NSW’s incredible commitment to R&D throughout the pandemic
Image: NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and NSSN Research Theme Leader for Environment and AgTech Dr Tomonori Hu, at the opening of the ANSTO Innovation Precinct and the nandin incubator.
In this article, NSSN Research Theme Leader for Environment and AgTech Dr Tomonori Hu, gives his perspective on NSW’s incredible commitment to R&D throughout the pandemic.
Earlier this month, I had the honour of speaking with the NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian at the opening of the ANSTO Innovation Precinct and the nandin incubator. Despite her busy schedule, having her open the precinct shows the deep commitment towards supporting the start-ups, SMEs and businesses that will build the future jobs of NSW. And it’s not just show, there is serious financial support from the government such as the $28 million mission to tackle bushfires, the $5 million Physical Science Fund and the $12 million behind the SBIR programs.
If you asked me two years ago, I could not have envisioned the NSW Government’s turbo-charged commitment to R&D that we are seeing today. There are so many opportunities available to support smart sensing – a handful that I will mention below – that make this a really exciting time to be working in the innovation sector in NSW.
Rewind to February 2020. I was at the SPIE Photonics West Conference in San Francisco as a volunteer helping to run the Entrepreneur Program (I was only vaguely aware of COVID-19 and very few people were avoiding handshakes at the conference!).
Image (left to right): Dirk Fabian (Community Lead at SPIE), Latifah Amber Maasarani (NSF Graduate Research Fellow), Farzin Samadani (NSF I-Corps Instructor), Tomonori Hu (NSSN Theme Leader), John Greivenkamp (SPIE President), at the SPIE Photonics West Conference, 2021 San Francisco.
The US has always been a place of inspiration for me and this program was no different. With over US$25k up for grabs for the best start-ups in photonics I met some incredible teams with brilliant ideas ranging from gas-leak imaging using quantum detectors to compound-eye (insect-inspired) cameras for 3D filming, and AI-enabled optical sensing for raw milk on farms.
More impressive however was the sheer support provided by the US innovation ecosystem. Big ideas need big support and for the average grad student in the US I saw a natural path for future entrepreneurs to establish a career in deep technology.
On top of the cash funds offered by the SPIE Entrepreneurs Program, another US$50k plus free business development training was available from the NSF I-Corps Program, as well as access to funds via the famous US SBIR grants (multi-round, >US$200k grants provided by the US federal government to solve their key challenges). All this added up to a strong ecosystem of support for bright, young scientists and entrepreneurs just starting out on their innovation journey.
Being an entrepreneur developing deep-tech science myself, I came back to NSW feeling overwhelmed and wishing similar support was on offer here. Just prior to my trip the NSW Government had called for submissions towards its Accelerating R&D in NSW initiative, inviting ideas on how NSW could do better. As one of the Theme Leaders at the NSW Smart Sensing Network, I offered my two cents - wishing for our own equivalent to the SBIR in NSW.
Fast forward to 2021 and we are now in a very different world emerging from a pandemic and with a strong need to return to normal. The NSW Government is rebuilding its economy and has made it very clear that innovation will be key to our economic success by investing strongly in our capacity to conduct world-class research and development in the state and to nurture innovative ideas.
The Accelerating R&D in NSW Action Plan lays out a clear ambition and the actions we will take to achieve it. To name just a few actions:
NSW Research Networks are being established – NSSN proudly being the first of a growing number of Networks that connect research, industry and government to solve gripping challenges.
NSW Innovation Precincts are being set up – precincts to attract national and global technologies and investments.
NSW Physical Sciences Fund – a $5 million fund that supports the development of new and innovative devices and systems within NSW, across the branches of the physical sciences.
NSW Bushfire Response R&D Mission – the NSW Government will direct $28 million into research and development to better prepare the state for future bushfires.
NSW SBIR Programs are now launched – a call for NSW-based SMEs to solve well-defined challenges being faced by NSW government agencies with a path to future government contracts (from my perspective - they listened,and delivered!).
So again - it’s definitely an exciting time to be working in innovative technologies, supported by a state government that understands the importance of nurturing great ideas and the SME’s start-ups and entrepreneurs behind them.
About us
Image: NSSN Research Theme Leader for Environment and AgTech Dr Tomonori Hu.
The NSSN is set up by the NSW government to activate R&D initiatives. The most difficult challenges require the greatest minds - from across industry, government, and universities – to come together and that’s what the NSSN is all about.
As an example, I am looking to assemble researchers across our network to solve one of the SBIR Challenges – the Koala Count Challenge. Earlier this year, we brought together a multidisciplinary team to tackle the problem of Automated Whale Detection at Sea and managed to come up with a sound solution for what seemed an impossible challenge. If you are interested in being part of the Koala Challenge – I would be very interested to hear from you.
I also believe innovation is one of the fundamental pieces to building back NSW. The key is to be able to do this the right way through collaboration and partnerships – and this thought is what gets me out of bed every day.
NSSN Research Theme Leader for Environment and AgTech
Media: Shahrzad Abbasi - M: 0466 548 145