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Students from the Illawarra Senior College look at some of the resear... |
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Researchers show how an inkjet printer can work to print nanoscale ma... |
iC opens its doors for Innovation Week
The Illawarra Innovation Showcase was held at the Innovation Campus yesterday, as part of the Australian Innovation Festival. With lectures, tours, a competition and an expo, a range of Illawarra organisations showed some of the ground-breaking achievements happening in the region.
A highlight of the Showcase were tours that allowed members of the public to get inside the groundbreaking research labs of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute.
School groups and other community members were shown the very latest innovations from IPRI, including Solar Cell technology, how researchers print new ‘nanoscale’ materials using inkjet and extrusion printing, improving the delivery of Parkinson’s Disease or epilepsy drugs using polymer-based systems, and growing nerves and muscles to help spinal cord damage.
As well as the tours, Dean of Science Professor Will Price launched the Bionics for 2020 science competition, aimed at students in years eight to 11. Students are asked to think about the future possibilities of bionics and what they would design, and write up their ideas in an essay. The prize includes the chance to visit the Australian Institute of Innovative Materials to work with researchers.
In the evening, presentations covering arts, health and ageing, business, science and sport were given by field experts. Professor Gordon Wallace from IPRI spoke on organic bionics and linking the world of electronics and biology to produce revolutionary medical devices and Professor Jan Potter from the Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute talked about “how to stay upright and well in old age.”
Paul Bourke, from the University of Western Australia, gave the keynote lecture for Innovation Week at the Science Centre & Planetarium. He spoke about science visualisation and engaging display technologies. The Science Centre is using visualisation to demonstrate nanotechnology and is about to open a stereo theatre, which will be an exciting attraction for the region's industries and tourist attractions.