Thursday, December 19, 2013

UWS Innovation Inventor Awards


As a way of recognising and rewarding the University’s valued inventors, UWS Innovation hosted their third annual UWS Inventor Reward Function on Tuesday 17th December.

Many of the rewards from patenting take quite some time to be realised, either in the form of granted patents and/or hopefully the commercialisation of the IP.
 
The UWS Inventor mug is given to recognise their contribution to the UWS intellectual property portfolio and be presented with the Universities gratitude.

The University would like to thank all of its inventors for their hard work and innovative ideas throughout 2013.

For more information about intellectual property or commercialisation within UWS please visit our website at 
www.uws.edu.au/innovate or contact UWS Innovation at ip@uws.edu.au.

UWS Intellectual Property Evaluation Panel


This year’s final Intellectual Property Evaluation Panel held on the 29th of November was a great success. The best and brightest inventors within the University were able to present their inventions to an eclectic panel of experts, entrepreneurs and University representatives in the hopes of securing IP protection and/or funding for their research. The panel assesses the commercial potential of ground-breaking research coming out of the University, with the aim of aiding researchers to protect their ideas and take them to market.

We were fortunate to again have the expertise of UWS academics and industry to evaluate our research potential.  The diverse backgrounds of the panelists allowed for comprehensive understanding, analysis and recommendations. We would like to thank our generous panel members of the day David Adamthwaite (Adams Pluck), Jarred Shein (M.H. Carnegie & Co), Dr Jeremy Chrisp (Jeremy Chrisp & Associates), Assoc Prof Dennis Chang (School of Science and Health), Assoc Prof Terry Sloan (UWS School of Business), Debra Bailey (ORS), Fiona Montebello (UWS Lawyer), Peter Malecki (UWS Commercial Lawyer), Prof Deborah Sweeney (Associate Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research) Health and Science) and Dr Kathryn Sunn (UWSI Chair).

This panel saw presentations coming out of the School of Science and Health, the School of Medicine and the MARCS Institute. We would like to congratulate all the inventors that took part in our IP panel for their outstanding presentations and for all winning the support of the University to commercialise their ideas.

This blog will keep you up to date with progress of the inventions as they continue along the exciting path to commercialisation.

Our Intellectual Property Evaluation Panels are held every quarter throughout the year and we will be announcing the dates for the 2014 IP Panels early next year.
In the mean time if you would like to let us know about a project you are working on that may lead to the development of Intellect Property feel free to contact us at ip@uws.edu.au
If you have invented something and would like to get patent protection or prototyping funds to develop your idea further please fill out our intellectual property disclosure form www.uws.edu.au/innovation/home/ip_management_and_investment

If you are interested in licensing or development opportunities please refer to our web site: 
UWS Innovation  or contact us on ip@uws.edu.au.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Calling all UWS Students Interested in Commercialisation



Attention all Budding Entrepreneurs!

Free Business Pitch Opportunity
29th November on Campbelltown Campus



Have you got a revolutionary business idea or a fabulous research project? Yes? - Then test it!

On Friday November 29th 2013 one or more successful UWS students will have the opportunity to pitch their innovative project to our UWS IP Panel
This is a great chance to get real world feedback on your idea, from a range of skilled experts with development support from the team at UWS Innovation. The panel consists of serial Entrepreneurs, Patent Attorneys, senior representatives from each of UWS’ Schools, and UWS Innovation.
Ekta Nankani, a PhD student from the School of Computing and Mathematics had the opportunity to pitch to the panel before she took her project out to work with an external company. Ekta found the advice she received from the panel, and particularly the patent attorney, very valuable.
“One of the most challenging decisions for any research student is to manage their IP. I was lucky to do an “Opportunity pitch” presentation at the IP Panel and meet with senior researchers, industry experts and advocates to discuss my research topic; in return the feedback received was very valuable. Staff at the Innovation office are very supportive and always ready to guide students. Exposure to different intellectual property rights and issues, patenting, legal implications when commercialising research is quite important and all the higher research degree students should be aware of such matters.”

If you are interested in this unique opportunity to hone your pitch skills or jump out of your comfort zone and explore new territory, send an application to Victoria Hirst at UWS Innovation.

The application should be no more than 1-page long and include your a) contact details, b) brief description of the idea c) and a statement about why does the market need your idea?

Submit your application via email to v.hirst@uws.edu.au.

Alternatively if you would like the opportunity to sit on the UWS Innovation Intellectual Property Evaluation Panel as a student representative, we would love to have you.

