Taking ideas beyond the University
AUT Enterprises Limited
ANNUAL REPORT 2013
About AUT Enterprises Ltd
AUT Enterprises Ltd (AUTEL) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and was established in 2005 as the commercialisation arm of the University. AUTEL’s key activities include:
Commercialisa on ServicesThe Commercialisation team focuses on intellectual property (IP) arising from staff and student research at AUT. The team assists with:
• Technology licensing• Spin-out ventures• Commercialisation advice and information• Accessing technical experts• Access to industry, investment and commercial
networks
Consultant ServicesAUTEL Consultant Services aim to streamline AUT’s engagement with government, industry and the public sector by making the process of consultancy easier for AUT academics and the organisation in need of their expertise. Consultant services administered by AUTEL include:
• negotiation of contract terms and conditions• arrangements for use of University facilities• invoicing• debt collection• income distribution• Professional liability and indemnity insurance
Virtual Incuba on of Start-up CompaniesThe Virtual Incubation service is based on a fees for service model. This service is targeted at AUT staff and students and some external companies where value could be added to the companies through engagement with AUTEL commercialisation staff.
Contact us: [email protected]
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Content
Chairman’s Foreword 2
AUTEL Board of Directors 4
Chief Executive Officer’s Report 6
Company Employees 8
Funding Mechanisms 10
Commercialisation & Technology Transfer 14
Commercialisation Projects 16
Consultant Services 22
Consultant Projects 24
AUTEL Events 26
AUTEL Affi lia ons 28
ANNUAL REPORT 2013
AUT Enterprises Limited (AUTEL) was formed in 2005 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of AUT University. This followed the establishment of a commercialisation office at AUT in 2004, responding to growing opportunities created within the University to develop and leverage intellectual property (IP), knowledge and skills.
The Board was initially established under the very capable leadership of Professor Philip Sallis who, after seven years of dedication and sound direction, handed the reins to me, a role I have enjoyed over the past two years. AUT is blessed with a significant number of people with great ideas. It is often said that wealth creation calls for letting commercial risk-takers loose on great ideas. At AUTEL we are fortunate to have dedicated staff capable of managing entrepreneurial ideas and a passion to create something new from small beginnings – people with a knack for making a lot out of very little. During the period under
AUTEL undertakes commercial activities on behalf of AUT by
developing the commercialisation capability in a way that is
sustainable, economically viable and socially responsible.
Chairman’s Foreword
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Mike HannanChairman, AUT Enterprises Ltd.
During the period under review, 2013, significant progress was made and our CEO, Kevin Pryor, has outlined our achievements in detail within his report.
In June, we bade farewell to board member Mark Mathews who was a loyal contributor to the company for a period of eight years, since its formation. I thank Mark most sincerely for his dedication and commitment throughout that period.
In August, we welcomed Dr Claire McGowan as a new AUTEL Board Director. Dr McGowan brings considerable experience in IP commercialisation, capital ventures and already we are benefiting from her input and expertise. On two occasions, the AUTEL Commercialisation team presented an update on their project pipeline and a very useful exchange of ideas with the Board followed. Thank you to Dr Enrico Tronchin, Mitali Purohit and Wilson Huang for the excellent progress you are making with your work. AUTEL Consultant Services (to be rebranded ‘AUT Solutions’) has established a sound base on which to build and will be an important revenue stream contributor throughout the years ahead. I thank Tom Davidson for his work in managing the consultancy portfolio.
I have greatly appreciated and enjoyed the close working relationship with Kevin Pryor (CEO) and Amber Taylor (Office Manager) during the year and I thank them most sincerely for their support to me as Chair. The degree of professionalism and commitment to duty demonstrated by them is to be admired. I also take this opportunity to thank my fellow Board members and AUT attendees for their contributions and active participation during 2013. I have appreciated your input on all matters affecting AUTEL and your attention to sound Governance.
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AUTEL Board of DirectorsMichael Hannan (Chair)Director: NZ Local Government Insurance Corporation Ltd; Lumley General Insurance (NZ Ltd); Local Government Mutual Funds Trustee Ltd. Member: Lumley General Insurance (NZ) Limited Risk and Audit Committee.
Dr John ChangDirector: Auckland BioSciences Limited (Owner & Managing Director); Jardoo Investments Ltd (Owner & Managing Director). Senior Adjunct Fellow: Master of Engineering Management, University of Canterbury. Fellow: NZ Institute of Management. Member: Institute of Directors. Committee Member: Technology Transfer Advisory Committee, University of Canterbury.
Dr Claire McGowanDirector: GNS Science; NZ Extracts Limited; Te Arawa Management Limited (TAML). Managing Director: Commercialisation Advisors Limited.
