We have received 33 nominations spread across the following three categories:

• Excellence in Materials Innovation in Biotechnology and Life Sciences
• Excellence in Materials Innovation in Building and Infrastructure
• Excellence in Materials Innovation in Manufactured Goods

Bio-Layer Pty Limited.
High Throughput Surface Discovery Platform. For a given application, Bio-Layer's new platform can develop and test thousands of surface coatings simultaneously, ensuring the best composition for a particular diagnostic test surface. The new Mix&Go™ products that have resulted from the Platform significantly improved the sensitivity of the immunoassays, increased stability and product shelf life, and lowered manufacturing cost.

BSES Limited (Finalist)
Bioplastics from Sugarcane. BSES has been the first to engineer sugarcane to produce three different types of bioplastic that can one day replace the existing petrochemical-based plastics that are such an environmental problem. Getting commercially viable alternatives is also becoming imperative as the price of crude oil increases.

CeramiSphere
Encapsulation and Controlled Release of Actives. CeramiSpheres have many unique qualities. For starters the ceramic matrix is formed at room temperature instead of the high temperature used for many ceramics. The rate of release can vary from hours, days or months and is independent of particle size which can vary from 1nm to 100 microns. Release is through diffusion and not erosion so the active ingredients aren't introduced suddenly as a "burst" release, nor are they reliant on the erosion rate of the carrier material.

Cleveland Biosensors
BioFiniti™ Cartridge. It's the size of a credit card, yet the BioFiniti cartridge stores, pumps, meters, mixes, purifies and washes reagents and samples with zero moving parts. It even includes secure on-board waste disposal. All this allows reliable high quality diagnostic testing to be performed by untrained operators in the field.

CSIRO Livestock Industries
Biomimetic Nanosprings. Resilin is a near perfect rubber with 97% efficiency (superball rubber has 80% efficiency). It also has almost frictionless movement and an extraordinary fatigue lifetime. Further study will lead to the design and manufacture of a new generation of elastomers.

Nanocoatings Pty Ltd (Winner)
BioAlmog is a new generation synthetic bone graft material with enhanced bioactivity and strength (120% improvement). This represents a significant improvement with respect to materials currently available for bone graft and spinal implant applications. (Sorry there is no website for this item)

PolyNovo Biomaterials (Finalist & People's Choice Winner)
NovoSorb Biodegradable Polymer can be injected as a liquid and then set to a solid through the application of light. Alternatively, as something like a stent to help keep arteries open without wall damage, NovoSorb can be introduced as a fabricated solid which will then safely biodegrade when the support is no longer needed. The PolyNovo technology can be tailored for a wide range of next generation medical implants, helping the body to heal itself.

Promics Ltd
Anti-Inflammatory Drug Candidate. Promics' anti-inflammatory agents act by blocking the C5a receptor which is expected to reduce the pain and tissue damage associated with inflammatory diseases (ie rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and psoriasis). The drug can be given orally and has the potential to act more effectively across a broader population.

Ventracor Limited
VentrAssist Coating. The material used for the VentrAssist left ventricular assist device (artificial heart) had to have excellent blood compatibility, minimal friction, sufficient hardness to prevent mechanical wear, good elastic recovery when shock loaded and the ability to be formed into complex shapes with very high accuracy. After much testing and development, Ventracor came up with their custom diamond coating.

Vision CRC
Oxygen Permeable Flexible Contact Lenses. The development of the silicone hydrogel Lotrafilcon A and B enabled a soft lens to be worn day and night. After 30 years, finally there was a soft moldable material with good optical properties and the high oxygen permeability needed for eye health. Although the first application was contact lenses, the materials may have other unique applications in healthcare and industry.

Claypave Pty Ltd
Large Format Clay Pavers. The trick of extruding clay from a 430mm diameter barrel through a shaper cap 420mm wide and 50mm high without developing cracks, warping, surface imperfections and discolouration through pressure differentials was quite a feat. However, that is exactly what Claypave have done and once again they're putting pressure on the concrete masonry and stone paver markets.

Coredev Pty Ltd (Winner)
Fibre Composite Pedestrian Bridge. Providing a state-of-the-art alternative to hardwood pedestrian bridges, Coredev's development is light-weight, can be flat-packed and then assembled using standard construction technology, has excellent fire resistance, looks good and requires little maintenance. As a bonus, at the end of their useful life the bridges can be recycled for use as a high performance ingredient in cement.

