MateriaPOD has won top honours at the national iAwards. The organ and tissue preservation device was developed in Perth by Dr Emily Zhen.
The project received the Inspiration Award, won Not for Profit & Community Solution of the Year and took a Merit in Start-Up Solution of the Year.
MateriaPOD is designed to preserve organs and tissue for transplant through a portable, reusable system. It departs from ice-based preservation methods that have been widely used for decades.
Dr Zhen is an anaesthetist at Fiona Stanley Hospital and a clinical lecturer at the University of Western Australia. Judges recognised the device as a technological innovation aimed at changing a medical practice that has remained largely unchanged since the 1950s.
The result was part of a strong showing for Western Australia at the national awards, with five recipients from the state recognised across several categories.
WA showing
Another WA winner was the Automated Drill Rig GPS Drift Detection Tool, developed by the Curtin Institute for Data Science and BHP. The project won the Chief Judge's Innovation Award.
The system automates verification of drill hole locations, a process previously carried out manually. Award organisers said safety risks and time limits meant only about 2% of holes were checked under the earlier process.
Using post-drill aerial imagery and lidar-derived elevation models, the tool now verifies more than 80% of holes to an accuracy of 7.2cm. It cuts quality assurance time from two hours to under five minutes per check and is estimated to deliver annual savings of $962,000 across 55 drill rigs.
Western Australia was also recognised in other categories. SmartWheel, developed by Shanelle Tennekoon at Curtin University, received a Merit in Not for Profit and Community Solution of the Year.
SmartWheel is an AI guidance system for powered wheelchairs. It automates tasks including doorway navigation and hazard detection for users with mobility impairments.
CorePlan, a drilling operations software business founded in Perth, received a Merit in Business & Industry Solution of the Year. The platform is used by more than 600 companies and 9,000 users across four continents.
In the student category, Argus Sentinel received a Merit in Student Solution of the Year. The cyber security project was developed by Curtin University students Om Prashanth, Japtoz Singh Puri, Osayed Abdullah Khan, Elena Jane Odtojan, Chonlada Srimungkhun and Virginia Frilly.
Recognition
Jess Etheridge, Vice President of the Western Australian Innovation, Technology & Talent Alliance, commented on the results.
"Every one of these results represents years of work, and it's a privilege to watch WA tech talent get the national recognition it deserves," Etheridge said.
She also highlighted Dr Zhen's performance at the awards.
"Congratulations to Dr Zhen on taking out three national accolades at the iAwards, and to all of Team WA for a strong, historic showing at these prestigious awards," she said.
MateriaPOD stood out for linking medical research and clinical practice with a practical transplant preservation device. Alongside the mining, mobility and cyber security entries recognised on the night, it also underlined the breadth of work emerging from Western Australia's technology sector.
The Chief Judge's Innovation Award for the drill rig verification tool also highlighted the role of cross-disciplinary research in industrial applications, with the project cited for combining several STEM fields, including Western Australia's radio astronomy expertise.
For MateriaPOD, the recognition places a medical device focused on transplant preservation at the centre of this year's national awards results, with Dr Zhen's work collecting three separate accolades in a single program.