Eleven UNSW inventors have been named as finalists for the 2009 Nsi Inventor of the Year Awards.

They were selected from a strong field of inventors who made submissions in one of four award categories – biomedicine, science and engineering, the environment, and information and communication technology.

The finalists were selected by a panel comprisinig Professor Les Field, UNSW Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), Professor Graham Davies, UNSW Dean of Engineering, Professor Peter Smith, UNSW Dean of Medicine, Dr Colin Sutton, Non-Executive Director of NewSouth Innovations, and Associate Professor Roger Read, Senior Associate Dean and Associate Dean (Research and International), UNSW Science Faculty.

The awards recognise and reward innovative technologies that could benefit the community and the environment, and carry a total prize pool of $20,000. One finalist will be named a winner in each award category, together with overall Inventor of the Year.

The awards will be presented during a gala event at UNSW’s John Niland Scientia Building on April 23, 2009.

The finalists are:

Biomedicine
Levon Khachigian: a super drug to combat heart disease, cancer and inflammatory disease
Philip Hogg: cancer therapy and diagnostics

Environment
Brett Neilan: genetic testing of blue-green algae toxins
Stuart Wenham: solar cell technology
Obada Kayali: converting fly ash into building products

Information and communication technology
David Taubman: image and video compression software
Ori Allon: a new search engine algorithm
Sameer Allam: intelligent air traffic control simulator

Science and engineering
Ly Mai: solar cell technology
Maria Skyllas-Kazacos: rechargeable high-energy storage systems
Veena Sahajwalla: recycling rubber and plastic into steel

About NSi

NSi provides technology transfer services for UNSW. The company has significant commercialisation experience and expertise and is a recognised leader in the commercialisation of research-based technologies.

NSi’s main services include: assessing the commercial potential of intellectual property developed at UNSW, filing and prosecuting patents, entering intellectual property licensing arrangements with industry, and forming spin-off companies to raise venture capital for product development

UNSW staff and students inventors are entitled to a share of the revenue generated by NSi from its commercialisation of intellectual property.

Media enquiries: Dan Gaffney, NSi, 0411 156 015