Past ©-STAR Award Winners
2009 Winner – Tasmanian Alkaloids Pty Ltd
Tasmanian Alkaloids Pty Ltd won the 2009 ©-STAR Award for developing a world-first poppy variety with high levels of codeine. The Tasman poppy allows codeine to be produced naturally in the field instead of in the laboratory. Traditionally, codeine is produced by chemically converting morphine to the drug, so this exciting new variety removes a significant step in the manufacturing process.
Tasman will provide substantial financial and environmental benefits by reducing the use of energy, chemicals and solvents and also eliminate chemical by-products.
The ©-STAR Award judges were impressed with Tasmanian Alkaloids for identifying a commercial opportunity and investing in research and development.
Tasmanian Alkaloids is now looking to sign contracts with 500 Tasmanian farmers to grow about 9 000 hectares of poppies and predicts its exports to total $100 million. The company will also supply natural codeine products to customers in the United Kingdom, United States and Germany.
Dr John Volkman, Chair of the Tasmanian Science and Technology Council and author and science commentator Dr Karl Kruszelnicki with the 2009 ©-STAR Award winner Peta Dolan from Tasmanian Alkaloids Pty Ltd.
2008 Winner – Spring Bay Seafoods Pty Ltd
Spring Bay Seafoods Pty Ltd won the 2008 ©-STAR Award for its unique method for packaging live chilled Tasmanian mussels. The mussels are kept alive and fresh in a specially designed oxygen-rich atmosphere for nine days from their harvest date. This enables the mussels to stay fresh for longer, improving customer satisfaction and distributor convenience.
©-STAR Award judges were impressed with Spring Bay Seafood’s investment in R & D and the company’s work to achieve rapid sales growth and market penetration since the product was launched in 2008.
Spring Bay Seafoods has since gone on to win the coveted ‘Friend of the Sea’ global award in 2009 for the aquaculture category, being the first shellfish company in the world to win the award for its best practices and contribution to working with an ecologically friendly and sustainable marine habitat.
2007 Winner – The Learning Edge International Pty Ltd
World-renowned education software company The Learning Edge International won the 2007 ©-STAR Award for its innovative online Digital Repository solution, EQUELLA. EQUELLA provides online solutions to educators so they can more effectively manage digital learning resources and materials such as images, sounds, animations and text. EQUELLA enables teachers to create enjoyable and interactive activities for students.
©-STAR Award judges were impressed by the company’s recent international sales of EQUELLA to many educational institutions located in America, Europe, Asia and the UK.
Since the ©-STAR Award, the Learning Edge International has gone on to win a number of prestigious awards, including:
Photo 1: Greg Johannes, Deputy Secretary, Department of Economic Development and Tourism (left) with Bob Cupitt, CEO of The Learning Edge International (right).
Photo 2: Lara Giddings, Deputy Premier (left) with Bob Cupitt, CEO of The Learning Edge International (right).
2006 Winner – Autech
The inaugural ©-STAR Award was won by Autech for the commercialisation of its innovative paint selection software. Autech’s world leading colour visualisation software is currently used in more than 50 major paint companies in 15 countries and in four different languages.
The COLORBOND® Steel Colour Selector, Haymes PC Painter and Haymes Website and Paintwizard™ are some local examples of Autech’s innovative products.
Since winning the award, Autech has gone from strength to strength. Autech out-performed businesses from every Australian state to win the G’day USA Innovation Shootout in 2007 for its in-store colour visualisation software. In 2007, Autech also won the 2007 Innovation in Business Award at the CGU Launceston Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards for their ability to continually innovate and remain successful in a rapidly moving software development industry and again in 2008 in the ‘Better Workplaces’ category in recognition of their ‘in-house’ innovation in establishing a leading workplace culture.
David Bartlett, Minister for Education (left) presenting Darren Alexander of Autech (right) with the ©-STAR Award