If you have any questions or would like to participate please contact Victoria Hirst on v.hirst@usw.edu.au or 9685 9742.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Three Minute Thesis Competition

This year the University of Western Sydney was host to the Three Minute Thesis (3MT) finals. The University was fortunate to have Mr. Ruben Meerman from ABC’s Catalyst as Master of Ceremonies for the event as Mr Meerman has been promoting science for more than 15 years.
The day saw some fantastic presentations by PhD students from all over Australia and New Zealand. Forty four (44) Semi finalists competed in the morning with eight (8) progressing through to the finals:

3MT Finalists:
·         Xiao (Demi) Gao from the University of South Australia. ‘Building a better bionic ear’
·         Sharon Savage from the University of New South Wales. ‘Giving words new life in dementia’
·         Kelsey Kennedy from the University of Western Australia. ‘Feeling for cancer: an imaging tool to make breast cancer surgery more effective’
·         Lily Chang from the University of Auckland. ‘An "eye" on Alzheimer's disease’ 
·         Thomas Finn from Massey University. ‘Oxygen: A double-edged sword for life forms’
·         Shu Hui Yau from Macquarie University. ‘Beeps, Burps and Brains: Auditory Processing in Autism’
·         Ksenia Gnevsheva from the University of Canterbury. ‘Non-Native English accents: How malleable are they?’ 
·         Gemma Sharp from Flinders University. ‘Paying for Lip Service’  


Our congratulations go to this year’s runner up Lily Chang from the University of Auckland and this year’s winner of the three minute thesis competition, Kelsey Kennedy from the University of Western Australia.  Kelsey managed to not only win the competition, but also take home the people’s choice award.
We also commend all the students who entered the completion and managed to condense and simplify their theses into an interesting three minute talk to be understood by a lay person, this is an impressive feat. We wish them luck in their future research.

If you have any questions concerning Intellectual Property or Commercialisation of your research please refer to the UWS Innovation website http://www.uws.edu.au/innovate or contact us on ip@uws.edu.au

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

UWS Advanced Characterisation Materials Facility (AMCF) Hosts AMMS and AMAS Technical Meeting

Come along and enjoy Microscopy and Drinks with Guest Speaker, Professor Martin Saunders as the AMC Facility hosts The Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Society (AMMS) and The Australian Microbeam Analysis Society (AMAS) Technical Meeting:

Title: When nano meets bio: Interdisciplinary applications of electron microscopy

Speaker: Professor Martin Saunders, Acting Director Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis, The University of Western Australia

When: Wednesday 23rd October 2013, 4.30pm-5.30pm Talk by Professor Martin Saunders, 5.30pm to 6.30pm Drinks with Speaker

Where: University of Western Sydney, School of Science and Health, Parramatta North Campus, Building LZ.G.14, Cnr Pemberton Street and Victoria Road, Rydalmere NSW 2116
(Parking is available on the campus for $6)

RSVP: Monday 21st of October to Richard Wuhrer (Richard.Wuhrer@uws.edu.au)

Abstract: When nano meets bio: Interdisciplinary applications of electron microscopy
For the past twenty years, Martin has conducted research involving the development and application of electron microscopy techniques for nano- and atomic-scale structural and chemical analysis. He is always searching for interesting applications of techniques such as electron diffraction, high resolution TEM, STEM, EDS, energy-filtered TEM, electron energy-loss spectroscopy, and many others. Martin has predominantly collaborated with physicists, chemists and engineers, and is increasingly finding that working with biologists is much more rewarding. This allows him to explore novel applications of techniques traditionally applied in the physical sciences.

One area that has proved particularly fruitful relates to projects where the concepts of nanomaterials and nanotechnology meet the world of biology. Martin will illustrate this with examples from recent collaborations involving molluscs that biomineralise iron oxide teeth, drug delivery capsules for neuroscience, and the search for a magnetic sense in pigeons. Extending the theme to dead biology, he will also show you how electron microscopy can provide new insights into the origins of life on earth.

Biography:
Professor Martin Saunders is Acting Director of the Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis at The University of Western Australia (UWA). Originally from the UK, and with a background in Physics, Prof Saunders’ doctoral research involved the development of quantitative electron diffraction techniques. During post-doctoral appointments in the UK, USA and Sweden, this interest in electron microscopy broadened to include all experimental and theoretical aspects of TEM techniques such as EFTEM, EELS, HRTEM, diffraction, x-ray microanalysis, STEM and tomography. Prof Saunders joined UWA in 2001 where he now leads the electron microscopy capability, working with many groups nationally and internationally in both the physical and biological sciences to develop applications of electron microscopy techniques. He is currently President of the Australian Microscopy and Microanalysis Society.

Professor Martin Saunders
Acting Director, Centre for Microscopy, Characterisation and Analysis
The University of Western Australia
Martin.Saunders@uwa.edu.au
http://www.cmca.uwa.edu.au

Monday, September 16, 2013

Technology Transfer Summit 2013


Technology Transfer Summit 2013
Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
3-4 September 2013

UWS Innovation represented the Univeristy of Western Sydney at the 2013 Technology Transfer Summit held at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institue.   This is a gathering of Intellecutal Proeprty and Commercialisation experts from Australia with many disinguished overseas guests.

Capped at 250 people this is a very fast paced and intimate conference where a lot is shared and gained.