Phil NormanChair: VMob Group Limited (NZAX listed), Loyalty New Zealand Limited (Fly Buys), ViFX Systems Limited, Nextspace Limited, MyWave Holdings Limited, Straker Translations Limited, CricHQ Limited, Unleashed Software LimitedDirector: Research & Education Advanced Network New Zealand Limited (REANNZ).
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Derek McCormackVice Chancellor: Auckland University of Technology. President: New Zealand Stroke Foundation; Life member (inactive): ASTE / Tertiary Education Union. Trustee/Director: AUT Foundation; Friends of AUT USA Inc.; AUT Millennium Ownership Trust; Auckland Theatre Company; Waterfront Theatre Ltd; New Zealand Stroke Foundation.
Professor John RaineChair: Board of Directors of REANNZ Ltd. Member: Board of Directors of Committee for Auckland Ltd; Board of Trustees of Rotary National Science and Technology Forum.
Mark Mathews (Resigned June 2013)Director: Auckland Football Federation; Nutrizeal Ltd; Canterbury NZ Ltd; Brandfolio Ltd. Member: NZ Society of Accountants. CEO: Good Health Products Ltd.
Dr Andrea VujnovichAUT General Counsel and Director of Governance.
For the year ended 31 December 2013
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Company Secretary
2013 has been a very busy year for AUT Enterprises Ltd. (AUTEL) with a number of new disclosures, an increase in resourcing and staff capability for the technology transfer team, the introduction of a new consulting service for AUT staff and a merger of the commercialisation office with the research office. We had a record number of 35 new disclosures coming from the university which helped fill our pipeline to capacity. During 2013 AUTEL had 21 projects funded by AUT or external funds or a combination of both. The commercialisation team worked with a wide range of research groups involved in a variety of fields including: aquaculture, medical devices, health science rehabilitation, ICT, software apps, intelligent systems, biotechnology, sports strength and conditioning, industrial process optimization, food nutrition and mammalian pest monitoring.
Project Funding 2013The past year has seen AUTEL manage 21 funded projects under the two main commercialisation funds: AUT Commercialisation Fund and Preseed Accelerator Fund (Tiers 1-3 and Seed Kill). For all projects AUTEL operated a full cost recovery model.
AUT provided commercialisation funding of $100,000 for AUT intellectual property-based technologies. A total of 8 projects were allocated funding based on market potential, novel intellectual property, potential to change industry standards and platform technologies that can be applied across different fields. Examples of these projects are outlined in this report.
In 2013 PSAF funding was available through the Kiwi Innovation Network (KiwiNet) investment group. PSAF is designed to facilitate the application of the results of research through supporting commercialisation. AUTEL is part of KiwiNet that consists of 10 partner entities, comprising universities, Crown Research Institutes and agencies. The PSAF fund provides 50% of the total project costs. In 2013 AUTEL allocated $605,000 worth of PSAF funding to 16 projects.
Chief Execu ve Offi cer’s Report
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Consul ng ServicesIn March 2013, AUTEL introduced a new service to help facilitate university staff consulting with external organisations. This service offers administration, client contract negotiation, invoicing and payment support and professional indemnity insurance cover for those staff wishing to engage in consulting with external business and government entities. In the 9 months of operation, the consultancy team have negotiated 20 contracts at $183,000.
Staffi ngIn 2013, the commercialisation team was increased with the addition of two full-time employees allowing for more due diligence and commercialisation capability to be applied to projects. AUTEL also negotiated with the university to have a dedicated accountant to manage the financial systems of the organisation. This brought the staffing complement up to 7 full-time staff.
Looking aheadIn 2014, AUTEL will be looking to build a substantial, quality portfolio of technologies based on university IP that will be attractive to external partners for investment and commercialisation. The consulting activities of AUTEL are expected to grow and make a significant contribution to the revenue flows and reputation of the university and its staff. AUTEL will also work closely with the commercial contracting arm of the Research and Innovation Office (RIO) to increase the levels of business activity in this area.
Conclusion2013 was a year of notable achievement for AUTEL and this is in large part due to the expertise of our Board of Directors and commercialisation staff. Continued confidence in our capabilities has led us to our achievements and the goals we have set for the future. I would like to thank the Board members and staff for their support, contributions and commitment over the last 12 months.
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Company EmployeesChief Executive Officer Kevin Pryor Director of AUT Commercialisation
Office Manager Amber Taylor
Consultant Services Team Business Development Manager - Tom Davidson Consultant Services Manager, Finance & Contracts Rita Jacob
Commercialisation Team Business Operations Manager - Dr Enrico Tronchin Commercialisation Commercialisation Manager Mitali Purohit Business Analyst Wilson HuangFor the year ended 31 December 2013
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2007
2010
2013
The commercialisation team for 2007 consisted of 1 full-time Chief Executive Officer and 1 part-time administration assistant.
