Taking advantage of our innovation opportunity – The ATSE New Fellows’ guide to better living

What a stellar array of thinkers and do-ers, working together to solve the most complex challenges and build a better world.

Maria set us off in the right direction right from the get-go, asking how can we effect a step change? And what’s required to transform great ideas and research into game-changing innovation to support sustainable living?

The answers that came through again and again today emphasised the inter-connectedness of everything; the need to listen to all parts of the system, including end-users and our must vulnerable communities, and the brilliance and opportunity that can emerge when different systems and sectors are working together at scale and speed.

There’s no doubt climate change is the biggest challenge of our times, Xiwang said. And Pep acknowledged that we’ve already missed the boat for limiting warming to 1.5 degrees. Australia is one of the richest countries in the world – and the richest countries should reach their targets, decarbonize their economies much faster than the rest.

Bringing home the point, Rachelle told us about the increasingly hostile conditions for remotely-based minerals industry workers - the number of 50 degrees-plus days is in Australia’s remote north is growing.

Xiwang’s challenge is to utilise carbon dioxide as a resource – to convert it to useful products for application in industrial processes powered by renewable energy. And Zongli’s new membranes have all kinds of applications in energy, water and the environment.

Paul was optimistic about the potential - Australia’s a world leader in taking up rooftop solar PV – but he cautioned that investors often hold out for well-established technologies… so governments play a crucial role in supporting leaps of faith.

Shadow Minister Paul Fletcher agreed that government has a role (but perhaps not individual ministers!), He lauded Australia’s extraordinary research capability, and expressed the challenge of working out which innovation to back… emphasizing the critical role of learned academies like ATSE to provide independent advice and guidance to decision-makers – (I happen to wholeheartedly agree on that point!).

Renewables technologies are hugely capable, Chuan said, but they still cost too much. He agreed that we need to find ways to make these technologies more efficient and accessible. Low-cost solar cells and more efficient batteries are Lianzhou’s focus, too. His work is being applied in an astonishing breadth of settings.

Innovative green materials being integrated into structural engineering projects are not possible without cross-sector collaboration, and are being made to be accessible and reduce waste, Yan said.

Perhaps Pep’s tsunami of new satellites – and the new world of information and capability they bring – will support better carbon accounting and planning. Michelle agreed that access to data now and into the near future is incredible and exciting.

That exciting future is hopefully good news for health and medical technologies. David revealed the stark reality that – although we’re living longer, the next generation’s quality of life will be lower – with more chronic disease, and more disability.

Alex challenged us all to focus on the application of technology to tackle inequity in particular – noting heart disease, cancer, diabetes drive 80% of life expectancy disparity for Aboriginal Australia.

With a global career in pharmaceuticals, and having founded some game-changing companies, Craig says we need to be in the game of product development; if we’re doing lots of clinical trials in Australia then Australians get the twin benefit of taking part, and building more innovation for our economy.

Misty agrees. She’s using patient’s own immune cells to target and destroy brain cancer cells, and she’s working with surgeons, patients, communities and industry partners to work out how to best make a difference in patients’ lives – as well as mentoring young Indigenous aspiring researchers to achieve real-world benefits for scientific discovery.

Anne’s a pragmatic optimist – she believes we can have both equitable access AND commercial success. She’s worked the system and funded 45 new medical devices to the tune of $80m, growing a return on investment to NSW Health of $100 billion – living demonstration of the value of government investment in innovation.

Sarah’s work in aerospace and civil engineering is also powered by investment by government and industry – she encouraged industry to jump in and support government-funded programs to drive commercialisation.

Speaking on behalf of Iris, Desiree agreed that the system needs to support innovation. It takes 1,375 days between registering a vaccine with the TGA and achieving listing for reimbursement. Desiree urged us to fix this to enable access to crucial treatments for Australians who need them.

Anne-Marie might have the answer – she’s committed her career to moving the needle on commercialising medical research. And Angeline seems to have cracked the system - she’s feeding Australia, through 1200 innovations and counting, focusing on both creating more food, and on using new technologies to tailor health interventions for individuals. It’s the same kind of approach being taken by Liming, whose conductive polymers can support efficient delivery of health services to remote communities.

