Lab Notes

Welcome to a very special episode of Labnotes!  For our 50th edition of the show we recorded LIVE from the Future Health Expo at the University of New South Wales, diving into the world of spinouts and deep tech investment with a panel of three guests from the Venture Capital and Angel Investment sector. Join us to hear how Alejandra Romero (Main Sequence Ventures), John Kurek (UniSeed) and Mian B...

Until recently you might have called James a typical scientist, working away in the labs of the University of Melbourne to understand the way that muscle tissues develop and how new therapies might improve the lives of patients. But in 2019 his career took a dramatic turn when a curiosity about culturing meat as an alternative to farming livestock brought James to the attention of George Peppou an...

What does it take to be an effective entrepreneur?  Mark Swinnerton is the founder and CEO of the energy storage startup Green Gravity, but he comes to this role with a tremendous depth of skills earned over two decades rising through the ranks of one of Australia’s largest companies, BHP. It's a personal resource that Mark draws on daily as he builds a team to help tackle the climate crisis. And...

As the world strives for net-zero there are many tough questions to solve, but among the toughest is the need to replace the literal foundations of our built environment.  Clare Tubolets is the CEO of SmartCrete, a Cooperative Research Centre that brings together research and industry to tackle the challenge of decarbonising concrete, the ubiquitous and indispensable building material that current...

For much of the 20th century Bell Labs was a nursery of ambitious research, helping to usher in the information age with practical innovations including the transistor, lasers and photovoltaics.  Prof. Ben Eggleton is one Bell Labs alumni who has continued its culture of applied innovation, and the Eggleton Lab at the University of Sydney is now known as a global leader in optical physics, photoni...

No sector has a monopoly on innovation and the focus on universities and startups often overlooks a major group driving research and development in Australia, the SMEs.  Daniel Gronowski is a management consultant charged with delivering the Entrepreneurs Programme, the nation's flagship program to drive growth and innovation among small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs). Dan brings a great deal of exp...

Exuberant and irrepressible, Cheryl Mack has been making a splash in the Australian startup ecosystem from the day she arrived.  After moving to Sydney in 2013 the Canadian-Australian introduced herself to the local startup scene through diligent networking and her leading role in establishing StartCon, a national convention for founders, investors and innovators backed by Freelancer.com. She has...

In 1999 a team of ANU researchers founded Seeing Machines based on their shared insight that robots and humans would need to understand one another. The idea was prescient, but the process of turning that idea into a commercial reality proved harder than any of the founders had imagined. Ultimately, the Seeing Machines board turned to the serial entrepreneur Ken Kroeger to revive this troubled spi...

Twenty years before SPEE3D was formed its two founders could be found pushing custom built solar cars to their limits in a 3000 km race across the Australian Outback. Fortunately, Steven Camilleri and Byron Kennedy didn't remain rivals for long and the pair formed a lasting friendship based on their race experiences and a shared love of engineering. With the support of their supervisor and mentor...

The Brief is a quick-fire show where we break down two concepts from science and business. On today’s episode Leo and Marc explore some of the ways the government and investors seek to shape the innovation ecosystem towards social good. Marc takes a look at the ARC's grants program for Indigenous scholars, while Leo does his best to unpack the concept of impact investing. Listen in as we discuss t...

Creating a strong innovation ecosystem requires the open sharing of ideas between academia, industry, entrepreneurs and investors, and Tim Boyle was among the first to get that chain reaction underway.  Originally trained in biochemistry, Tim pivoted away from the academic career path after an isolating research fellowship at the University College London but soon found his place in the world of c...

The Brief is a quick-fire show where we break down two concepts from science and business. On today’s episode Marc explains the local vocational education system while Leo unpacks the bad leaver clause in shareholder agreements.  Listen in as we discuss these two concepts within 10 minutes! EON LABS :  https://www.eonlabs.org/ HOSTS : Dr. Leo Stevens www.linkedin.com/in/leostevensinc/ Prof. Marc i...

Prof. Patricia Davidson didn't plan her path to the top, but the skills and experiences that she obtained along the way are now proving invaluable for the newly minted VC. First trained as a nurse in the 1980's, Patricia's learned the importance of patience, empathy and communication at the bedside. But a love of learning ultimately drew her away from the hospital and towards an academic career, w...