During 2010 2 full-time employees were appointed to the team. One fully responsible for commercialisation and one responsible for administration.
In 2013 the commercialisation team increased by another 2 full-time employees, taking the total number of full-time staff to 7.
AUTEL full-time employees: 2005 to 2013
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This section gives an overview of the four main commercialisation funding mechanisms available to AUT Enterprises Ltd.
AUT Internal Commercialisation fund PreSeed Accelerator Fund External investment and industry co-
funding.
The amount allocated to each project varied. Applications were assessed by AUTEL staff and, by external experts in certain instances.
AUT Internal Commercialisation FundAUT Commercialisation Funding is available to support researchers with projects that have:• Novel intellectual property• Market potential• A technology focus, for example,
something that has the potential to change industry standards or platform
technology that can be applied across different fields.
• Interest from industry to take up the technology and apply it.
Funding Mechanisms
AUT INTERNAL FUND
Total cash funding per year $100,000
Total in-kind per year Up to $400,000
PreSeed Accelerator FundThe PreSeed Accelerator Fund (PSAF) is designed to facilitate the application of the results of research through supporting commercialisation. The scheme is intended to foster commercialisation skills, technological learning and technological innovation by public sector research providers. AUT Enterprises Ltd is part of a consortium (KiwiNet) that consists of Universities and Crown Research Institutes. The PSAF fund provides 50% of the total project costs.
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The objectives of PSAF are to:
• Maximise the commercial benefits to New Zealand of previously publicly funded research.
• Raise public sector providers’ commercial capabilities and skills.
• Improve public sector research providers’ links with potential private sector partners.
PSAF funding is split into four smaller funds, one purely for technical development (the Seed/Kill fund) and three directed at commercialisation (Tiers 1-3 funds). For a summary of these categories see page 12. The funding decision for Seed/Kill and Tier 1 investments is devolved to the KiwiNet partner institution. Tier 2 and 3 funding is subject to review by the KiwiNet Investment Committee.
AUTEL has grown considerably over the last seven years and has worked hard to find ways to fund new initiatives and promote investment into innovation and novel product development.[ [
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Seed/Kill FundThe Seed/Kill fund provides up to $30,000 of PSAF investment for each KiwiNet partner to invest in projects that show good commercial potential, but where technical risk is acting as a barrier to commercialisation. The concept is that a comparatively small amount of targeted investment into technology development will hopefully overcome areas of key technical risk in a project and make it a viable commercialisation opportunity.The objectives of this initiative are: • Improve the quantity of new invention
disclosures through addressing areas of key technical risk.
• Maximise efficiency of PSAF investment allocation through targeted investment where technical risk is a key go/kill stage gate.
• Encourage collaboration and sharing of expertise through discussing projects with other KiwiNet members.
• Address a funding gap that exists between when a technology is no longer appropriate for research funding and when a technology is suitable for commercialisation.
KiwiNet has set the following rules for this initiative: • The investment committee will invest
up to 50% of eligible PSAF expenses
for each partner to run the Seed/Kill funding programme at their institution.
• Up to $30,000 of PSAF investment can be claimed across all projects in this initiative per organization.
• Up to 6 projects will be funded for each institution, with a maximum of $15,000 of PreSeed investment that can be claimed per project.
• The funding is intended for projects with budgeted expenses greater than $10,000 (PSAF claim of $5,000).
• Eligible project expenses are limited to employing development staff and purchasing materials and consumables. This investment is not intended for commercialisation activity.
Tier 1-3 FundsEach of the three PSAF commercialisation funding tiers differs in maximum funding amount, eligibility, application process and reporting requirement.
PSAF Tier 1 funding applications are assessed by KiwiNet member institutions whilst applications for tiers 2 and 3 are assessed by a select group of KiwiNet Committee Members.
