:: Innovation Awards to Gekko Systems

Highlighting Australia’s reputation for ingenuity and research excellence, seven Australians were honoured in early June with ‘Innovation Hero’ Awards for their contribution to the nation.

The award winners all have been recognised for their pioneering research leading to innovative technology that has become commercially successful around the world.

These Awards are a celebration of Australian ingenuity. They recognise formally and publicly individuals who have made a significant achievement in commercialising a new technology by developing a technology-driven product or service, raising capital and undertaking commercial marketing. Two of this year’s Innovation Hero Award winners are Elizabeth Lewis-Gray and Sandy Gray of Ballarat-based Gekko Systems, a company highly regarded for its mineral processing systems used for the recovery of gold, diamonds and other valuable heavy minerals. “Our experience is that mine sites recognise that with new technology comes increases in production and profits due to greater recovery and lower capital costs,” says Ms Lewis-Gray. “Our focus has always been and continues to be developing innovative solutions for the mining industry.”

Elizabeth Lewis-Gray and Sandy Gray

Gekko’s current R&D project, which is nearing completion, is to develop a process to treat ore underground. It promises to be a revolutionary technology poised to change the face of underground processing globally.

For more information on the winners of the Innovation Heroes Awards or the Warren Centre, please contact Robert Mitchell on 9351 4048, 0419 368 063 or r.mitchell@eng.usyd.edu.au.