute plastic for up to 30 per cent of the coke and coal it uses in making steel. The move signals progress in the steelmaking sector which was identified in a recent analysis of ASX100 companies as the industry most exposed to the impacts of carbon emissions trading.
OneSteel has been testing the commercial viability of using waste plastic at its Rooty Hill plant in western Sydney over the past two years. It said the technology has reduced greenhouse emissions at the plant, cut coal use, diverted 1,800 tonnes of plastic from landfills and cut power bills.
The hydrocarbon in the plastic is an essential raw material in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking that recycles steel from scrap metal. The energy savings are achieved in the process of melting the scrap at around 16,000 degrees C and converting into steel using high-power arcs.
As the scrap melts, a layer of gaseous "slag foam" forms on top of the molten steel, assisting thermal efficiency in the furnace by ensuring that more energy is transferred into the mix rather than radiating into furnace walls.
The new technology speeds the "slag-foaming" process, reducing "power-on" time and total power use. It improves furnace productivity by a reduction in "tap-to-tap" time – a measure of the period taken to produce one batch of molten steel. (From www.EnvironmentalManagementNews.net)
HR needs a makeover
While I&I may tend to focus on technical innovations, we thought that this story from the Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) about the need for human resources to change was worthy of wider exposure.
Three quarters of respondents to a survey on the image of human resource professionals say the occupation needs to reinvent itself. Of the 1816 people who responded to the survey, nearly two thirds of HR managers believe that business does not understand what they do and nearly half doubt whether they are seen to be effective. Of non-HR respondents to the survey, approximately 80 per cent have little understanding of what HR does and 73 per cent see HR as ineffective. Many do not realise that HR can provide support beyond services such as payroll and recruitment.
Although HR plays a strategic role in areas such as workplace relations, training, change management and occupational health and safety, the survey finds that in only 54 per cent of organisations does the most senior HR person report to the CEO. Despite these findings, the great majority of survey respondents believe that HR is a vital business function. The report is based on a HRpulse survey conducted by the Australian Human Resources Institute, the association representing the HR occupation in Australia. The institute surveyed people from HR and non-HR backgrounds.
According to chief executive officer, Serge Sardo, “AHRI put sacred cows to one side when compiling this survey. We’ve listened to the HR critics and, while the survey findings confirm some existing perceptions, they also provide new insights into the reasons for those perceptions. That said, we take the criticism seriously and we know there’s a job ahead in turning it around.
“The consolation is we aren’t alone in that. Business says HR is a necessary strategic function, so it’s incumbent on business to embed HR appropriately, and 54 per cent of direct HR reports to the CEO is not good enough. Individual practitioners also have a responsibility. They need first and foremost to ensure they are contemporary and united. As with many other occupational groups, HR is open to criticism but it’s also a profession full of promise and opportunity,” said Sardo.
To view a copy of the research report go to this link: http://www.ahri.com.au/scripts/cgiip.exe/WService=AHRI-LIVE/ccms.r?Pageid=10511
The countdown is on...
… until the launch of the Buy Recycled Business Alliance (BRBA) National Database of Recycled Products. Complete information for over 400 member products has now been received and plans are commencing for a March 2008 launch.
The scope of the database has now been expanded beyond pre- and post-consumer recycled content products, to encompass reused and remanufactured products, as well as products which contain reutilised materials from the manufacturing process. The aim of the database is to create a fully comprehensive 'one-stop-shop' for anyone looking to buy or advertise recycled products.
If you are interested in finding out more about listing your recycled products before the launch, contact Lyndall McKernan at lyndall.mckernan@brba.com.au
Event – Embedding: not just for reporters in Iraq!
Embedded Systems Australia invites you to the Embedded Systems Australia Cluster’s official launch designed to encourage collaboration between organisations from SMEs to large corporates and aimed at providing expanded market opportunities, resource exchange, joint tendering, identification of skills and synergies and development of leads of new markets.
The event is to be held on 11 December at 4.30pm. For more information and registration contact Sumeet Kumar on 9338 6963 or email: sumeet.kumar@business.nsw.gov.au
(From Dept of State and Regional Development Western Sydney Newsletter)
Your Ideas, Innovations or Events?
If you want publicity for an idea, innovation or technically related event, contact the I&I editor, Colin Seaborn on 4254 0258 or 0419 841829 or click here->
We welcome stories and photos.
If you want to promote your product or service via video please contact YOC office on (02) 4254 0200 or click here-> | 