Rachelle sees an opportunity to apply the lessons of sport science, connected with wearables and great weather modelling, to support the health, safety and wellbeing of remote workers in mining.

But increasingly people are opting to skip the fly in-fly out approach altogether, and demanding the kind of autonomous systems made possible by advanced sensing and robotics.

Rachel’s enormous uniformed and civilian workforce is also operating in challenging environments. With the current skills squeeze, it makes sense to use autonomous systems to complement the staffed naval fleet, and it’s an exciting opportunity to weave together industrial, academic and trade-based skillsets to rapidly develop and deliver cutting edge solutions.

That inter-connected approach to bringing together not only multiple research disciplines, but also multiple sectors and perspectives, is driving James’s developments. He tries to put himself in the shoes of the other person – and implores researchers to be mindful of the real-world context, and industry to remember that they need to be part of the process rather than expecting a neat, ready-made solution.

James said he had the good fortune to marry an Australian woman. James, looking at your global impact, I must observe that this was also Australia’s good fortune.

Jane asked us to consider the importance of life-long nurturing for the skills we need. Karen says if Australia’s best and brightest want their life’s work to have meaning, and to fix the problems that concern them, they need to work in, or with, industry to bring practical solutions at scale.

Diverse, skilled research and development workforces also bring immense creativity. Scale and diversity resonate with Frank’s approach too, as his truly multi-disciplinary and cross-sector team packs very small molecules into nano-scale particles to control their release where, and when, they’re needed – whether that’s fertilisers or diabetes drugs.

Speaking of cross-sector – AI is popping up in some unexpected places, like Netflix, Toby told us. But we need to be mindful of the unintended consequences of clever algorithms… social media might soon be viewed in the same way as tobacco and alcohol.

On the other hand, Karin acknowledged that social media has opened up and connected the world – not just with our loved ones living elsewhere, but also maintaining connections with our early friends, and to find tribes for those who may struggle to fit in.

Karin’s also excited about the potential for AI to support researchers to navigate vast tracts of information. But we need to know what we want from it – one AI-scientist has run its own experiment and even its own peer review. Do we want that to be the future of science?

Clinton’s humanoid robots might also challenge our notions of how people and machines interact but they will also change our lives for the better. And David reminded us that effective AI requires enormous energy and infrastructure, powered by photonics.

Technology can, and should, be both practical, and also beautiful, Fiona said, reminding us that we don’t have to lose our sense of style as we age.

And for those in their twilight years who may want to go fishing… Michelle brings good news, with the very latest in real-time information to help us fish, swim, and surf safely.

Kim finished the day in style, with a focus on Australia’s built advantage. Gabrielle sees an exciting challenge in encouraging people to change, taking a human approach to new technology, and in applying mining profits to invest in opportunities like space technology.

Planning, consultation, and bringing communities along is also vital, Guy reminded us. Let’s get it right for the people: after all, without them, what are we doing it all for?

Well, we’ve been racing on the wheel today and making new brain cells.

We’ve had a bit of a taste of the near future. In our immediate future… next year ATSE celebrates 50 years, and we have a couple of special events to celebrate.

In September we’ll be bringing together learned academies like ours from around the world for a major conference in Brisbane – Generations – in which we’ll ask leading Australian and global innovators to paint us an optimistic vision of how the emerging technology of today can build the sustainable world of 50 years hence. Please grab a brochure on your way out.

We’ll hope to see you when we come together in October in Adelaide, for the 2025 new Fellows showcase and Awards dinner – please keep an eye on the ATSE website and newsletter for the details.

But before I get ahead of myself, tonight at the 2024 ATSE Awards dinner, we’ll hear from political leaders in Victoria and Australia, welcome a broad spectrum of leaders from across science, technology and engineering industry and research, and of course announce and celebrate the winners of ATSE’s prestigious national awards for exceptional Australian innovation.

Thank you once more to all the speakers, and to the team, who’s worked hard to bring together our events this week. A particular thank you to the events, membership and communications staff who are the engine room behind this event.

Please make your way to the foyer where you’re welcome to continue your conversations… as you know, this room is also tonight’s dinner venue so please clear your table now so that the team can re-set the room for our celebrations.

Thanks to Lyn, we can look forward to that tipple with a clear conscience!

Thank you, and see you there.