Distributed Systems Technology CRC
Knowledge Management System for Fuel Cell Optimisation. Although this entry is not a materials innovation itself, nor does it come from a company we have decided to include it for information purposes because it supports a materials application. The Fusion project involved a unique collaboration between IT experts, the fuel cell industry and materials scientists to develop a collaborative and interactive knowledge management system that would handle the wide range of diverse data and enable the team to identify trends and correlations to optimise the performance of fuel cells.

Ecoflex Australia
Civil Engineering System. The Ecoflex System uses the structural properties of waste tyres to provide a superior construction product that is cost-effective, horizontally and vertically free-draining, high load bearing, very durable, flexible and can be re-used. There are a wide range of applications including roads, retaining walls, erosion control systems, reinforcing concrete slabs, wave barriers and underground water storage.

Elaco Pty Ltd
High Impact Composites. ELACO™ is a unique technology for creating advanced, cost effective, light-weight composite structures that have an exceptional ability to absorb high levels of impact energy without catastrophic damage. There are many applications within the aviation, space, rail, maritime, automotive and building industries as well as protective clothing such as helmets and workboots.

PicaMS Pty Ltd
Nano and Microanalysis. PicaMS is a science consultant company that offers a materials characterisation service for analysis of problems in materials structure at length scales ranging from 200 picometres (0.2 nanometres) and upwards. The primary focus of PicaMS is to enable the development of better materials and products through nanocharacterisation and physical modelling.

The Laminex Group (Finalist)
Electro-magnetic Interference Shielded Laminate. The Laminex Group have developed a new series of laminates using carbon nanotubes that shield against electro-magnetic interference making it perfect for computer rooms, rooms with sensitive medical imaging equipment or where RF signals are a problem. The laminate is also antistatic.

VSL Australia Pty Ltd
Ductal High-Performance Concrete. Ductal is a reactive powder concrete with a very high compressive strength and a flexural strength up to 10 times that of current high-performance concretes. The durability is 30 times better than conventional concrete. The toughness of Ductal has been exploited in a new range of blast and impact resistant panels.

XeroCoat Pty Ltd (Finalist)
Anti-Reflective and Anti-Fogging Coating. XeroCoat™ is a simple, low cost, single coating process to obtain non-reflective or anti-fogging coatings on transparent glass and plastics. It is applied as a liquid and can be cured at ambient temperature and pressure. The anti-reflective (AR) coating gives a very impressive light transmission performance in excess of 99% with a thickness between 100nm and 200nm. XeroCoat is anti-fogging because the hyrophilic porous surface prevents the formation of droplets.

Advanced Nanotechnology Limited
Nanoparticle Manufacturing. ANL has developed a mechanochemical solid-state process for the manufacture of dispersible nanopowders. The resultant powder is non-clumping and uniform in size. The size of the particles can vary from 5nm and up depending on the customer's requirements and it is also possible to produce well-defined shapes (ie rods or plates). All this using standard industrial equipment and chemicals.

CAP-XX Pty Ltd (Finalist)
High Power Supercapacitor. CAP-XX has used nano-structured materials and excellence in manufacturing to produce the world's highest power supercapacitors for their size. CAP-XX Supercapacitors store up to 2 Farads of electricity (compared to micro-Farads for ordinary capacitors) in a thumb-nail size package - a big plus for portable electronics.

Corbro Pty Ltd
Advanced Flooring for Horses. After 8 years of development Corbro has unveiled a superior flooring system for equine care. A unique combination of materials provide resilience and rebound properties while the patented hole and channel system makes the Corbro bed easy to clean and maintain. The Corbro bed is equivalent to 600mm of fresh straw but is impervious to moisture and doesn't promote bacteria growth.

CSIRO Light Metal Flagship (People's Choice Finalist)
High Strength Castings. The new Light Metals Flagship heat-treatment can double the strength of complex high-pressure die-cast aluminium parts. The new treatment can be used to treat conventional high-pressure die-castings without blistering or distortion while significantly improving strength, ductility and other mechanical properties as well as surface appearance.

Dry-Treat Pty Ltd
ACID-PROOF™. Marble and limestone are popular food preparation area materials but common acids, lemon juice, cola, champagne, can eat away the surface if left undetected. ACID-PROOF is the first penetrating sealer which provides an acid resistant barrier for stone and other porous surfaces whilst keeping the natural appearance. It also increases the wet-slip resistance. The sealer can be applied by low-pressure spray pump and is dry within a few hours.

