Tech Transfer Talk

In this episode, I had the opportunity to catch up with my colleague, business partner and good friend, Dr Rohan Rainbow, who has been a leading voice in the implementation of agricultural technologies in Australia for over 30 years. His early childhood journey moved him from suburban Melbourne to farming in rural Victoria, followed by South East South Australia and then settling in the Clare Vall...

In this episode, I had the opportunity to catch up with Andy Shafer , who's been a leader in building businesses in the 21 st century biobased economy. A Dow Chemical alumnus, he started his 'bio-journey' with NatureWorks , a Joint Venture between Dow Chemical and Cargill , where he had a leadership role in bringing PLA to market. He then moved to Elevance Renewable Sciences for 9 years, establish...

In this episode, we reflect on Science Meets Parliament 2024 – a bespoke training event run annually by Science and Technology Australia . This event brings together emerging scientists and Australian federal parliamentarians to strengthen connections between STEM professionals and decision-makers. I chat with Sharath Sriram , President of Science Technology Australia, RMIT Professor and start up...

In this special episode, I had the privilege of talking with David Thodey AO , whose experiences and roles have included board and chair roles in organisations such as Xero , CSIRO , Ramsay Health Care ,   Telstra , and Chancellor Elect at the  University of Sydney . David is also a figurehead and thought leader within AICD , particularly around innovation and the role that it can play in Australi...

In this episode, we get the chance to catch up with Anne-Marie Perret , an independent advisor and significant contributor to the Canberra innovation ecosystem through her roles as mentor and board member with several ventures. Anne-Marie is also an active member of the Griffin Accelerator (which works alongside the Canberra Innovation Network ) as advisor, board member and angel investor. I was p...

In this episode, I had the opportunity to talk with Megan Steele , from CGIAR Accelerate for Impact Platform . Perhaps more accurately, she spoke with me as I offered my thoughts on  Scouting and Mobilising Intellectual Property . We frame the conversation around a series of questions 'What problem are you solving?', 'How can you solve this problem and create value for stakeholders?' through to 'W...

In this episode, we discuss the current challenges in tech transfer capacity, capabilities and resourcing within the Australian innovation system with Natalie Chapman . Natalie found her passion for tech transfer in her time at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation ( ANSTO ) after a short stint in the finance sector. Missing the science, she found a way to combine her interest...

In this episode, we discuss a different lens through which to look at entrepreneurship with   John Bloomer . John has taken a journey from chemistry to agricultural seed technologies through advisory and board roles to his newly found vocation within the Church of England. John started his career at ICI and through a period of active mergers and acquisitions through the 1980s and 1990s, arrived at...

In this episode, we have the opportunity to reflect on the recent National Innovation Policy Forum in Canberra last month with my colleague, Dr Faisal Younus, who participated in the event. Thanks to Cooperative Research Australia , we also have been able to weave some excerpts from the panels into our discussions to try to offer some reflections and insights from the day's events. We open with Fa...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of having our first omnipresent guest, Jim Lane , who is everywhere within the biobased economy with his leading daily publication The Digest . In the midst of driving the Bold Goals Initiative, catalysed by the US Inflation Reduction Act, and running the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference (ABLC) , we catch up with Jim on current perspectives on th...

I'm delighted to bring you a special podcast leading up to the 2023 National Innovation Policy Forum, presented by Cooperative Research Australia , to bring leaders from business, government, research – and boundary spanning organisations to focus on the future of the Australian innovation system.  I had  the opportunity to have a pre-forum conversation with co-patrons Catherine Livingstone AO and...

In this episode, I have the great pleasure of having our first guest, Maurice Moloney , make a return appearance to revisit what's been happening in protein over the past two years since our first discussion. Coming off the back of the International Rapeseed Congress (in September 2023), we explore the decline, or indeed collapse, of the alt-meat market and what the prospects are for it reaching i...

