Photo courtesy of The Border Mail, 2018.

The Life Tech Challenge Pitch Night showcased some of our regions most talented innovators and we are proud to announce Sidney Duncan-Steele as the winner of this year's Life Tech Challenge. 

The competition was fierce, with Ashley Dunn and Damian Watson also presenting their ideas on the night. 

Sidney's idea, Manufacturing Mate, aims to assist in the manufacturing of steel constructions through the use of software.

"We can significantly reduce time and cost of manufacturing steel for more than just large scale buildings. Small structures, highly complex structures with multi compound angles, and complex machinery can now cheaply add robotics to their value stream" shared Mr Duncan-Steele. 

In some instances, Sidney believes Manufacturing Mate can reduce build times that would normally take humans over an hour to complete to just 30 seconds. 

The Finalist's were judged by an expert panel including; Jennifer Weller Owner Director of Creativeworkz, Xavier Mardling – Editor at The Border Mail, Rebecca Litton of Litton Legal and Hume Bank Chief Executive Officer, Stephen Capello.

The Life Tech Challenge Rising Star was also announced on the night, with Tim Hudson receiving the award and taking home $2,000 to further develop his idea that looks to increase child safety through the use of an App. 

“As a brother to seven younger siblings, child safety really hits home. I submitted this idea in the hope that I can start some conversation and even a possible solution around protecting kids,” shared Mr Hudson.

We congratulate all those who entered and thank those who attended, we received some amazing submissions this year and look to continue to foster innovation in our region.

To acknowledge this, Hume Bank and Charles Sturt University have opened up the opportunity for 15 entrants of the Life Tech Challenge to participate in CSU’s upcoming Innovation Boot Camp to be held at the end of October.

The success of the Life Tech Challenge has been made possible with the support of our Major Partners, Dutch Media, Southern Cross Austereo, The Border Mail, Ovens and Murray Regional Partnership, and Pitch Night Sponsors, Wodonga TAFE.