SEED/KILL FUND
Funding per project Up to $15,000 Total funding per year $30,000
PSAF TIER 1 3 FUNDS
Tier 1 funding per project Up to $25,000 Total funding per year Currently unlimited
Tier 2 funding Up to $100,000Tier 3 funding Over $100,000
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KiwiNet Investment Committee
• Hon Ruth Richardson, KiwiNet Board Chair• Andrew Turnbull - KiwiNet Investment Committee Chair• Duncan Mackintosh - Waikato Ltd• Kevin Pryor - AUT Enterprises Ltd• Geoff Todd - Vicklink Ltd• Tim Balmer - Callaghan Innovation• Neil Tunnell - AgResearch• Dr Nigel Johnson - University of Canterbury• Gavin Ross - Plant & Food Research• Dr Andrew Kelly (Independent)• David Christensen - Otago Innovation Ltd• Dr Phil Hart - Landcare Research• Elizabeth Hopkins - Lincoln University• Greg Smith (Independent)
AUTEL Technology Advisory Group
• Kevin Pryor, AUTEL• Dr Enrico Tronchin, AUTEL • Mitali Purohit, AUTEL• Wilson Huang, AUTEL• Professor John Raine, AUT University• Greg West-Walker, AJ Park• Anton Gibson, AJ Park• Nigel Sharplin, InFact Ltd• Ian McDonald, SMX Limited• Jason Rudkin-Binks, Hudson Gavin Martin• Nick Clements, Building Integration Software Company• Dr Ralf Muller, Duke Engines Ltd• Richard McLean, Concept to Market Ltd
The Commercialisation Team manages AUT’s Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio with the aim of transferring it across to industry, or giving industry access to it, for commercial use.
The team is led by Enrico Tronchin (Business Operations Manager) reporting to Kevin Pryor (CEO). Mitali Purohit (Commercialisation Manager) and Wilson Huang (Business Analyst) make up the remainder of the team, providing key project management and analyst support functions to advance the project pipeline. The team is supported by, and works closely with, other members of the AUTEL team and the wider Research and Innovation Team on matters covering finance, events, R&D and consulting contracts, marketing and more.
The team holds many industry relationships with companies locally and international, as well as investor networks and commercial and IP service providers. It also maintains strategic partnerships with early stage technology funders; KiwiNet, Return on Science, Callaghan Innovation and a range of smaller entities funded by the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.
Commercialisa on & Technology Transfer
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“Our ability to collaborate across internal and external boundaries will determine our commercialisa on success, into the future”
Kevin Pryor, CEO AUT Enterprises Ltd.
Dr Enrico Tronchin Mitali Purohit Wilson Huang
The team is active across the full breadth of AUT and has a regular presence on all campuses, interfacing with research staff and students with an interest in commercialisation. The team’s core functions include:• Introducing networks to
industry and highlighting commercial opportunities to research staff and students
• Training staff and students on commercialisation
• Assisting staff and students with funding applications aimed at commercial outcomes
• Identification of potential IP and facilitating invention disclosure
• Screening new disclosures, including IP searching, market validation and IP
management• Early stage commercial
development to get IP to an investor ready stage
• IP licensing, spin-out company formation and commercial partnership contracting and negotiation
• Finding early-stage investment
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Commercialisa on Projects
Projects that are newly disclosed to AUT Enterprises Ltd are placed in this initial stage. These projects are potentially commercialisable ideas that may or may not have prototypes developed. A brief market assessment is done for these projects. Market assessment includes but is not limited to market trends and needs, competitor landscaping, and patent searching. The commercialisation team may use the domain experts to gain market insights. Feedback is given to the lead investigator and the project will either progress to the next stage or is abandoned if there is no commercial opportunity.
Stage 1: Idea Screening
Projects are categorised into one of the three development stages:
CrunchouseLead researcher: Professor N Kasabov
This project looks to commercialise a patented analytic system for making more accurate predictions of individual outcomes. We have yet to find a potential competitor system that performs true personalised modelling, i.e., modelling at the level of an individual data sample. This analytic system is being commercialised through a joint venture with James & Wells Intellectual Property Lawyers and NEK (Nik Kasabov’s consulting company). The method has been tested on large publicly available data sets (genomic, proteomic, logistic and cyber security).
Potential uses include:• Personalised medical diagnosis, prognosis,
drug design and treatment• Commodity price prediction• Criminal person profiling and fraud
detection
• Personalised profiling for security systems• Churn prediction• Environmental event prediction.
Progress: A patent within New Zealand has been granted. National phase filing has also commenced in the US (being examined) and in Europe (being examined). One trial analysis at a commercial reference site has been completed and another is underway.
Inverse Problem LimitedLead researchers: Professor D Wilson, J Currie & A Prince-Pike
Inverse Problem Ltd (IPL) is an engineering firm formed to develop niche high-tech products and provide consultancy services. The hardware and associated software products are targeted at small-to-medium size manufacturing and process engineering plants to enable increased process insight, production efficiency and reliable operation.
PROJECT LIST - SUMMARY
Stage 1: Idea Screening 6 projects
Stage 2: Opportunity Assessment 2 projects
Stage 3: Development 8 projects
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Projects are progressed to this stage if they show good potential commercial opportunity. This stage builds on the previous stage where more resources are invested in market assessment and talking to the industry and end-users. Possible intellectual property protection methods and strategy are also considered. From the researcher’s standpoint, prototype development should be either in progress, at a lab testing or refining stage, or have been completed and be ready for commercial or clinical trial.
