Applications are now open for the 2018 Innovator of the Year program, which acknowledges and rewards exceptional innovators in Western Australia who have developed an outstanding project.
The innovation must be at the emerging or growth phase of development, and demonstrate an economic, social or environmental benefit for the State.
Award winners will share in a prize pool of $165,000 to help commercialise their innovations, and the overall winner will receive a prize of $75,000.
The program also links industry and academia through research collaborations to help innovators ground their ideas and move them forward.
For the first time, applicants will have to demonstrate how their innovation will create or support Western Australian jobs and help diversify our economy.
The awards began in 2006 to foster and support local innovators. Just last week, a former runner-up in the 2008 Innovator of the Year awards, Melanie Perkins made the WA Rich List 2018. Ms Perkins was recognised for her innovations in developing an online design tool; this innovation led to the creation of Canva which is now a global multimillion dollar business.
Applications close at 11am on June 5, 2018. For more information, visit http://www.newindustries.wa.gov.au/ioty-2018