Smart 100 2012

SEWater has been replacing old septic tanks on properties in sensitive areas with Pressure Sewer Units for 10 years. These units come standard with localised alarming to let property owners know there is a problem with the sewer pump. After a power outage in a small regional town caused the entire town to be woken at 4am by 100 units all flashing and alarming, our staff believed we needed to find a way to monitor and control the pumps from our office.

I was frustrated by not being able to create jewellery exactly as I wanted it. I went online and couldn't find anything to buy -- I found myself wanting to customise the jewellery I saw to make it right for me. I didn't have the energy -- or money -- to have something made at a jewellers. We left it...until I saw the Shoes of Prey website and thought, "This is what I need -- but for jewellery!"

We were working with a new water-enhancing technology and discovered it also had an effect on the structure of other liquids. This research led to early trials on the effect of putting diesel fuel through the same enhancing process. The far-reaching implications of improving engine efficiency and reducing pollution from diesel fuel were game-changing and so Biotechnix Australia was formed in partnership with the technology inventors.

Ashley Newland was preparing for a trip to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro. He realised that with all his cold weather and camping gear he would only be able to take a few changes of clothing and would have to wash them regularly. While waterproof bags can be used to soak clothing, they lack efficiency. It was then that he had the revelation that washboards have been around for centuries and they work!

I was tutoring HSC maths students and found they were encountering the same problems I had encountered when I was studying for my HSC maths exams -- namely, that there was not a comprehensive online resource for students to refer to for help with HSC maths. The existing online HSC maths resources just felt like electronic textbooks rather than providing anything different from what students already had in their textbooks.

Proving that smart, solid ideas can more than hold their own against flashy ones, BuildingIQ takes home the third spot overall in the 2012 SMART 100 for an innovation with immense relevance: a management system for optimising energy consumption in commercial spaces. The BuildingIQ EMS, which grew into fruition through years of research at CSIRO, takes care of two important elements of energy management at once. First, it supplements the standard building management system by monitoring energy usage based on weather and room temperature. Second, it adjusts these settings as necessary to strike a balance between efficient consumption and human comfort.

We looked at the coupon systems used by companies such as Groupon that are bad for customers as they risk not being able to redeem an offer that has been fully paid for, and also bad for merchants as they do not get paid for unredeemed coupons which are kept by the group-buying site. We have removed the risk from both parties while keeping a revenue stream from the website.

Pepperstone created an electronic network linking the trading floors of 22 banking institutions together. Previously linked by primitive systems or phone networks, we noticed a gap in the marketplace for fast and affordable electronic foreign exchange trading. Taking pride in passing all cost savings through to our clients we broke the industry mold and offered some of the lowest commission charges in the industry.

I came to realisation that not all recruitment agencies needed to be the same. There was in fact a demand for very responsive and customer-focused recruiters to provide an open-book service. We place a high emphasis on quality and service standards. We employ only the best, most eager young professionals and set the standards for their account management. Our managers remain hands on and lean by example.

The founder of Baby Ink, Melinda Weaver, had children and noticed an opportunity in the market for a keepsake product that is easily accessible, easy to use and affordable. Not wanting to use ink or an unsafe product for a baby, the need for a baby-safe, non-toxic keepsake product was evident. Melinda also wanted to celebrate the sex of her baby by using a blue-colour inkless product for her baby boy. Seeing huge potential in the market Baby Ink was born!

I realised that the Internet held the key to solving the greatest daily challenge of the $7 trillion construction industry: getting paid. Whilst many licensed accounting and invoicing systems are available to the industry, none of these connect parties in a meaningful way. And although there are a growing number of online systems available to facilitate project collaboration, these focus on document control and file sharing rather than financial management.

I heard of the devastation caused by the 2010 Haiti earthquake. I realised that I had the skills and opportunity to make a positive difference in similar future catastrophes and set about creating a telecommunications system that could operate without relying on large, expensive and easily damaged infrastructure. My vision has attracted a talented, passionate and dedicated team, who are now turning it into reality.

The group saw tremendous and untapped potential in enhancing the real estate search experience. With the sprouting growth of iPad users, the group embarked on developing an app that gives property buyers a new platform to search for properties with greater ease.

The ability to optimise the power grid and manage peak loads through accessing stored solar energy sources has the potential to save utilities, commercial and residential customers billions of dollars.

Two innovators from Cairns established a statewide pool fence inspection business. A customised iPhone app and a bespoke database for managing the inspections was designed and developed. After 14 months and 3,500 inspections, the app achieved highly efficient outcomes. A team of 30 inspectors was managed by a single support person...but why limit this to pool fence inspections?

The breakthrough came when a power box metering system, coupled with a modem, was designed and tested that could reliably send data to Smart Energy Groups' website, enabling an online dashboard to monitor, analyse and report power being used 24/7 by a customer's equipment, lighting and electrical appliances. Field tests proved this world-first could deliver what it promised: the opportunity to discover where and when power is being used, which enables business owners and householders to start saving up to 30% on the power bills.

CEO Craig Deveson is a cloud computing specialist and serial entrepreneur. This is his second cloud-based business and it aims to deliver enterprise services at consumer prices. The innovation came to life last last year when a security software idea was forged with a cloud computing architecture then aimed at the very popular WordPress market.

We, like many others, were concerned with the level of unemployment but curious as to why all the focus was on job creation. We were keen to build a model that created small business that could foster the entrepreneurial spirit that many individuals have that are currently unemployed or underemployed often for reasons outside their control. Why not shoe shining?

Tripping through Europe, I came across the growing economics of "collaborative consumption" and an article in Time magazine about returned US servicemen and women from Iraq and Afghanistan. At the time I was busy writing about video game mechanics and their application to leading Gen Y and Digital Natives. Suddenly I had three solid schools of thought that, when married together, formed a very relevant, practical and easy model for leading upcoming generations.

My son was diagnosed with severe eczema at the same time he learned to roll and could no longer be wrapped or swaddled safely to protect his skin. We then resorted to baby one-suit outfits with hand-covers, but these also stop being made with this most useful feature at size 00-0. Distraught and sleep-deprived from being kept awake night after night, I designed the first Bamboo Bubby sleeping bag and it worked!