2015 WA Innovator of the Year Awards
Track’em, the developer of a high-tech software system won the Mitsubishi Corporation 2015 WA Innovator of the Year Overall Winner, the State’s most prestigious innovation award. The all-in-one cloud-based tracking solution uses a unique combination of GPS, radio frequency identification and 3D modelling.
Commerce Minister Michael Mischin said Osborne Park company Track’em was a worthy winner of this year’s award for its invention that tracks and manages the location of assets, equipment and construction materials. “This year’s winners reflect the level of creativity and growing sophistication of local innovators, helping to inspire others and keep Western Australia at the forefront of innovation,” he said.
Mr Mischin said the calibre of finalists was exceptionally high and he expected the winners would help steer the State towards a strong economic future. “The WA Innovator of the Year program continues to play a valuable role in the transition from innovative idea to commercial reality, evident through the success of past winners and finalists progressing to win numerous other local and national awards and global recognition.”
Other winners included:
Newton Labs, Perth in the Emerging Innovation category for their rock detection system: A vibration-sensor device mounted on mining trucks that measures and processes signals from various vibrations, alerting operators to oversize rocks that can then be diverted to prevent crusher downtime and lost production.
Scancam Industries, Perth in the Growth category for smart fuel security: A real-time integrated system incorporating high resolution video and still cameras, facial and number plate recognition and police database reporting to prevent fuel theft.
The University of Western Australia, Crawley for the Encouragement award and Travel award for their novel method of separating natural gases (e.g. methane) from nitrogen. This process is necessary for all forms of natural gas production prior to use and distribution.
The Minister said the State Government actively supported entrepreneurialism and innovation through a range of successful programs, services and purpose-built facilities, such as the Innovation Centre of WA, Industry Facilitation and Support Program, and Medical Research Commercialisation Fund.
“These programs, services and facilities underpin the broader State approach to helping translate innovation into successfully commercialised goods and services with specialised competitive advantages for world markets,” he said.
The Overall Winner, Emerging Innovation Category Winner, and Growth Category Winner were all sponsored by Mitsubishi Corporation WA.
For more information, visit http://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/innovator