Stage 2: Opportunity Assessment Stage 3: Development
Projects at the development stage should have a clear commercialisation strategy which includes confirmed commercial opportunity, have had engagement with various potential commercial partners, be planning to file or have filed for intellectual property protection, have prototypes fully developed, or undergoing licensing negotiation.
Progress: A subscription and Shareholders’ Agreement and a Royalty Deed between IPL and AUTEL have been fully executed. IPL is currently selling software for the modelling and optimisation of industrial energy units such as steam boilers and turbines through a company website. The development of designing and manufacturing advanced process controllers is underway.
Mammalian Pest Monitoring DeviceLead AUT researcher: S InderProject lead: Lincoln University
Pests such as rats, possums, stoats, etc. can devastate natural habitats and agricultural economies. Pests have a direct effect on food security by reducing crop production and attacking harvested crops. They also affect food security indirectly by reducing market access for exchange of goods, which limits the exchange of food products as well as reducing income that would come from selling agricultural products. Effective surveillance and detection of mammalian pests play an important role in pest control. The Mammalian Pest Monitoring
device is a modern automated detection and identification system for multiple pests. The target markets include (but are not limited to) conservation, biosecurity, transport (shipping containers) and food storage facilities.
The project is led by Lincoln University and Lincoln Agritech.
Progress: A provisional patent has been filed and the design has been registered.
A number of field trials have also been carried out that show the following advantages over the traditional methods of pest monitoring:• Greater interaction by the pests• More accurate• Robust in harsh environmental conditions• Automated with in-device data storage, so
has great potential to reduce labour cost.
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Condi oning New Zealand Shor in EelsLead researcher: Dr J Hirt-Chabbert
The project is related to the improvement of a conditioning methodology applied to New Zealand shortfin eels in aquaculture. The aim is to develop a conditioned shortfin eel that can command much higher prices than unconditioned New Zealand eel in export markets. This is achieved primarily by increasing the fat concentration in the eel flesh to above 20%.
Progress: AUTEL used its external project funding to leverage AUT Faculty and School funds in order to purchase and install a recirculation aquaculture system (RAS). This asset can now be used for ongoing research and attracting large funding grants for aquaculture research. The project is close to completion with samples having been sent to a Japanese distributor of eels for high-end kabayaki style preparation. Plans were also made to send samples to distributors in China, South Korea and the Netherlands. Feedback from Japan and South Korea was negative with our product not making the grade, however the feedback from China was very positive.
A local taste testing was also organised with expert eel chefs and Japanese eel restaurant owners in Auckland. The product was overall well received and preferred to straight wild-caught New Zealand eels.
Dr Jorge Hirt-Chabbert is a recent Postdoctoral Fellow
at AUT and an accomplished applied researcher in finfish aquaculture. During his PhD Dr Hirt-Chabbert invented a protocol for fattening wild-
caught NZ shortfin eels to meet the requirements of premium
international markets. Dr Hirt-Chabbert played a pivotal
role in the acquisition and installation of the recirculation
aquaculture system (RAS), an AUT asset that will afford the
School of Applied Sciences the opportunity to apply for large research grants and continue
to develop an excellence in aquaculture research.
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Stroke Mobile Applica onLead researcher: Professor V Feigin
Stroke Riskometer (Lite and Pro) Stroke Riskometer is a unique and easy-to-use tool for assessing your individual stroke-related risk and providing management advice based on international guidelines. The free version of the app is endorsed by the World Stroke Organization, and the International Association of Neurology and Epidemiology.
Progress: Since its launch in October 2013, the Stroke Riskometer apps have been downloaded over 5200 times and in over 70 countries. The aim is to update the app with additional useful features (such as saving and tracking results).
Professor Valery Feigin is a Professor of Neurology and Epidemiology and the Director of the National Institute for Stroke & Applied Neurosciences at AUT. He is an internationally recognized expert in stroke and traumatic brain injury epidemiology, prevention and management.
Professor Feigin has contributed significantly to the development and commercialisation of the Stroke Riskometer, comprising stroke
risk assessment and management mobile device apps. He utilised the knowledge he has gained over 25 years of research and clinical practice to develop algorithms that form the basis of the apps. He engaged with AUTEL in identifying and validating the market need, product development, accessing co-funding, business development, marketing and public relations activities.
Professor Valery Feigin is exploring opportunities to establish an E-research Programme at AUT to measure and reduce the burden of major non-communicable disorders in the world.
