UNSW academics have been presented with awards at the Collaborate Innovate 2023 conference for innovative projects in the areas of dentistry and artificial intelligence.
UNSW Professors Gangadhara Prusty and Chris Pettit have received Excellence in Innovation awards for their cutting-edge research in the fields of dentistry and artificial intelligence at the Collaborate Innovate 2023 conference organised by Cooperative Research Australia (CRA).
The Awards for Excellence in Innovation showcase and recognise the inspiring work and impact of industry-research collaboration in the Australian innovation ecosystem and the translation of research into commercial, economic, social, and environmental outcomes that drive future prosperity for Australia.
UNSW sponsored the 2023 awards which were presented on 11 July as part of Collaborate Innovate, CRA’s annual conference.
UNSW Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research & Enterprise, Professor Nicholas Fisk who spoke at the award ceremony congratulated Prof. Prusty and Prof. Pettit on receiving the awards.
“It’s wonderful to see our UNSW academics using innovative cutting-edge technologies in the fields of AI, the property sector, and dentistry to translate meaningful research for local industry with impact across Australia and beyond.” Prof. Fisk said. “The University welcomes the recent broadening of the CRA remit to embrace a range of industry-research collaborative entities, and in this light is delighted to see two of the four annual awards involving UNSW researchers.”
Prof. Pettit from the UNSW City Futures Research Centre received the Award for Research Commercialisation presented to FrontierSl, PEXA, Value Australia and UNSW.
Over the last six years UNSW has worked with FrontierSI and a consortium of partners to create the Rapid Analytics Interactive Scenario Explorer (RAISE), an interactive platform, leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning, that enables accurate and transparent property valuations. This technology was developed by FrontierSI in collaboration with UNSW and Omnilink, and brought to market in 2023.
“City Futures Research Centre, UNSW are proud to be joint recipient of this research commercialisation award. It is tremendous to see our R&D have real world impact and to be taken to market through Value Australia, a new joint venture between PEXA, FrontierSI and UNSW,” Prof. Pettit said.
Prof. Prusty from the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering and now also Research Director at SOMAC (the Sovereign Manufacturing Automation for Composites Cooperative Research Centre), was presented with the Award for Enduring Industry-Research Collaboration. He has developed glass-fibre reinforced flowable dental composite restorative materials that contribute to the elimination of mercury from dentistry, in collaboration with SDI Limited.
The patented technology is now available in over 100 countries and the project has led to several full-time jobs in Melbourne and Sydney.
“The collaboration with SDI Ltd is an example of how research can apply advanced composites technology to reduce toxicity in dentistry. Beyond the social benefits, the outcomes are exemplary through embedding Australian technology in the international supply chain, with significant economic returns,” Prof. Prusty said.
Six Excellence in Innovation Awards were presented at the Collaborate Innovate 2023 conference held in Adelaide this week.
“The winners have each shown how Australian research can be transformed through collaboration into impactful organisations and businesses, creating jobs and improving lives,” CEO of Cooperative Research Australia Jane O’Dwyer.
Read more about the awards here.