Darling Downs businesses set to be industry game changers

Two Darling Downs businesses are promising to revolutionise their industries with a boost from the Palaszczuk Government’s Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas Fund.

Minister for Innovation Leeanne Enoch said today (Monday) Laidley cladding firm Streamline Architectural Solutions and Toowoomba’s 1300 Web Pro and will each receive $100,000 funding to help take their business innovations to the next level and into global markets.

Streamline Architectural Solutions – whose products have been used extensively around Queensland on landmark projects including the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital, Brisbane ferry terminals and the RAAF Amberley headquarters – will further develop and market advanced external cladding as a potential solution for existing hazardous cladding materials installed globally.

Toowoomba business 1300 Web Pro is developing an ingenious electronics package that monitors a commercial refrigerator and its contents, with real time alerts for power outages or temperature variations. The innovation has great potential in the healthcare sector to help safeguard vaccines in pharmacies and medical centres.

The two businesses are among 85 innovative Queensland companies sharing in the latest round of $10 million Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas funding.

“These businesses have market-ready ideas that are world firsts and will position them as market leaders in fire-related cladding for buildings and commercial refrigerators that monitor perishable contents,” Ms Enoch said.

“Through Ignite Ideas funding, we are providing these businesses with opportunities to take their amazing ideas to new levels and new markets.”

Streamline Architectural Solutions Director Richard Lee said securing the grant was crucial to completing the certification process of their fireproof building materials, developed in partnership with Sunshine Coast business MGO Corp (ResCom).

“There is nothing else like our product on the market for new installations or to remedy existing hazardous cladding on residential towers and many other buildings,” Mr Lee said.

“The Streamline-ResCom Barrier Wall system is already attracting interest due to its non-combustible components, but we need to go one step further by commencing full scale fire testing to enhance the take up of the product.

“The grant will enable us to accelerate the tests and take advantage of the opportunity currently presenting itself because of recent global events and sub-standard cladding practices,” he said.

Mr Lee said their Queensland designed and manufactured system was an all-in-one product that addressed fire, acoustic, thermal, moisture and impact standards required of Australian buildings, giving them a significant advantage over any competition.

The Streamline-ResCom system can be used in a variety of cladding materials including timber, high-pressure laminates, and aluminium composites. Construction companies in Toowoomba, Brisbane, Adelaide and Sydney are trialling the product.

Minister for Housing and Public Works Mick de Brenni said the issue of flammable cladding is one which is causing great concern right across the community.

“It’s great to see a Queensland business stepping forward as an early mover in developing and delivering an alternative,” Mr de Brenni said.

“Innovations like the Streamline-ResCom system could be a game changer, and I am looking forward to seeing the product develop.

“There’s a very real need for a product like this in Australia, and I predict there will be huge interest internationally.”

1300 Web Pro Director James Deck said the Ignite Ideas funding would be injected into a pilot study of FridgeBrain in 12 pharmacies and medical centres across Australia.

“FridgeBrain is in a class of its own, automatically recording data from multiple sensors and giving management time to rectify faults before products perish.

“Our innovative product and its application to the vaccine market is unique. There are over 9,600 GP clinics and 4,000 pharmacies in Australia that would benefit from FridgeBrain technology, and we’ve already had genuine interest in our Queensland product from two overseas markets,” he said.

Mr Deck said FridgeBrain is a joint venture with Toowoomba-based Huxford Refrigeration.

“FridgeBrain technology is incorporated into the best vaccine fridge in the market to ensure a reliable premium product. It monitors more than temperature and doesn’t need the human input of other vaccine fridges currently available.

“It alerts management in real time, via an email, SMS or automated telephone call, to any issues such as power outages and temperature variations or the door being left open.

“For example, FridgeBrain would send an alert at 5.30 pm saying the door is ajar, compared with current data loggers that would post an alert much later at 3 am saying the temperature exceeded eight degrees – but by then, $30,000 of vaccines have spoiled,” Mr Deck said.

The Ignite Ideas Fund is part of the Palaszczuk Government’s $420 million Advance Queensland initiative designed to develop new products and create jobs.

The government has so far supported 203 Queensland businesses through $26.5 million of Ignite Ideas funding over three rounds of the program’s merit-based assessment process – driving more than 1000 jobs.

For more information on the program and its recipients visit the Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas Fund webpage.

ENDS
MEDIA: Ben Doyle 0437 859 987