GOVERNMENT

The deadline for entry in the $70,000 The Australian Innovation Challenge awards, honouring excellence in fields from minerals and energy to ICT and community services, has been extended until September 23.

Now is your chance to showcase your bright idea by entering the challenge, which is run by The Australian in association with Shell and supported by the federal government statutory body, Innovation Australia.

As previous winners and finalists attest, the awards, now in their third year, are helping to drive breakthroughs to commercialisation or adoption.

Innovation policy expert Dr Terry Cutler is chairing the judging panel. Australian chief scientist Professor Ian Chubb and CSIRO chief executive Dr Megan Clark are among leaders from academe, industry, government and the science agencies judging the awards.

Some entrants are already reaping the benefits – prestige and ongoing publicity in Australia’s main national daily newspaper as well as much-needed prize money.

Professor Veena Sahajwalla, of the University of NSW, won the overall prize in the professional categories last year for “green” steelmaking – a process that transforms old tyres into a raw material for use in electric arc furnace steelmaking.

Victorian inventor Frank Will won the backyard innovation prize for OVER7, a system to cut fuel consumption in cars.

The Australian, Shell and the federal government will champion your innovation if you get a high score. To get the message out, the best entries will be featured in a prominent position in The Australian and The Weekend Australian over several weeks and showcased on the awards website and in a dedicated magazine.

The online entry form and all the details of the awards, including category definitions, the judging criteria, the judging panel, supplementary material requirements, the entry procedure, rules and stories on past winners, are on the awards website at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/innovationchallenge

The seven professional categories open to specialists (including scientists, engineers, technologists, educators and innovators in community services) are:

• environment, agriculture and food 
• minerals and energy 
• health 
• ICT 
• education 
• manufacturing and hi-tech design (designs either taken up in Australia or exported) 
• community services.

Many of these categories also cover enabling technology, such as nanotechnology, advanced materials and biotechnology.

The professional category winners will receive prizes of $5000. The overall winner will receive a further $25,000.

An eighth category, backyard innovation, is open to the public and has a $10,000 prize.

The judging criteria are:

• scientific or technological excellence and novelty 
• potential benefit and impact 
• sustainability and end-user benefit 
• commercialisation, adoption or take-up, including plans for paths to market for early-stage development work.

The awards are open to individuals and teams, and you can enter more than one project. International collaborative projects are eligible as long as the work was driven from Australia.

The awards recognise innovation purely for the public good as well as breakthroughs with a direct commercial focus.

Winners in the 2011 and 2012 awards who wish to enter this year must enter different projects. Entrants, including finalists, in the 2011 and 2012 awards who did not win a prize may enter the same projects in 2013 but must explain how the work has developed in the meantime.

Entries close at 2359 AEST Monday, September 23, 2013. 
For entry details visit: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/innovationchallenge