Some of the presenters were:
  • Linda Peterson, CEO - Bionic Enterprises
  • Helen Fisher and Sergio Duchini - Deloitte
  • Jennifer Dent, President - BIO Ventures for Global Health
  • Rob Chalmers - Knowledge Commercialisation Australia (KCA) & Director, Adelaide Research and Innovation
  • Rob McInnes, Partner - Dibbs Barker
  • Bram Smith, General Manager - Kiwi Innovation Network Limited (KiwiNet)
  • George Slim, CEO, NZBio

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

3 Minute Thesis Students at TVS

Yesterday, UWS finalists of the 3 Minute Thesis competition filmed their presentations at the TVS studios.  Throughout the morning UWS Innovation met the students.   Not to interrupt their performances, show-bags with helpful information about Intellectual Property and commercialisation were handed out and questions answered. 

We do not envy the judges, it will be tough deciding.

Good luck to all the 12 finalists.

Left to Right: Anna Grocholsky (UWS Innovation), Luke Bozzetto (School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematics),   
Tracey Steinrucken (Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment) and Ryan McMullen (School of Social Sciences and Psychology)





The UWS 3MT final is on this Friday, 23rd August 2013 at the Ian and Nancy Turbott Auditorium on Parramatta South campus.   
Click here to register to attend.

The winner of this event will represent UWS at the Trans-Tasman final in October.

Click here to learn more about 3MT.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Protecting and Selling Your Ideas - Roadshow


UWS Innovation held a week of roadshows. 
We rolled out the new short Intellectual Property Disclosure Form. 
 http://www.uws.edu.au/innovation

IP can be anything - not just patents...  

Contact Innovation so we can work with you in commercialising your ideas.

ip@uws.edu.au 



Tuesday, August 6, 2013

UWS Innovation have launched an ONLINE version of our Short Intellectual property Disclosure Form.

Hassle free - No need to print and scan. 

https://www.uws.edu.au/innovation/home/ip_management_and_investment/inventors/intellectual_property_disclosure_form



If you have any questions email ip@uws.edu.au or ring Anna directly on 0415 145 394.

UWS Innovation look forward to hearing from you.


Thursday, July 25, 2013

Protecting and Selling your Ideas - Campus Forums (Week of 29th July 2013)

UWS Innovation have re-named the University’s Invention Disclosure Form to the Intellectual Property Disclosure Form, why?

Most people think of Intellectual Property as inventions which tend to be tangible widgets and that widgets are the only things that can be patented and commercialised.

A commercially viable product/service that is beneficial to the community may not just be a widget. Therefore we thought to ensure Researchers are clear on what types of things may have commercial potential, we would update our disclosure form to reflect that any form of Intellectual Property is important.

Patentability should also not be the first question that is considered! The first consideration should be “does this have commercial potential and is there a community need”? Secondary to this, “is it possible (and commercially wise) to formally register the Intellectual Property by way of patent, trade mark, design etc.”? Copyright deals, i.e. without requiring formal IP registration can also be made. Often a deal is a combination of various types of Intellectual Property, not just one thing, therefore the University and UWS Innovation is not only interested in ‘stereotypical inventions’.

Intellectual Property can be a range of things such as:
• software code incorporated into a package for end users
• industrial designs
• manuals and copyright material
• inventions of widgets, new compositions and methods

We have recently launched a simple one page Intellectual Property Disclosure Form as an online version for ease of use https://www.uws.edu.au/innovation/home/ip_management_and_investment/inventors/intellectual_property_disclosure_form

We invite you to attend a session next week where you can learn more about this change and ask the Innovation team any questions you may have.

Campus: Campbelltown
Date: Monday 29 July
Time: 11:30am-12:30pm
Room: 22.2.04 (Conference 05)

Campus: Hawkesbury
Date: Wednesday 31 July
Time: 10:00am – 11:00am
Room: L5.G.01-02

Campus: Kingswood
Date: Wednesday 31 July
Time: 1:00pm-2:00pm
Room: P.1.51

Campus: Bankstown
Date: Thursday 1 August
Time: 9:30am – 10:30am
Room: 01.1.117 (Conference room)

Campus: Parramatta
Date: Thursday 1 August
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm
Room: EB.3.33

Monday, July 15, 2013

UWS Laboratory Note Books

To all UWS Researcher’s and HDR Students.
We all know how important record keeping is when it comes to your research, as such the University of Western Sydney has produced its very own Laboratory Note Books.
These state of the art lab books provide you with everything you need for recording your experiments, including witnessing.
A Laboratory Notebook is a primary record of research and used to document hypotheses, experiments and interpretation of results. The “lab book” serves as an organisational tool and memory aid.  Importantly, the lab book has a role in protecting any intellectual property that comes from the research.
The University strongly recommends that all researchers and HDR students use these fully-bound, legally compliant Laboratory Notebooks as they provide a permanent record of research for the University.  A well-kept and correctly documented lab book is vital for proving that you conducted the research.  It can also be invaluable if you have to prove that you were an inventor on a patent application.

The attractive, fully-bound and legally compliant UWS Laboratory Notebooks are available in boxes of 10 for $90.00 a box.
School and Research Centre offices are able to order Notebooks from UWS Print Services for distribution to researchers. If you are a researcher, please talk to your School or Centre office to organise book orders.

If you have any questions, please contact UWS Innovation at IP@uws.edu.au or call Laura Robinson on ext 9800.