Winner turns plastic into steel and heads overseas
An early-career innovator has been awarded an overseas study tour for her
invention
An idea for using waste
plastic to make steel has won Sydney researcher Veena Sahajwalla a study tour to
the UK organised by the British Council Australia in Australia’s inaugural
Fresh Innovators competition.
Sahajwalla, a lead researcher of Sustainable Materials
Processing Research at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), showed that
waste plastic can replace coal as a source of carbon in the steel making process
in furnaces operating at 1600°C.
“Up to 30 per cent of the coal can be replaced with
recycled plastic and we are aiming for more,” she says. “It is very exciting
research as it helps conserve our resources by using less coal, and helps
alleviate the huge waste plastic problem.”
During her British Council tour Sahajwalla will be given
the opportunity to present her work at the Royal Institution in London, the
oldest independent research body in the world.
Since the competition, she has been contacted by both the
steel and waste plastic industry to discuss her research. She is hoping to take
the next step towards commercialisation with assistance and advice from UNSW
company Unisearch Ltd.
“Veena has
demonstrated that complex ideas can be communicated in plain English,” says
the director of the British Council Australia, Simon Gammell.
“British
Council Australia is delighted to be supporting young innovative Australians and
the Fresh Innovators award will give Veena an opportunity to broaden her
horizons by interacting with her UK colleagues.”
Veena was a winner in the inaugural Fresh Innovators
competition—a national event held during the Innovation Festival in May where
16 early-career innovators were selected from research institutes, universities,
government research laboratories, the CSIRO and private companies and put in the
public spotlight.
After a day of media and presentation training at the
Australian Technology Park, they presented their work to students at
universities, at a dinner, down at the pub, and to the media. They also pitched
their business ideas to the business development team at the Technology Park who
provided feedback. The program resulted in hundreds of stories in the Australian
and international media about the innovators and their products.
People learned about: a brick that allows air to flow
into a building and blocks noise at the same time, singing banknotes for the
blind, stopping gas tanks from exploding, identifying people from their images,
a means of speeding up healing, and an electronic suit for scoring boxing.
The program aims to encourage innovation by highlighting
the work of young Australians who had an idea and took it further. Fresh
Innovators is supported by the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources
through the National Innovation Awareness Strategy.
For interview:
§
Veena Sahajwalla ph. 02 9385 4426 A/hrs 02 9567 3010
| 
