Representatives from large and small businesses in south-east Melbourne visited the synchrotron in October 2010 for the first in a series of workshops designed to make publicly-funded research organisations more accessible to the business community. A similar workshop was held at CSIRO Clayton in November 2010.

Organised by the South East Melbourne Innovation Precinct (SEMIP), the workshops aim to foster relationships between people in business and research and encourage collaboration and innovation. The synchrotron workshop attracted 35 participants, including local council representatives. Participants toured the Australian Synchrotron, discussed how the synchrotron’s capabilities can assist industry, and heard about some successful commercial partnerships between the synchrotron and industry.

Suzanne Ferguson, Manager Economic Development for the City of Kingston, said “It was great to actually be on the technical floor and learn about the capabilities of this incredible machine”.

Jürgen W. Schneider, Regional General Manager for Siemens Ltd Australia in Victoria/South Australia, said: “I found the experience of being introduced to the Australian Synchrotron thought provoking from the perspective of innovation and collaboration. I am delighted to reference the synchrotron in conversations with Siemens customers across Industry, Energy and Healthcare”.

Click here to go to SEMIP webpages.

L-R: Shaun Smith (Executive Director, SEMIP) and George Borg (Acting Director, Australian Synchrotron) discuss how the synchrotron can assist industry