The Brief is a quick-fire show where we break down two concepts from science and business. On today’s episode Leo explains why startup employees have to be patient for their company shares, while Marc takes us deep into the halls of university bureaucracy to understand student complaint management.  Listen in as we discuss and connect these two concepts within 10 minutes! EON LABS :  https://www.e...

The Brief is a quick-fire show where we break down two concepts from science and business. On today’s episode Marc explains how casual workers became a central element of the university workforce, while Leo explains the challenge challenge startup founders face when navigating a falling valuation for their business.  Listen in as we discuss and connect these two concepts within 10 minutes! EON LAB...

It's not often you will find scientists ghost-hunting at the bottom of a gold mine, but it would be a mistake to assume Prof. Alan Duffy is going to conform to the standard model anytime soon.  Equal parts astrophysicist, science communicator and entrepreneur, Prof. Alan Duffy has spent much of his career searching for Dark Matter, the mysterious, invisible substance that might just be holding our...

The Brief is a quick-fire show where we break down two concepts from science and business. On today’s episode Marc and Leo attempt to explain how the connection between salary and work isn't always straight forward in the world of science and innovation.  Listen in as we discuss and connect two concepts within 10 minutes! EON LABS :  https://www.eonlabs.org/ HOSTS : Dr. Leo Stevens www.linkedin.co...

Government support is a cornerstone of Australian innovation, but navigating the wide array of grants, programs and policies that shape national innovation can be a daunting prospect for aspiring scientists and entrepreneurs. Today, we are pleased to be joined by a man who not only knows this landscape, but is helping to shape it. Originally from Newcastle, Alister Henskens spent two decades pract...

The Brief is a quick-fire show where we break down two concepts from science and business. On today’s episode Leo explains the value of an employee share option, and Marc takes us for a lightning tour of a University Makerspace.  Listen in as we discuss and connect these two concepts within 10 minutes! EON LABS :  https://www.eonlabs.org/ HOSTS : Dr. Leo Stevens www.linkedin.com/in/leostevensinc/...

For many decades robots have outclassed humans in terms of strength and precision, yet their rudimentary ability to sense and understand the world around them has limited their widespread adoption. But thanks to the work of engineers like Dr. Heba Khamis, the robots are catching up fast. Only three years ago, Dr. Khamis was a lecturer and post-doctoral researcher working at the intersection of sen...

The Brief is a quick-fire show where we break down two concepts from science and business. On today’s Marc talks about the shift towards open access publishing in science, while Leo explains what it means for a startup to pivot.  Listen in as we discuss and connect these two concepts within 10 minutes! EON LABS :  https://www.eonlabs.org/ HOSTS : Dr. Leo Stevens www.linkedin.com/in/leostevensinc/...

The Brief is a quick-fire show where we break down two concepts from science and business. On today’s episode Leo gives a long-overdue explanation of DD, and Marc tells us how Australian universities have been teaching international students even without international travel.  Listen in as we discuss and connect these two concepts within 10 minutes! EON LABS :  https://www.eonlabs.org/ HOSTS : Dr....

Being an advocate for social justice, sustainability, art and design has allowed Tom Wilson to develop a unique perspective on sustainability and commercialisation in the surfing industry. Born on the Channel Islands (UK), Tom also lived in Canada before moving to Australia. He is a computer aided designer and environmental scientist by training, earning degrees from the Universities of Salford an...

The Brief is a quick-fire show where we break down two concepts from science and business. On today’s episode Leo explains the importance considering how a product is made as well as how it works, and Marc gives an overview of how you get hired (or fired) at a modern university.  Listen in as we discuss and connect these two concepts within 10 minutes! EON LABS :  https://www.eonlabs.org/ HOSTS :...

For many young scientists, replicating the achievements of Professor Justin Gooding would be a mighty aspiration. But for the man himself, it has been about much more than the milestones. Though born and raised in Melbourne, it was a seven year stint in the United Kingdom that proved to be a pivotal moment in Justin's life. Working at two of the world's most storied scientific institutions, the Un...