- Udrew wins the Mitsubishi Corporation Overall Award at the 2018 WA Innovator of the Year awards
- More than $160,000 in prizes were awarded to category winners
- Student team from Sacred Heart College win WA Young Innovator of the Year
The innovators of an online tool that allows homeowners and contractors to instantly design, engineer and approve their own building projects, last night won top honours at the WA Innovator of the Year awards.
The online system, called Udrew, is synced directly with local government authorities and national building regulators, providing instant fully certified council and engineering approvals.
A team of students from Sacred Heart College, called AusTrailia, was crowned WA Young Innovator of the Year for an app which gamifies online trail maps.
The Innovator of the Year awards, which is now in its 12th year, acknowledges and rewards exceptional Western Australians who have developed an outstanding innovative product, technology or service.
Semi-finalists and finalists of the program receive a suite of commercialisation training, including mentoring; pitch-presentation training; a legal health check and advice on business development and finance to help commercialise their innovations.
To be in the running to win one of these awards, business people must demonstrate an economic, social or environmental benefit for the State. This year, the criteria of the awards were revised to emphasise innovations that would lead to creating and supporting jobs in Western Australia.
The Innovator of the Year Program receives $150,000 from the State Government, through the $16.7 million New Industries Fund, and support from principal sponsor, Mitsubishi Corporation and major sponsors, Woodside, South32, Business News and DXC Technology.