- Udrew wins the Mitsubishi Corporation Overall Award at the 2018 WA Innovator of the Year awards
- More than $160,000 in prizes were awarded to category winners
- Student team from Sacred Heart College win WA Young Innovator of the Year
The innovators of an online tool that allows homeowners and contractors to instantly design, engineer and approve their own building projects, last night won top honours at the WA Innovator of the Year awards.
The online system, called Udrew, is synced directly with local government authorities and national building regulators, providing instant fully certified council and engineering approvals.
A team of students from Sacred Heart College, called AusTrailia, was crowned WA Young Innovator of the Year for an app which gamifies online trail maps.
The Innovator of the Year awards, which is now in its 12th year, acknowledges and rewards exceptional Western Australians who have developed an outstanding innovative product, technology or service.
Semi-finalists and finalists of the program receive a suite of commercialisation training, including mentoring; pitch-presentation training; a legal health check and advice on business development and finance to help commercialise their innovations.
To be in the running to win one of these awards, business people must demonstrate an economic, social or environmental benefit for the State. This year, the criteria of the awards were revised to emphasise innovations that would lead to creating and supporting jobs in Western Australia.
The Innovator of the Year Program receives $150,000 from the State Government, through the $16.7 million New Industries Fund, and support from principal sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation and major sponsors, Woodside, South32, Business News and DXC Technology.
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As stated by Innovation and ICT Minister Dave Kelly:
“The WA Innovator of the Year program supports and accelerates new and emerging businesses and increases collaboration across industry, academia and government to diversify the economy and to create new jobs.
“Udrew is an exciting WA invention that allows residents and small business people to take control of their own design and approvals process.
“With Udrew, the cost of designing, submitting and approving a small residential project is reduced by upwards of 70 per cent and is forecast to save local government organisations, millions of dollars each year.
“It was great to see a team of students from Sacred Heart College awarded WA Young Innovator of the Year for their innovative app which encourages families to learn while exploring WA’s many magnificent trail walks.
“I congratulate all the winners on their success, and look forward to seeing how these awards support their innovations into the future for the benefit of WA jobs and the economy.”
Innovator of the Year awards
| Category | Winner | Description | Prize |
| Mitsubishi Corporation Overall Award | Udrew, Perth | Interactive Building and Instant Approvals System | $75,000 |
| Mitsubishi Corporation Emerging Innovation Category | UWA – The Noisy Guts Project, Nedlands | A smart belt for non-invasively diagnosing and monitoring common gut disorders | $25,000 |
| Mitsubishi Corporation Growth Category | chemo@home, North Perth | Administering Chemotherapy to Cancer Patients – in their home | $25,000 |
| Woodside Oil and Gas Encouragement Award | Balconi Pty Ltd, Cockburn Central | A portable in-field Teleconferencing Office with global coverage | $10,000 |
| South32 Technology and Innovation Encouragement Award | TOKN Trading Pty Ltd, Innaloo | Enabling legacy systems to be used directly off mobile devices | $10,000 |
| Business News ‘Great for the State’ Encouragement Award | Advanced Transmission Systems Holdings Ltd, Fremantle | Universal Continuously Variable Transmission | Advertising, subscription and sponsorship pack to the value of $10,000 |
| DXC Digital Innovation Encouragement Award | Indicina Pty Ltd, Perth | SWAN Systems – an online data analytics platform to optimise and manage water and nutrient application | $10,000 |
| WA Young Innovator of the Year | AusTrailia – Sacred Heart College, Sorrento | A gamified virtual trail map app | Sponsorship pack to the value of $3,000 |
