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Trajan spearheading Turnbull Government’s new innovation agenda

Trajan Scientific and Medical has highlighted to Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull that “disruptive innovation” is well underway locally and globally, welcoming him to the company’s Global Headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, to showcase Trajan’s pioneering partnerships with academia and start-ups that are set to become a critical new pillar of the Australian economy.

Chief Executive Officer of Trajan, Stephen Tomisich comments "Trajan identified the vital role of collaboration with other sectors, including academia and start-ups, some time ago. To have the Prime Minister here shows his genuine interest in, and alignment with, what we are already doing. We are enthused and excited by the Australian Federal Government’s refreshed recognition of the importance of innovation within the context of collaboration to the nation’s prosperity.”

The Prime Minister’s visit comes as the Australian Federal Government announces three pillars to its innovation agenda, with the third pillar changing the way universities and academics are funded, making part of their funding dependent on engaging with industry and successfully creating start-ups from their research.

Mr Tomisich continues: “Rolling out new models to fund and nurture innovative start- ups, taking those brilliant concepts and ideas nestled in the labs and lecture halls of universities – Trajan identifies these opportunities and in doing so, essentially creates new IP-based, successful and sustainable ideas and enterprises that can deliver long-term economic benefit.” 

During the visit, discussions covered Trajan’s fresh take on partnering with academia, including the University of Tasmania and The University of Adelaide, demonstrating true “disruptive innovation”, proving many of the Australian Federal Government’s longer term goals around collaboration and support of start-ups are already underway.

Trajan’s strategic collaboration with the University of Adelaide, supported by the South Australian Government, was announced in September 2015 and sees the realization of a research and development and manufacturing hub based on a new generation of specialty glass products for the global science and medical equipment market.

The hub will help scientists in the University’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing (IPAS) and the School of Physical Sciences commercialize their research into products that ultimately benefit human health and wellbeing, and the products have the potential to be utilized in a wide range of medical and scientific applications including genetic testing, biomarker discovery and detection, environmental analysis, food safety testing, testing for drugs of abuse and therapeutic drug monitoring. >

In 2013 an innovative collaboration between the University of Tasmania, Trajan and the Federal Government was announced, and saw the creation of the $5.2 million Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Portable Analytical Separation Technologies (ASTech) at the University. The Researchers are driving at revolutionary new technologies which could see complex medical and industrial testing brought out of the lab and onto a smart phone. The prospect of ‘miniaturizing’ analytical separation technologies – now conducted in large, specialized laboratories – could also produce huge efficiencies in time and logistics.

Bridging the gap between the academic world and real life is a major focus for Trajan, whose focus is on developing and commercialising technologies that enable analytical systems to be more selective, sensitive and specific for biological, environmental or food related measurements - especially those that can lead to portability, miniaturization and affordability.

Mr Michael Sukkar, Federal Member for Deakin, Victoriacommented he was proud to have a business like Trajan in his electorate: “Energising the growth and productivity of local business and enterprise in Deakin is important. Trajan’s business model, which is centred on supporting start-up companies and with its focus on collaboration, there is a very bright future for local innovation, research and development, manufacturing and industry.”

Mr Tomisich concludes it is an honour to be able to share Trajan’s story with the Prime Minister: “Trajan’s vision is that through science interfacing with society, we can impact the well-being of a growing number of communities globally. We are committed to helping the Prime Minister understand more about how Trajan’s collaborative model and technology direction is reflected in the Australian Government’s plans to support growth of the scientific industry here and overseas.

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