Hydrexia Pty Ltd (Winner)
Solid Hydrogen Storage System. Demand for hydrogen storage is being driven by the adoption of hydrogen fuel cells but the current storage methods suffer from poor safety, low energy density and high cost. Hydrexia's solution stores the hydrogen as a solid within the structure of a magnesium alloy. It can hold four times more hydrogen than the gas system, is safer and is based on low cost casting processes, cutting the cost by one fifth.

LSM Advanced Composites Pty Ltd
Guscott Carbon Fibre Electric Violin. Guscott Australia is a crafter of world-best premium electric stringed instruments. They approached LSM to develop a composite violin that would be strong, light-weight and most importantly, stay true to the Guscott sound. LSM delivered a Alyssa-Mae style violin with a robust one piece body, neck and head construction that is 20% lighter than average acoustic violin.

LSM Advanced Composites Pty Ltd
CSIRO "Mantis" Unmanned Helicopter. The "Mantis" required a low cost, light weight, structural fuselage to carry the electronic operating equipment for the sensing and vision systems. Obviously it also had to resist external electronic interference.

LSM Advanced Composites (People's Choice Finalist)
Ultra Commuter Electric Car. Again ultra light-weight and strong materials were needed for the "Ultra Commuter" project as optimum power to weight ratios are essential to ensure maximum efficiency for electric cars. The compact 2-seater offers a solar powered electric alternative for Australian urban transport.

Microwave & Materials Designs Pty Ltd
Superconductor Microwave Filter. As wireless telecommunications grow, sharper filters are required to optimise resources. M&MD's mobile phone receive filter using high temperature superconductor material exhibits remarkable performance, far superior to conventional microwave filters. M&MD have also patented a technique using porous ceramics to allow the extra cooling required for transmit filters while also reducing the manufacturing cost. These are due out sometime this year.

Quickstep Technologies Pty Ltd
Composite Melding. Quickstep's curing process is completed between two beds of fluid, producing parts with superior performance characteristics and mechanical properties as good as autoclaved products despite only taking 20% - 35% of the time to produce. Melding is a combination of melting and welding that joins two composites without fasteners or secondary adhesives. Quickstep's Melding works by precisely controlling the temperature at the join site and can meld one part to another to create larger or more complex parts without the potential weakness of a secondary bond.

SPF Manufacturing
Laboratory Benchtops. ANU, KPD Manufacturing and SGF Laboratories have ventured together to form SPF Manufacturing to produce SPF Lite - a new alternative to conventional polymer concrete laboratory benchtops. SPF Lite is a reinforced chemically resistant resin material formed around a lightweight core that comes in a range of previously unobtainable colours. The benchtops are also resistant to mechanical or cryogenic liquid cracks.

Streamline Catamarans Pty Ltd
Composite Kitset Boats. Using ATL Composites' DuFLEX™ panels in a kitset form allows Streamline Catamarans to build lightweight craft to custom specifications. The DuFLEX panels sandwich a balsa or foam core between epoxy or glass outer skins. For the same strength they reduce the weight of the boat by 33%, allowing smaller motors to be used to obtain the same speeds. Smaller motors means smaller tanks and petrol savings for the customer.

UCOM Ten Pty Limited
Temperature Independent Crystal Oscillator. "Quartz movement" - we hear it as a catchcry of quality for watches. Quartz is also used in communications but alas, quartz is temperature dependant and therefore not as reliable as needed. UCOM Ten have come up with a material that has the electronic properties of quartz but is temperature-independent allowing near-atomic precision in a small package. (no website)

Very Small Particle Company (Fianlist)
Industrial Scale Production of Metal Oxide Nano-materials. Production of complex metal oxide nano-materials, involving 5 or more metal elements has not previously been achieved at an industrial scale. VSPC's pilot plant manufactures 60 tonnes per year and the company is now acknowledged as an international leader in its field. The method produces a homogeneous product with uniform properties at lower cost than alternative processes.

The entries will be judged on the following criteria:

• Technology (30)
  • Innovative/creative use of material
  • New technology or new application
• Functionality (20)
  • Appropriate fulfilment of need
  • Safe and efficient solution
• Commercial (25)
  • How much risk was involved in the development of the innovation
  • Evidence of market research / knowledge of market
  • Export potential
  • Size of company
• Social Impact (15)
  • Environmental benefits
  • Australian employment benefits
  • Ability to inspire spin-offs, new research, new applications.
• Collaboration (10)
  • Evidence of collaboration with research institute.

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