Portable biodiesel plant is eChallenge winner

Saturday, 30 October 2010

A portable biodiesel manufacturing unit that "will help save our environment while also saving you money" has captured the imagination of judges at this year's University of Adelaide's eChallenge competition.

South Australian Biofuels, with members Morgan Hunter and Byron Paterson, won the $10,000 first prize at last night's eChallenge dinner at the National Wine Centre.

The portable unit can produce up to five million litres of biodiesel a year, using unique ultrasonic wave creators to boost production. South Australian Biofuels also won the Vroom Prize and the awards for Best Technology Commercialisation and Best Business Plan.

The annual eChallenge competition is run by the University of Adelaide's Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre (ECIC). The ECIC People's Choice award, voted for by guests on the night, also went to South Australian Biofuels.

Teams of up to six people develop a business plan for a new, previously unfunded business concept and each team must have at least one student member from any tertiary institution in South Australia. Semi-finalists are paired with an experienced mentor from the business community.

"eChallenge has once again revealed the depth of entrepreneurial talent in South Australia, and these young entrepreneurs can benefit enormously from the access to top business acumen and guidance that this competition provides," said ECIC Director Professor Noel Lindsay. "eChallenge fosters innovation and speeds up the learning process towards a viable business model. Past finalists have gone on to develop successful and thriving businesses."

Second prize, and The Advertiser Market Ready Prize, went to Magic Vision (Arindam Dey, Helen Ftanos and Dr Christian Sandor) for the development of a software product, BrowsAR - an augmented reality browser for mobile communications.

Third prize went to Hibern8 (Tony Lewis and Cameron Bates) who are developing software to assess the impact of design decisions on the power consumption of industrial plants.

Easelock (Steve Dunn, Ben Luks, Nathan McCarthy and David Hepenstall) won the John Heine Prize and the Piper Alderman Prize for a keyless and cardless secure access system.

 

Contact Details

Professor Noel Lindsay
Email: noel.lindsay@adelaide.edu.au
Website: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/noel.lindsay
Pro Vice-Chancellor Entrepreneurship;
Dean of Business - Adelaide Business School
The University of Adelaide
Business: +61 8 8313 7422
Mobile: +61 (0)428 842 024


Media Team
Email: media@adelaide.edu.au
Website: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/newsroom/
The University of Adelaide
Business: +61 8 8313 0814