Ingenuity and Innovation

When we think of inventions and discoveries we normally think science and technology – but inventiveness can be seen in almost every human endeavour: from engineering and architecture to design and fashion. It's there in everyday objects like clothing and money, as much as in high-tech gadgets like computers and smartphones. Exploration, invention and discovery are all about pushing the boundaries of what we know and understand, and what we as humans are capable of.

This Australian $10 note, released in 1988, was the world's first plastic banknote. It contained an 'optically variable device' – an image that changes with viewing angle – sandwiched between layers of clear plastic, making the notes impossible to copy. The work was led by chemist David Henry Solomon at CSIRO, whose breakthroughs in polymer chemistry made this possible. However, these developments were not without problems – the ink tended to rub off and the notes were resistant to folding, as people who kept their money in their shoes discovered! These issues were quickly fixed, and plastic notes were adopted by many countries around the world. In addition to being counterfeit resistant, plastic notes last ten times longer than paper money, and can even survive the washing machine.

This boomerang was discovered in Sydney in the mid-twentieth century buried under about 10.5 m of earth. The depth at which it was found suggests it may date back hundreds, or even thousands of years, making it one of the oldest surviving boomerangs ever found in NSW.

Boomerangs were developed and used as a hunting tool by the Australian Aboriginal people who have lived on this continent for at least 60,000 years. While most people would be familiar with the ‘returning’ boomerang, hunting boomerangs are not designed to return. A hunting boomerang is more delicately balanced than a returning one, and their development demonstrates a sophisticated understanding of motion and aerodynamics, combined with exceptional craftsmanship.

Boomerangs are an incredibly effective hunting tool: a boomerang thrown at close range is capable of inflicting mortal injuries on large animals like kangaroos and emus, as well as killing smaller birds and animals. Due to its size and shape, it is thought that this boomerang was used to kill small birds and other prey.

It’s said that, to date, humans have only explored 5% of the ocean floor and that we know more about the Moon or Mars than we do the watery depths of our own planet. In 2012, the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER set about changing that when National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence and Hollywood filmmaker James Cameron achieved a new world record in deep ocean exploration. Cameron and submersible co-designer Ron Allum built the unique, vertical DEEPSEA CHALLENGER for a single occupant. Allum created new materials for it, including a special foam called ‘Isofloat’ which could withstand the enormous pressures at the bottom of the sea. On 26 March, the craft reached a depth of 11km, and sustained pressures of up to 16500 psi - more that 1100 times normal atmospheric pressure. Cameron became the first person in history to reach the deepest known part of the ocean, the Marina Trench, as a solo pilot, capturing incredible new 3D footage, and taking scientific samples, of one of the least explored parts of the ocean.  

When astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their first steps on the moon the world was watching and the Parkes radio telescope 'The Dish', in regional New South Wales, was part of a global network of tracking stations responsible for receiving the TV signals. In the first minutes of the moonwalk, NASA switched between other stations trying to get the best picture. But when the moon rose high enough to be visible from Parkes, the larger dish gave such superior quality that NASA switched the picture to Parkes, staying with them for the remainder of the 2.5 hour broadcast. Throughout the broadcast the telescope battled dangerously high winds, but somehow managed to stay locked on the Moon, delivering the images we all know and remember. The incoming radio waves, which carried the TV signals, bounced off the surface of the dish and were reflected up to the feedhorn and receiver at the focus. From there they were sent to Sydney for broadcast to Australia and the rest of the world.

Described as the 'Hubble Space Telescope of gastroenterology' this set of medical devices allow doctors to map when and how the gut muscles are moving, taking the guesswork out of the diagnosis and treatment of gastroenterological disorders. It monitors muscular activity at 1cm intervals along the entire length of the colon, using 120 individual sensors connected to a series of thin, flexible optical fibres. Each sensor transmits on a different optical wavelength so the signals can be processed simultaneously, allowing muscle movements to be seen as they happen. The development of this device was only possible through the collaboration of people from many different disciplines - physicists, engineers, material scientists, software designers, technicians and doctors. Similar devices are now being developed for a range of other health issues as well as industries such as mining and water management.

What if you could turn your rubbish into something new and valuable? That was the question that inspired chemical engineers led by Veena Sahajwalla at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) to develop this technology. Traditionally when we recycle we simply turn like into like: old plastic into new plastic; old paper into new paper; and so on. But the team at UNSW took an entirely different approach, looking at what elements different waste products contain and what chemical processes could be used to combine them and produce something totally new. In their early research they used this furnace to melt down old car tyres and produce the carbon needed to turn iron into steel, saving millions of tyres from landfill every year. They’ve also figured out how to turn the glass and plastic from windscreens and headlights into high purity ferrosilicon alloys for use in electronic devices.

In 1967, Cecil McIlwraith, a visually impaired resident of Sydney, asked the NSW Department of Main Roads to introduce pedestrian traffic signals that could be heard. Audio signals were introduced to a few Sydney intersections, changing from a bell tone to buzzer when it was safe to cross. Unfortunately, the bells often malfunctioned sounding like buzzers, creating deadly confusion.

It became quickly apparent that a new design was needed and in 1976 the Roads and Traffic Authority (now Roads and Maritime Services) hired acoustic consultants Louis A. Challis and Associates who devised the two-rhythm buzzer that is used today. The model seen here leads the international standards for acoustic and tactile signals for traffic lights and was created by industrial designer David Wood. He added new features like the magnetic button, tested to withstand millions of pushes, and the braille arrow which indicates the crossing direction and vibrates in time with the buzzer. 

The Brewarrina fish traps are so old that the local people, the Ngemba, attribute their construction to the creator spirit Baiame. Great skill and understanding is displayed in their design. Covering a significant portion of the river, they create pools and channels that are used to control the fishes’ behaviour.

Yet, the innovation of the Brewarrina fish traps lies not just in their construction but also their management. They form part of a complex aquaculture system, whose management practices are embedded within the cultural fabric of Australia’s first people. The traps allow them to effectively manage breeding stock, efficiently catch fish and ensure productive harvests at Brewarrina, all without impacting on fish levels at other locations along the river system.

This spectrum splitting solar cell, developed at the Centre for Advanced Photovoltaics at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), represents a major innovation in rooftop solar cell design. In 2014 it broke the world record achieving over 40% efficiency from natural sunlight, approaching the theoretical limit of 52% efficiency. It is a unique approach to improving rooftop solar panels focusing on a solar module design that can be adapted with existing technology. To do this the UNSW team combined two solar cells together in a prism design and used a specially created filter to send the different wavelengths of light to the solar cell best able to capture each wavelength. The team is hoping to establish the design's feasibility by 2020. If successful, they will look at combining cheaper silicon cells with other affordable cell technology to bring the cost of the module down: it currently costs about AUD $10,000 to make one of these solar cells.