In this episode, my guest is Shona Faber , Non-Executive Director of ARB Corporation , previously Managing Director CRC Industries, and General Manager of Specialty Gases & Chemicals at BOC. We talk about her experiences in bringing EDN, a novel fumigant chemical, licensed from CSIRO Entomology to market in her role at BOC. In discussing the journey that unfolded in this product coming to market,...

In this episode we talk with Elena Kelareva , CEO and Founder of GippsTech , about her experiences in establishing innovation systems in regional areas, and her reflections on the behavioural and cultural settings behind successful regional innovation ecosystems. We touch on the definition of tech transfer and tease out a distinction between innovation translating scientific outcomes and entrepren...

In this episode we had the chance to catch up with Cameron Hibbert , a long-standing colleague and friend, who has been in global licensing roles at LyondellBassell Industries and Genomatica . We talk about when I first met Cameron at Montell and his journey to Germany through carrying responsibility for technology transfer at the Geelong polypropylene production plant. We explore his experiences...

In this episode, we were pleased to have a wide-ranging discussion with Professor Paul Wood AO. We talk about his start at CSIRO and the pathway to his breakthrough in TB tests for cattle in the Northern Territory, and how it opened a pathway into animal and human health research leadership. We discuss a few 'sliding door' moments with Paul around Qiagen , Cellestis , CSL and Pfizer , and how he e...

In this episode, I have the great privilege of chatting with Alan Finkel . We revisit key formative moments at Monash University and ANU , and the opportunities that emerged from the challenge of accessing and developing the best fit for purpose equipment. We discuss the difference between framing questions and solving problems through a discussion of the Engineering Method, an approach that under...

In this episode, we continue our discussions with Paul Martin exploring the challenges of clean hydrogen scale up, the market forces and Hopium driving current government and industry activity. We discuss distributed production of ammonia and urea and the impact of diseconomies of scale and consequences of parallelisation. We reflect on alternative feedstocks, such as lignocellulose, with a passin...

In this episode, we are delighted to have Lesley Lightfoot and Jeremy Wurm join us from Brooker Consulting discussing the challenges of building the right teams in the early stages of technology transfer and new ventures. We look at their philosophies and approaches on how to engage candidates for the dynamic roles associated with startups. We discuss the 'Founder's Dilemma' around building teams...

In this episode, we are delighted to have Paul Martin join us to explore the challenges of clean hydrogen scale up, the market forces, and Hopium driving current government and industry activity.  In Part 1 of our discussions with Paul, we reflect on the history of hydrogen as a fuel, which traces it way back to the 1990s, the rise of Hopium and the associated belief systems that don't pay the att...

In this episode, Dr Katherine Woodthorpe AO joins us to explore the challenges of moving from start-up to scale-up. From addressing foundational tech transfer challenges such as articulating product benefits and identifying market needs, we discuss tech transfer as being the first step on a journey of technology commercialisation and business establishment. Scaling up emerged from the recent Natio...

In Part 2 of our discussions with Dr Victor Pantano, co-founder and former CEO of Digitalcore and current Director of Liquid Instruments, we hear about the highs and lows of taking a deep tech start up along the journey from establishment, through market engagement, team building, growth and financing rounds to exit success.   Building upon our last podcast with Victor, the conversation reinforces...

In the first of two discussions with Dr Victor Pantano from ANU, Founder and former CEO of Digitalcore and current Director of Liquid Instruments, we hear about the first phase of transitioning research into a commercial spin-out including the importance of due diligence and building a comprehensive understanding of IP assets and their role in value creation. Building upon our last podcast with Ju...

In our discussion with Julian Turecek, Executive Director of Corporate Carbon, former Investment Manager at Cleantech Ventures and previously in leadership roles at Energy Australia and Origin Energy, we hear about some of his experiences and reflections on the importance of technology, teams and markets in assessing venture investments. This podcast is timely with increasing demands on capital ma...

We are delighted to share episode #13 where Cameron, our podcast host, reflects on the range of themes we have had through our first 12 podcasts and in which he specifically explores the importance of time and timing in tech transfer.