Published Tuesday, 05 June, 2007 at 11:59 AM
Minister for State Development, Employment and Industrial Relations
The Honourable John Mickel
Grant to help West End company produce virtual training for unmanned aircraft
A West End company specialising in virtual reality programming and training has received a Queensland Government grant to develop a training package for flying unmanned aircraft.
Minister for State Development John Mickel said today VR Solutions had received a $50,000 Queensland Industry Development Scheme grant to produce a low-cost, flight simulation training package for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
UAVs are aircraft without an onboard pilot that can either be remote-controlled or that can fly autonomously based on a pre-programmed flight plan.
‘UAVs are the fastest growing segment of the international aerospace industry, with major opportunities for civilian use, such as by the rural fire brigade in fighting bush fires, by the police in combating crime, and by agricultural producers across a range of activities including stock monitoring on the large cattle stations,” Mr Mickel said.
“In fact, Queensland is forging quite a name for itself in this industry, with a vibrant research and development community,” he said.
“This is a high-technology, sophisticated, pioneering industry, with huge commercial potential.”
Mr Mickel said VR Solutions would develop a training device that future UAV controllers and operators could use to develop their skills and support the class-room theory that they must undertake to obtain Civil Aviation Safety Authority certification to fly UAVs.
He said it was a smart move by VR Solutions to get in on the act now just as the industry was taking off.
VR Solutions will showcase its training package at the 2007 SimTecT Simulation Conference and Exhibition at the Brisbane Convention Centre over the next few days.
VR Solutions Business Development Manager Gary Eves said the company was using the grant to take on two programmers to develop a pioneering training package for UAVs.
‘We believe UAVs are going to be the next big thing, so we’re positioning ourselves to take advantage of this new and exciting industry,” Mr Eves said.
VR Solutions produces virtual reality, simulation and graphic display systems for the oil and gas, mining, security and defence, transport, medical, entertainment and education sectors.
“For example, in the resources sector, we’ve developed workplace health and safety training packages as well as 3D graphic display programs that have been used successfully in assessing potential ore deposits in new exploration areas, saving the industry millions of dollars in analysis costs and huge amounts of time,” he said.
Established in 1999 with just three staff, the company has grown to 15 staff.
‘Over sixty percent of our business is overseas, especially in India, China and the Middle East and oil and gas is our largest market sector,” Mr Eves said.
Last year, the company received a Queensland Government International Trade Show Assistance Program grant to attend the Graphite 2006 trade show in Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Eves said when they were establishing the company in 1999, there was no hesitation in opening up in Brisbane.
“Give the support of the Queensland Government for emerging technology companies like ourselves, the Premier’s Smart State vision, the quality of graduates coming out of Queensland’s tertiary institutions, and the proximity of Brisbane to the Asia-Pacific market, there’s been no doubt that we made the right choice,” he said.
VR Solutions is among 385 Brisbane businesses to share more than $11.5 million in Queensland Industry Development Scheme funding since 1998.
The Queensland Government is excited by this emerging industry, while he was in Boston earlier this month Premier Peter Beattie announced a $2 million State Government grant that could help Queensland’s burgeoning unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry overcome one of its biggest issues - the safe operation of the unmanned aircraft in civilian airspace.
That funding went to Queensland University of Technology to develop a low-cost portable air traffic control system and onboard computer vision systems.
Company contact: VR Solutions, Gary Eves, Business Development Manager, tel 3844 9514. 4/19 Musgrave Street, West End: www.vrs.com.au
Media contact: Chris Brown 3224 7349 or Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
June 5, 2007
Minister for State Development John Mickel said today VR Solutions had received a $50,000 Queensland Industry Development Scheme grant to produce a low-cost, flight simulation training package for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
UAVs are aircraft without an onboard pilot that can either be remote-controlled or that can fly autonomously based on a pre-programmed flight plan.
‘UAVs are the fastest growing segment of the international aerospace industry, with major opportunities for civilian use, such as by the rural fire brigade in fighting bush fires, by the police in combating crime, and by agricultural producers across a range of activities including stock monitoring on the large cattle stations,” Mr Mickel said.
“In fact, Queensland is forging quite a name for itself in this industry, with a vibrant research and development community,” he said.
“This is a high-technology, sophisticated, pioneering industry, with huge commercial potential.”
Mr Mickel said VR Solutions would develop a training device that future UAV controllers and operators could use to develop their skills and support the class-room theory that they must undertake to obtain Civil Aviation Safety Authority certification to fly UAVs.
He said it was a smart move by VR Solutions to get in on the act now just as the industry was taking off.
VR Solutions will showcase its training package at the 2007 SimTecT Simulation Conference and Exhibition at the Brisbane Convention Centre over the next few days.
VR Solutions Business Development Manager Gary Eves said the company was using the grant to take on two programmers to develop a pioneering training package for UAVs.
‘We believe UAVs are going to be the next big thing, so we’re positioning ourselves to take advantage of this new and exciting industry,” Mr Eves said.
VR Solutions produces virtual reality, simulation and graphic display systems for the oil and gas, mining, security and defence, transport, medical, entertainment and education sectors.
“For example, in the resources sector, we’ve developed workplace health and safety training packages as well as 3D graphic display programs that have been used successfully in assessing potential ore deposits in new exploration areas, saving the industry millions of dollars in analysis costs and huge amounts of time,” he said.
Established in 1999 with just three staff, the company has grown to 15 staff.
‘Over sixty percent of our business is overseas, especially in India, China and the Middle East and oil and gas is our largest market sector,” Mr Eves said.
Last year, the company received a Queensland Government International Trade Show Assistance Program grant to attend the Graphite 2006 trade show in Kuala Lumpur.
Mr Eves said when they were establishing the company in 1999, there was no hesitation in opening up in Brisbane.
“Give the support of the Queensland Government for emerging technology companies like ourselves, the Premier’s Smart State vision, the quality of graduates coming out of Queensland’s tertiary institutions, and the proximity of Brisbane to the Asia-Pacific market, there’s been no doubt that we made the right choice,” he said.
VR Solutions is among 385 Brisbane businesses to share more than $11.5 million in Queensland Industry Development Scheme funding since 1998.
The Queensland Government is excited by this emerging industry, while he was in Boston earlier this month Premier Peter Beattie announced a $2 million State Government grant that could help Queensland’s burgeoning unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) industry overcome one of its biggest issues - the safe operation of the unmanned aircraft in civilian airspace.
That funding went to Queensland University of Technology to develop a low-cost portable air traffic control system and onboard computer vision systems.
Company contact: VR Solutions, Gary Eves, Business Development Manager, tel 3844 9514. 4/19 Musgrave Street, West End: www.vrs.com.au
Media contact: Chris Brown 3224 7349 or Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
June 5, 2007