NSW State and Regional Development Department Free Business Growth Seminars

Western Sydney Business Centre, Level 2, 470 Church St, North Parramatta

Click here to read the full schedule of events for April to June 2008.

Innovic's Next Big Thing Award 2008

Melbourne Museum, May 14th to June 22nd.

Innovic's Next Big Thing Award is an annual nation-wide competition to find and showcase leading edge new Australian Innovations with the potential to become the 'next big thing'. The award celebrates and promotes Australian innovation.

Innovic's Next Big Thing Award 2008 is a prestigious event attracting significant attention from the media. Cash and prizes to the value of $50,000 are awarded and 3 major awards are presented.

Nominations are open now and close on the 14th of March, 2008.

Click here for more information, to download an application form or to attend the event.

Online voting for the People's Choice Award is now open. Click here to vote.

APICS 2008 International Supply Chain Conference

15 to 18 June, Surfers paradise Marriott Resort and Spa

This years international conference has a special focus on sustainable manufacturing.

The international conference program is packed with an array of exciting and educational topics, shared by national and international speakers who are experts in their fields. Focus zones will include: World Class Case Studies, Integrated Business Management, Sales & Operations Planning, Enterprise Resource Planning, Manufacturing Resource Planning, Distribution Resource Planning, Lean and Agile Thinking, Purchasing, Educational Resources, Demand Management and Forecasting, Production and Inventory Planning, Emerging Trends, Distribution Planning, Personal and Professional Development, Small Business Issues, Project Management, Senior Management Issues, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Systems, plus more.

Click here for more information, registration and to view the full program of events.

The Australian technology Showcase Presents: Intellectual Property: Strategies for Entrepreneurs

Free event: Wednesday 25th June, 2008 - 8-12pm

NSW trade and Investment Centre, Level 47, MLC Centre, 19 Martin Place, Sydney

The seminar will feature presentations from ATS Patron SPRUSON & FERGUSON, one of the leading intellectual property firms in Australia, specialising in the areas of trade marks, patents, designs, IP litigation, commercialisation and management.

The first session of the seminar, "IP fundamentals?, will provide a practical overview of IP as a strategic business tool; how to identify and capture the IP you and your staff create; the costs, benefits and risks in protecting and defending your IP.

The second component of the seminar will consist of three concurrent breakout sessions, providing insights into the specific characteristics of managing, protecting and valuing IP in the ICT, biotechnology and manufacturing and medical devices sectors.

The third session will provide an overview of the strategies for commercialising IP in Australia and internationally. Each session will be followed by an open discussion.

Event contact

Maryse Delorie
maryse.delorie@business.nsw.gov.au
02 9338 6651

Click here for online registration.

Innovation, Services and Smart Information Use Symposium

The Sofitel Hotel, Melbourne. 4 July 2008

This symposium is being conducted by CSIRO and the Statistical Society of Australia (SSAI). It is a satellite meeting of the Australian Statistical Conference (30 June - 3 July 2008) in Melbourne.
This initiative is part of a broader push for science to contribute to the development of new service industries and improve the efficiency and competitiveness of existing ones.
New technologies are creating opportunities for enterprises to increase productivity and competitiveness, reduce risk and create new service businesses by using new data and information in innovative ways.
We are moving to an era of evidence-based decision-making and evidence-based policy. Enterprises seeking superior performance will be exploiting these directly and partnering with companies specialising in smarter extraction of useable information. Key to these partnerships will be more efficient methods for managing and modeling uncertainty in decision making to provide decision makers with greater confidence.
Outline
In this one-day symposium we will consider:

what are the new technologies that will create new information sources and opportunities?
how will this impact on the decision making approaches in the modern corporation?
what are the opportunities and who are the potential beneficiaries?
what challenges face the research community to enable this revolution to unfold?

Speakers
Speakers include a number of leaders in their fields:

Dr Nicholas Gruen – Lateral Economics
Mr Brian Pink – Australian Statistician
Dr Ian Reinecke – formerly CEO of NEHTA
Prof Mark Burgman – Australian Centre of Excellence for Risk Analysis
Dr Laurence Irlicht – Victorian Funds Management Corporation
Dr Bronwyn Harch – CSIRO, Environmental Monitoring and Modelling
Prof David Steel – University of Wollongong.

Click here for more event information.

International Electronics Materials Conference

Sydney, 28 July to 1 August

Speakers include IMB leader, Dr Stuart Parking, Bobel laureate Prof. Harold Kroto, former Clinton advisor Prof. Mildred Dresselhaus and others.

Click here for more information on attending, sponsoring and exhibiting.

AMTIL Advanced Manufacturing Awards
Hilton on the Park, Melbourne. Thursday, 2nd October 2008.
AMTIL is proud to announce the inaugural AMTIL Advanced Manufacturing Awards. Award categories include:
Advanced Manufacturing Designer of the Year – Individual
Advanced Manufacturer of the Year – Company
Advanced Manufacturing Young Ambassador – Individual
Advanced Manufacturing Exporter of the Year - Company
Advanced Manufacturing Innovator of the Year – Company
Winners will be announced at AMTIL’s Annual Dinner on Thursday 2nd October at Hilton on the Park in Melbourne.
For further information on nomination criteria, sponsorship opportunities, or to book a table, please contact AMTIL Events Manager, Kim Warren at kwarren@amtil.com.au
QMan - The Queensland Manufacturing Technology Exhibition
October 21 to 23, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre
Established in 2004 and held every 2 years, QMan is the established premier exhibition for the Queensland manufacturing industry. Now in its third edition, QMan is fast becoming the must attend meeting place for Queensland’s Manufacturing community.
Click here for full event information and registration.
Open Universities Fast Thinking Awards
October 2008
The Open Universities Fast Thinking Innovation Awards have been launched for 2008 and beyond!

AwardsFast Thinking in association with Open Universities and our partners are researching which companies and organisations in Australia are the most innovative. The results will culminate in a VIP Awards celebration later this year.

Well constructed, purposeful awards perform a valuable service to society. When administered effectively they demonstrate leadership and create attention and discussion on the issues they report on.

The need for Innovation in our society is paramount and a concerted effort to encourage it one of the most vital undertakings in Australia today.

Our view is that the goal of the awards is to draw attention to outstanding examples of various forms of innovation and to explain them clearly and in some detail, rather than to merely note an achievement briefly. This is an essential difference. It implies the on passing of genuine and applicable knowledge to the leadership community.

For further information on how you can be involved with Fast Thinking, the awards and the extensive marketing programs contact the Fast Thinking publisher Grant Crossley by clicking here to email him or call his Mobile: +61 (0)408 844 009. Or click here to visit the Fast Thinking Innovation Awards Website.
Austech 2009 - National Manufacturing Week
Melbourne Exhibition Centre
Late May 2009
Austech is Australia's premier manufacturing technology event and is held each year in conjunction with National Manufacturing Week. Austech 2009 will be held at the Melbourne Convention Centre and will feature the latest in metal working and machine tool technology including:
CNC machining centres: 3 axis, 5 axis, horizontal, vertical.
CNC lathes.
Sheetmetal forming, bending punching and cutting technology.
Special purpose machines: Grinding, broaching, boring, milling.
Waterjet cutting, laser cutting and plasma cutting technology.
Tooling, cutting tools, hand tools.
Precision measuring technology including the latest in non-contact laser measurement.
CAD/CAM software.
Ancillary equipment: cutting fluids, finishing, coating, robotics.
Rapid prototyping technology.
Click here for more information or to contact the Austech management team