Bright ideas abound at UQ Innovation Expo 2005

It was judgement day for over 150 students from the School of Information Technology & Electrical Engineering (ITEE) on 27 October, who demonstrated their innovative final year thesis projects to supervisors and industry guests at the 2005 UQ Innovation Expo.

The Expo was held in laboratories around the Engineering precinct of the St Lucia campus, as well as in the new Collaborative Learning Centre in the Sir James Foots Building. Students created a poster outlining the key elements of their projects and were assessed on the quality of both their project and the manner it was presented.

The projects on display included a demonstration of the innovative MIT iCampus program that is redefining engineering education technology, an innovative electronic version of a Post-It note, micro-organisms that grow on laser light, and the latest technology for diagnosing sleep apnoea.

Event Co-ordinator Dr Stephen Wilson said, "It was rewarding to see the students enjoy communicating their ideas and results to the outside world as well as their examiners.

"The innovative spirit that was on display was certainly worth celebrating and we hope this is first of many such events to be held in our own 'backyard'," he said.

There were prizes up for grabs on the day. Anthony Moriarty took home the prize for Best Working Hardware for his development of an automated test device for electric fence energizers. Denis Bauer's work on characterisation of detoxifying enzymes was awarded the prize for Best Working Software.

Iain Williams was awarded the Best Industry-relevant project prize, sponsored by CEED (Cooperative Education for Enterprise Development). His work on control of parallel machines has significant implications for the robotics industry.

The Expo was officially opened by Member for Ryan, Mr Michael Johnson MP, who continues to be a strong supporter of the work being conducted by both students and staff of the School of ITEE.