Innovative brilliance wins big
A quirky invention has landed a group of planning students over $20,000 in cash and prizes and a lap top each in the Griffith Business School’s Innovation Challenge.
The team of five students developed Grobio - a biodegradable mat made from sugar cane mulch mixed with native plant seeds that is placed in environmentally vulnerable areas to prevent erosion and re-build vegetation.
Students Jessica Berryman, Sean Brien, Christopher Curtis, Timothy Kinny and Allison Siddaway prepared a business plan and pitched their ideas at the Innovation Challenge final on Thursday (Oct 14) in front of industry judges and an audience.
They competed against six other teams fighting for their share in over $60,000 in cash and prizes.
As well as the major cash prize of $10,000 to help develop their product and business, the Grobio team were also awarded a DELL laptop each, six months access to business incubator space worth $6,500, plus an extra $4,000 cash for their win in the SEET Group prize category.
The Griffith Innovation Challenge is a University-wide business plan competition, which encourages student teams from different study areas to work on new ideas and foster innovation, develop entrepreneurial skills and create new opportunities and businesses.
Chair of the Griffith Innovation Challenge Steering Committee, Ken Bennett said it was an opportunity for students to get their ideas in front of a broad audience.
Pacific ecotourism prompts PhD study
A Griffith PhD student is visiting the idyllic villages of Fiji and the Solomon Islands
to see how environmental tourism can boost the developing island nations.
Moreton Bay ecosystem still at risk
No-fishing zones implemented to protect the Moreton Bay ecosystem have proven their worth in light of last year’s flooding however the coral reefs and seagrass habitats are still at risk.
Chemistry medal awarded to Griffith academic
Twenty years of analytical science has paid off for a Griffith University professor as he is awarded the 2011 Lloyd Smythe Medal for Analytical Chemistry.