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Lead researcher: Professor O Young
A process has been developed to produce gourmet seafood products for human consumption from the New Zealand green-lipped mussel (Perna canaliculus). The first attempt is to produce a spreadable mussel pâté targeted at the high-end consumer markets.
Progress: The production method is proven at lab and pilot commercial scale with our commercial partner. A small sensory trial provided valuable feedback which will be used to finalise product development. The next step is to reformulate the mussel paté, produce samples for another sensory trial and market validation.
Professor Owen Young is a Professor of Food Science
at AUT. Professor Young has developed a process to produce
premium food products from seafood, targeted at the high-
end and international markets. He was awarded second place
for this innovation at the AUTEL Innovation Challenge
in 2012. He applies his wealth of experience (gained through
working in the Australasian meat industry for 26 years)
to solving meat and seafood industry problems. Other
potential commercialisation projects include the
development of novel food and drink products.
Professor Owen Young actively participates in various stages of the product commercialisaton process, from research and proof of concept study with a potential commercial partner, to sensory trial and product formulation.
Perna - Mussel Product
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Idea ScreeningPROJECT LEAD RESEARCHERMy Park J HarrisonInfectious M DongPPDE Dr B DonaldsonCoaching Rules Dr B BačićCampus Care Assoc. Prof. L WhiteGrip Force Dr G Lewis
Opportunity AssessmentPROJECT LEAD RESEARCHERMS Energise Assoc. Prof. P Kersten, Dr K
van Kessel, Dr D DuncanRACer Dr D White
GeoSense Lead researcher: Professor P Sallis
This is a spin-out venture created by the lead researcher around a framework for Wireless Sensor Networks designed to capture and monitor micro-climate information in a crop field. It is a system for gathering (sensing) and analysing climate, atmosphere, plant and soil data. It is mostly attuned to micro-climate analysis in vineyards and other agricultural/horticultural environments. The system performs distributed monitoring of a range of environmental parameters, from which data are automatically collected, processed and analysed using a customisable software platform. There are two key elements to this technology: hardware components, which include a base station, wireless nodes and sensors for networked monitoring; and advanced software for data acquisition, processing, analysis and quality prediction. Potential benefits for this technology include increased crop yield and quality, accurate frost prediction, and optimised use of resources, i.e., water and pesticides.
Progress: This technology was successfully implemented in more than forty vineyard reference sites in eight countries as part of an ongoing research programme that attracted in excess of $1 Million of funding from the Chilean government.
Hybrid Nasal CPAP MaskLead researcher: Dr D White
The proposed hybrid nasal CPAP mask incorporates a device into the nasal mask that results in a lower titration air pressure being prescribed. This reduction
in treatment pressure is anticipated to improve treatment adherence by reducing the incidence of pressure-related negative side effects.
Progress: A New Zealand provisional patent has been filed. The invention has gone through an extensive market validation. AUTEL is currently scoping out the next steps in the commercialisation strategy, commercial partner engagement, and a small phase 1 clinical trial.
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The AUTEL Consultant Service was set up to assist AUT Faculty and Staff with their outside consulting projects, and to bring greater focus, visibility and promotional efforts to the wealth of talent and potential at AUT.
The benefits offered to AUT Staff in using AUTEL Consultant Services are:• Contract Negotiation, including IP, Privacy, Jurisdictional
and Publication rights• Pricing, Payment Terms, Subcontracting and Costing
Advice & Negotiation• Invoicing and Cash Management Services• Indemnity Insurance• Use of the AUT Brand
In 2013, we completed a number of contracts that have involved often subtle complexities in many of these topics and they have come up in both the domestic New Zealand and the International projects. While there are a very small number of Faculty members who are comfortable sorting through these issues, most are either not able to do this, or are not interested in spending their time on issues unrelated to the subject matter on which they are called to render their expertise.
Consultant Services
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“Professional consultancies to business and industry raise AUT’s profi le with the wider
community and off er great opportunites for wider R&D engagement with our external partners”Professor John Raine, Pro Vice-Chancellor Research & Innova on
Tom Davidson Rita Jacob
For the University’s part, having Faculty and Staff process their Consultancy work through AUTEL has several benefits:• Brings greater visibility to
ongoing external consulting work, facilitating better management of Faculty members’ time and teaching responsibilities
• Allows greater visibility to the total extent of Faculty
consulting at AUT and the true capability and potential that adds to the community
• This total visibility allows for better external promotion of the true capabilities represented by AUT and its Faculty and Staff for the purpose of growing total research and consulting revenues
• Allows much more
information for better management of the AUT Brand
For Clients, we also find that one of the soft benefits is that since AUTEL is a smaller, separate entity from the University, we are able to offer a very agile response to our clients.
