Innovators in the aerospace and maritime industries will be honoured with new awards including grants and scholarships.
Nominations for the awards, which were launched after Thursday’s session of the Pacific 2012 International Maritime Exposition, will be sought in mid 2012 with entries judged by an independent panel. The awards are sponsored by Aerospace Australia Ltd and Maritime Australia Ltd, organisers of the Pacific Exposition and the Australian International Air Show at Avalon.
The awards will be presented in both civil and military categories and will include a custom made trophy for the Industry National Innovation Award winner, a $10,000 grant for the Industry SME Innovation winner, and a $10,000 scholarship for Industry Innovation.
The grants are “designed to reward SMEs and help them across the so-called ‘Valley of Death’ which is so often a barrier to innovation success for small companies,” organisers said. The scholarships are meant “to help Australian innovators develop their personal innovative skills and capacity.”
The Aerospace awards will be present at the Avalon Air Show in February 2013, with the Maritime awards presented at the next Pacific show in October 2013.
