The Hub and the Tyree Foundation Institute of Health Engineering (Tyree IHealthE) share a common vision for developing and translating health technologies that deliver improved health outcomes and societal impact. With this shared vision, they jointly presented the Technology Translation Forum & Hub highlights at UNSW Sydney on Friday, 20 October, bringing together a diverse community to discuss key translational topics and learn about the breadth of work supported by both the Hub and Tyree IHealthE.

The event began with a session on “Translation: the balancing act” from UNSW’s newly appointed Pro Vice-Chancellor (Industry & Innovation), Professor Stephen Rodda, and Scientia Professor Justin Gooding, which explored the trade-offs in translating research into commercially viable products. Prof Justin Gooding discussed the topics of the tension between publishing research papers and filing patents. Prof Stephen Rodda focused on the decision to spin out or license technology to industry partners.

We need to be agile and support all opportunities. Universities don’t just do great research but have a social responsibility to drive impact.

The panel session that followed was moderated by Dr Ian Goon and featured Prof Madhu Bhaskaran from RMIT University & Hub’s Deputy Director, Research, Dr John Parker, Saluda Medical, Maria Lund, IP Group and Dr Duncan Macinnis, MTPConnect, discussing the role of intellectual property in creating competitive advantages for companies, the challenges of commercialising IP, and tips for best practices for ensuring equitable sharing for multi-party collaborative research. The panel discussion covered several takeaways, including:
How can universities operate better to support this space?

• Early engagement and stakeholder communication are essential to ensure everyone is aligned and actively participating.
• The importance of being flexible and adaptive to the changing environment, but also partnerships to avoid pitfalls such as unrealistic expectations down the track.
• Collaborating is essential for developing solutions and best practices to establish equitable reward sharing and keep the momentum in multi-party collaborative research.

Overall, while the road to commercialisation can be challenging – time, cost, regulatory, and compliance increases the panel discussion emphasised the importance of thoughtful decision-making and collaboration early to ensure equitable sharing.

The second half of the event highlighted the progress of several Hub research projects over the first year of the Hub’s operations. Presentation updates ranged from individuals involved in the Hub from PhD students, Chief Investigators and industry covering work being done with NeuRA and Walking Tall Health, Flame Security International, Sydney Pain Management Centre, Fastlab at the University of Newcastle with Hunter Medical Research Institute and Genesys Electronics Design. The Tyree IHealthE provided an overview of their translation support.

The day ended with a networking session, poster presentations and a showcase from nthalmic and Genesys Electronics Design, where attendees connected with others in the community.

We look forward to bringing future events and workshops in the sensors and health tech space. Want to find out more about how to get involved? Connect with us at connectedsensors@unsw.edu.au.