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Consultant Projects
PROJECT TITLE CONSULTANT CLIENTCyberslacking Real Time Data Analysis
Associate Professor R Pears
Mako Networks/Crunchouse
Global Burden of Disease Review
Professor V Feigin H. Lundbeck A/S, Denmark
Preparation of Evidence: Seabed Mining Operation
Dr K Vopel Trans Tasman Resources
Tairua Marina Water Quality Monitoring Plan
Dr R Hankin C Ison
Rainfall Data Disaggregation and Infilling Research
Associate Professor P Cowpertwait
Auckland Council
Fatal Crash Investigation Professor J Raine New Zealand PolicePresentation of Evidence: Te Anau-Milford Road Accident Investigation
Professor J Raine Justice Ministry
Literature Review: The Economic and Business Impacts from the Implementation of a Living Wage
Dr T Maloney Auckland Council
RFID Tracking of Personnel in Operating Theatre
Associate Professor D Parry
Periop Services
Statistical Analysis of Ryegrass Nitrogen Use
Dr R Hankin ViaLactia/Fonterra
Analysis of Housing New Zealand Statistics
Dr R Hankin Hamish McCulloch
Review of Online Course Offerings
Dr J Swann University of the South Pacific
Fixed Blade PCB Cutter Review D White AMCOR Flexibles Asia PacificCardiology Transitions Workshop
S McKernon Auckland District Health Board
Dementia Services Pathway Workshop
S McKernon Auckland District Health Board
Co-Design Workshop S McKernon Auckland District Health BoardHealthlinks Workshop S McKernon Auckland District Health BoardCBD Pollution and Quality of Life Study, Data Analysis
Dr D Shepherd Auckland Council
USCOM Pulsecor Acquisition Continuity
A Lowe USCOM
Due Diligence Review Professor J Tookey BRANZ
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Violence against women and girls is one of the most universal and pervasive human rights violations in the world. It constitutes a global pandemic of alarming proportions, with country data showing that about one third of women in the world report experiencing physical and/or sexual violence at some point in their lifetime, mainly by their partners. The magnitude of violence against women translates into very high costs – for women and girls’ lives and well-being, health and safety, as well as for school achievement, productivity, public policies and budgets. It has impacts on children, other family members, and whole communities. If unaddressed, these human rights violations have serious cost implications and consequences, including for efforts to achieve development goals and further poverty reduction and development. Access to corresponding essential services can provide women and girls the opportunity to break recurrent cycles of violence and mitigate the consequences.
At policy levels, few countries in the world have national strategies explicitly intent on achieving improved and expanded access to quality multisectoral services for all women and girl victims/survivors of violence who need and want them. The UN Essential Service Programme is aimed at responding to these critical gaps and challenges, with a particular focus on developing countries. It aims to achieve greater access for all women and girls who have experienced gender-based violence to at least a core set of quality and coordinated multisectoral services in a significant a number of countries of the world by building the necessary tools, partnerships and momentum to carry this objective forward.
This Consulting project includes partnering with other key UN agencies and working with experts, researchers, practitioners and civil society and grassroots organizations to• Reach an agreement on the set of essential services required;• Develop and/or adapt standards and/or guidelines or tools as needed
for the provision of such services in the four key areas of 1) health, 2) police and justice, 3) social support services and 4) coordination and governance. These standards/guidelines must apply in all income/resource settings (ranging from the minimum required even in the least developed countries to the more optimal in middle income countries);
• Develop or adapt methodologies and guidance to assist implementation at the country level; and
• Provide technical assistance to assist implementation at the country-level.
Professor Jane Koziol-McLain has over 30 years of
experience in her chosen field of nursing as well as a talent for research into the health
system response to violence against women and children.
She is the co-director of the Interdisciplinary
Trauma Research Centre while balancing teaching
responsibilities and consulting work in the Pacific
with the United Nations Population Fund. Through
these opportunities and her education background,
Professor Koziol-McLain has worked in the United States, Kiribati, the Solomon Islands
and Malaysia in a variety of roles and came to New
Zealand as a continuation of her interests.
Health Responses: Violence toward WomenClient: United Nations: UN Women’s Ending Violence Against Women SectionConsultant: Professor J Koziol-McLain
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AUTEL Innovation Challenge
The AUTEL Innovation Challenge is an annual event hosted by AUTEL, running from June through to November. The Challenge provides a unique opportunity to profile and celebrate the innovative minds of AUT staff and students.
The objective is to enable AUT staff and students to develop commercial, presentation and research communication skills while growing the researchers’ ability to present and explain their research effectively in a language appropriate to a non-specialist audience.
