South Australian companies and researchers have pitched innovative ideas to international naval and maritime leaders at the Pacific 2015 maritime exposition in Sydney.
Eight presentations by South Australian industry, academia and the Defence Science and Technology Group were provided to potential collaboration partners at ‘Innovation Pitchfest.’
Minister for Defence Industries Martin Hamilton-Smith said the event is a golden opportunity to showcase South Australian innovation to an international audience.
“It’s a testament to the extensive research and development capability in our state that so many South Australians have been invited to showcase their innovations, technologies and ideas to the world,” Mr Hamilton-Smith said.
“South Australia has a long history of supporting major Defence projects, which has fostered a thriving local innovation eco-system of defence related technologies.
“The state is working in collaboration with industry, local universities, Defence Science and Technology Group and the Defence Science Institute to support local technology development, promotion and utilisation.
The South Australian pitchers are from intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; analytics company Dexata Corporation; defence and aerospace company RUAG Australia; food manufacturer Greenwheat Freekeh; and STEM education start-up STEMSEL; along with researchers from Flinders University, Adelaide University’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing and Defence Science Technology Group.
Mr Hamilton-Smith said the technologies presented have applications across many industries.
Professor John Arkwright, from Flinders University and Arkwright Technologies showcased his optical fibre technology, which was originally developed for sensing pressure in the human gut but can be applied for pressure sensing in defence contexts such as submarine pipework.