NEWS - ARTICLE

Australian innovation took centre stage on the final day of Indian Ocean Defence & Security (IODS) 2024 with a series of pitch presentations and the announcement of the three winners of the IODS 2024 Innovation Awards.

Fifteen finalists from around Australia pitched to a panel of judges with expertise in Australian innovation, in a series of engaging three minute presentations to help determine the outcome of the Innovation Awards held in conjunction with IODS 2024.

After much deliberation, the judges announced the well-deserving winners across the four categories, each worth $10,000 in cash prizes:

• Indian Ocean Defence & Security 2024 Innovation Award: Mr Robert Dane, Ocius Technology – Bluebottle Uncrewed Surface Vessel
• Indian Ocean Defence & Security 2024 Emerging Technology Award: Mr Brennen Mills, Edith Cowan University - ParaVerse virtual reality simulator for parachute training
• Indian Ocean Defence & Security 2024 Young Innovator Award:  Mr Ayden McCann, University of Western Australia – Rapid Daytime Deployment Capability of Teranet -3
• Indian Ocean Defence & Security 2024 Collaborative Innovation Award: Mr Brennen Mills and the team from Edith Cowan University - ParaVerse virtual reality simulator for parachute training

Their success was announced and trophies presented on Friday 26 July at IODS 2024 by the Hon. Hannah Beazley MLA, Acting Minister for Training and Workforce Development representing the Minister for Innovation.

The Chair of the judging panel, Michele Clement, Director of the Western Australian Defence Science Centre, said the judges were blown away by the innovative nature and the depth and breadth of the ideas presented.

“We saw evidence of a really strong Australian innovation ecosystem that is taking ideas and turning them into a capability that would support our national security, not only for defence, but also in the broader civil sense as well.”

“I really liked that transferability of many of the finalists' innovations.”

The prize money is supplied by the not-for-profit organisation, AMDA Foundation Limited, organiser of the Innovation Awards program which has been running since 2013 in conjunction with AMDA’s suite of defence and industry events, and has awarded a total of $725,000 to innovators over this time.  

AMDA Foundation CEO, Justin Giddings, said the calibre of the pitches at IODS 2024 was particularly impressive. 

“Witnessing the finalists pitch today has truly highlighted the ingenuity of Australian innovation,” said Justin.

“By awarding a monetary prize to each of our award winners, we hope it will provide a practical financial contribution to help further these incredible ideas and their professional skills.”

The IODS 2024 Innovation Awards aim to recognise and reward Australian individuals and organisations at the forefront of defence innovation in products, services and business processes. Innovations are judged on their commercial success or market potential, understanding of user needs and originality