2022 ATSE WEBINAR SERIES
Educating, collaborating and mitigating climate change through technology
Presented by the ATSE Victorian Division
IN-PERSON EVENT / VIRTUAL BROADCAST
Thursday 3 March
6.30-7.30pm AEDT
Location
Graduate House Melbourne
220 Leicester St, Carlton VIC 3053
Cost
In-person event and virtual broadcast: Free
Optional dinner following the presentation: $32.50
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Next Generation conformal sensors for nearables and wearables
An all-Melbourne collaboration has led to pioneering technology which could revolutionise aged care, health care, defence, and sport, enabling real time monitoring and biometrics recording. This research-industry presentation by Professor Madhu Bhaskaran (RMIT University) and Sleeptite CEO Cameron van den Dungen, will present two sides of the journey to create the product – REMi®. The presentation will provide insight into this all Australian collaboration between research, industry and manufacturing and the resulting technology which has the potential to positively impact millions.
The REMi system is a ‘nearable’ product with an array of sensors embedded into a medical-grade mattress cover and is designed for residential aged care facilities. The system is a non-invasive ‘nearable’ which tracks a person’s presence, position, and posture in bed overnight and relays this to a dashboard so a carer has the ability to prioritise quality support to residents where needed, while allowing other residents to receive an uninterrupted sleep. The sensors are conformal, un-feelable and unbreakable.
Highlighting the fundamental research at the centre of the technology, the presentation will discuss the research and breakthroughs by RMIT University. This pioneering work led to the creation of miniaturised, unbreakable and versatile sensors which revolutionised the field of stretchable electronics with the incorporation of novel functional materials. This platform technology has wide implications from gas and UV sensing to biomarker monitoring with the ability to impact numerous industries which include aged care, healthcare, sports, and defence.
The presentation will then discuss the journey to create REMi and how Sleeptite was able to partner with RMIT University to turn an idea into a commercial reality. This section of the presentation will focus on the challenges encountered by the cross-sector collaboration and the processes and procedures that were essential in translating the fundamental research into a product relevant to the needs and desires of the aged care sector.
The Sleeptite Collaboration has received significant media coverage regarding REMi® in numerous national and international news outlets, through its journey starting from 2018. The Collaboration’s CRC-P program has also been featured as a case study by AusIndustry, InnovAgeing and MTPConnect. The team are particularly thrilled with most recent win of two 2021 KCA (Knowledge Commercialisation Australia) Awards for Best Industry Collaboration and People’s Choice and co-investment funding from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre
SPEAKERS
Professor Madhu Bhaskaran
Professor, RMIT University
Professor Madhu Bhaskaran is a multi-award winning electronics engineer and innovator. Her fundamental research breakthroughs have been recognised with numerous awards, including 2018 Batterham Medal awarded by Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering; 2018 APEC Science Prize for Innovation, Research and Education (ASPIRE) Prize; and 2020 Frederick White Medal awarded by Australian Academy of Science.
She co-leads the Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group at RMIT University which she established in 2010. She is also a node leader and IDEA director for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Transformative Meta-Optical Systems.
Her work on electronic skin and wearable sensors has been patented and her group now works collaboratively with multiple industry and design partners to commercialise the technology for healthcare and aged care.
She is a migrant Australian and a passionate advocate for diversity. She is co-chair of Women in STEMM Australia and on the Advisory board for STEM Sisters.
Cameron van den Dungen
CEO, Sleeptite
Cameron van den Dungen is the CEO of Sleeptite and a Non-Executive Director of Forty Winks. For more than a decade, Cameron has travelled the world searching for innovation and technology in the space of sleep science and research. The basis for the search was to determine ‘what was next’ for the sleep industry, and how the bedroom would evolve as part of the connected home. Cameron uncovered gaps in the quality of the data collected by existing sensors, as well as a lack of research and understanding around how to measure ‘a good night’s sleep’. This led Cameron to create Sleeptite, a health tech company designed to innovate in the space of health and sleep.
MODERATOR
Dr Mark Toner AM FTSE
Director, Toner & Associates