A surprise visit to Tonsley Innovation District by Prime Minister Scott Morrison was well-timed ahead of the annual SA Science Excellence and Innovation Awards at the Main Assembly Building on Friday.
On a flying State visit, including to the federal Boothby electorate, Mr Morrison popped in to Tonsley tenant, advanced carbon nanotube X-ray machine manufacturer Micro-X, which has been awarded an $8 million product development grant from the Australian Government.
“Securing economic recovery is now the big challenge we face. And to do that, we need to be investing in the industries that create the jobs,” Mr Morrison told a media gathering.
“We invested $8 million, to develop this technology (and) that alone created 20 jobs, but it will create far more in the collaboration that has occurred between the entrepreneurs of Micro-X, the scientists and the graduates coming out of Flinders University, and the partnership that is here with both State and Federal Government to make this happen.”
While at Micro-X, Mr Morrison met Flinders University graduates Bachelor of Science (Microbiology) Rebecca Santrac and her mother Susanne Sahlos – Bachelor of Science (Honours)(Nanotechnology) – who have both supported the Micro-X-Flinders University STEM Fast Track program, a finalist in this year’s State Government Science Excellence and Innovation Awards.
Later in the day, the winners of the awards were announced. They included:
- Innovator of the Year (Sponsored by Novatech): Flinders University Associate Professor Justin Chalker
- STEMM Educator of the Year – University or RTO (Sponsored by Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Telstra): Flinders Professor of Innovation Giselle Rampersad
Accepting the award on behalf of his team at the Chalker Lab, Associate Professor Chalker congratulated all of the finalists, including fellow College of Science and Engineering experts Professor David Lewis and Associate Professor Jonathan Campbell for their sustainable and innovative collaboration with recycled timber product company 3RT.