The challenge is set out in 3 rounds and in order to secure funding, budding entrepreneurs must qualify for each round in order to progress.• Round 1: Written Applications• Round 2: Business Planning• Round 3: Pitching to Investors
Round 3 is where the top 3 finalists are invited to pitch their innovative idea to our judging panel. The judges determine the winner based on the final pitch and buisness plan.
The Challenge has 4 key sponsors which donated funds or time in-kind. Key sponsors were:
• AJ Park Intellectual Property Lawyers• rogen SI• Idealog Business Magazine• Infact Innovation Facilitators
AUTEL Innovation DayOn July 26, 2013 AUTEL hosted AUT’s first commercialisation conference, the AUTEL Innovation Day. The objective of the event was to promote AUTEL’s role within the university by offering the AUT community an insight into AUTEL’s expertise and networks within the New Zealand commercialisation and technology transfer field.
AUTEL Events
Winners of the 2013 AUTEL Innovation
Challenge
1st PlaceMS Energise
Associate Professor P Kersten, Dr K van
Kessel, Dr D Babbage
2nd PlaceMy Way
J Harrison
3rd PlaceInfectious
M Dong
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In delivering an event that included external (guest) speakers and networking opportunities, AUTEL achieved the following key initiatives:
1. Provided an enriched and rewarding staff and student experience
2. Engaged with business and industry through partnership and knowledge exchange in teaching
3. Promoted research, advanced professional practice and AUTEL expertise
The event’s activities were designed to showcase AUTEL’s expertise and provide attendees with the opportunity to hear from industry leaders and network with peers and colleagues. The two keynote speakers, Brian Richards and Oren Gershtein were the main drawcards on the day. The event concluded with a networking session
and the awarding of the iPad Retina to the winner of the App Commercialisation Challenge.
In total there were 68 participants registered to attend the event, with approximately 50 in attendance on the day. The majority of participants were AUT staff and postgraduate students, followed by KiwiNet partner companies; Callaghan Innovation and Landcare Research.
The event attracted 6 key sponsors who donated funds, prizes, or time in-kind. Key Sponsors were:• KiwiNet Investment Committee• rogenSI• AUT ICT Services• Cyclone Computers• Idealog Business Magazine• BRR
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AUTEL Affi lia ons
Kiwi Innovation NetworkThe Kiwi Innovation Network (KiwiNet) is a consortium of Universities and Crown Research Institutes & Entities who are dedicated to taking a collaborative approach to research commercialisation. The consortium consists of Plant and Food Research, Callaghan Innovation, AgResearch, Otago Innovation, Landcare Research, Lincoln University, University of Canterbury, Viclink, WaikatoLink and AUT Enterprises Ltd.
KiwiNet seeks to increase the scale and impact of scientific and technology based innovation with the aim of providing greater economic benefits to New Zealand. KiwiNet does not carry out research commercialisation itself, instead acting as a focal point for collaboration and co-ordination between those who do commercialise research. KiwiNet’s role is to empower people who are involved in research commercialisation by helping them to access the tools, connections, investment and support they need. By collaborating on projects, combining capability and sharing networks, we believe that we can better leverage the limited resources available for commercialisation, and help one another achieve better commercial outcomes for New Zealand.
www.kiwinet.org.nz
Association of University Technology ManagersAUTM’s global network of members come from more than 350 universities, research institutions, teaching hospitals and government agencies,
as well as hundreds of companies involved with managing and licensing innovations derived from academic and nonprofit research.
The association was founded in 1974 as the Society of University Patent Administrators with the objective of addressing a concern that inventions funded by the U.S. government were not being commercialized effectively. Through the years, AUTM has grown beyond this single objective and now provides professional development and networking opportunities for technology transfer professionals at all career levels, and from established and newly forming organizations worldwide.
AUTM provides numerous resources for members including survey reports, professional development courses, a comprehensive training manual, peer-reviewed journal and a worldwide community of peers with expertise in all areas of intellectual property management.
www.autm.net
University Commercialisation Offices of New ZealandUniversity Commercialisation Offices of New Zealand (UCONZ) was formed in 2005 to bring together the commercialisation offices of the country’s universities and to establish closer links with commercial research partners.
http://www.universitiesnz.ac.nz/why-universities-matter/
commercialisation
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Taking ideas beyond the university
Universi es are hotbeds of the latest research, ideas and technology. AUT Enterprises Ltd helps you discover investment opportuni es in new products and technologies by enabling access to AUT’s intellectual property por olio. We work with a broad range of industry patners to eff ec vely commercialise university-generated intellectual property.
Contact us [email protected]
Private Bag 92006, Auckland 1142 New ZealandCity Campus, 120 Mayoral Drive, Auckland
www.autel.aut.ac.nz / [email protected]